Potential Rsx-s Buyer, Suggestions??

Hello All,
I sold my bumpin' 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee and now I'm ready to go back to a car after 9 years of trucks and SUV's. I want an RSX-S and would like to know what year you all prefer and why. I'd like to eventually make it quicker (when money allows for it) and put a kit on it. I don't think I'll be doing too much racing though. I'm more of a show car kind of guy. I don't want to be some poser though either. Is there any common problems with these cars that I should check into first before buying one? I was so sick of dumping money into my Jeep. There's a saying some of you might have heard.....JEEP stands for J.ust E.mpty E.very P.ocket. Don't get me wrong, I had a nice Jeep that ran and looked like new. Anyways.......my budget is around $20k. Thanks, and I look forward to starting in this forum instead of my Jeep one. I think this forum will be a little more my type anyways. Not many people liked the fact that I lowered my Jeep (only about an inch and a half) and slapped some 20's on it.
Thanks for any advice and tips you can give me!

Well, if you can afford an '05 (not sure a used one will fit the budget you defined), Acura made significant improvements to body structure, brakes and steering. They changed the styling a little too which some (including me) find to be less distinctive than the '02 - '04 models. HP is up a little for '05 too, and I believe the seats were improved as well. Also a few more standard features, not sure what exactly.

Help me out if I'm wrong guys, but I'm pretty sure '05 is the first year that any significant changes were made.

Problems? You mean you haven't heard about the 2nd gear grind?! This is a notorious issue with the RSX, endemic to both the 6 and 5 speeds, though much more heard about (and addressed with technical service bulletin) relating to the 6. BTW, I just swapped out my Honda trans fluid for Pennzoil Synchromesh and the grind is gone. It's still a little louder shifting into 2nd than into other gears but not quite a grind and a huge improvement over the Honda fluid. Most of the notchiness is gone too.

In fairness, I have heard that the RSX tranny is superior to many other small FWD manual transmissions. So go ahead, find the newest one you can with the lowest mileage and best condition for the money you can afford. I paid $15K for a base 5 speed with leather, '02, 35K miles, minor front fender repair that wasn't quite up to Acura fit standards but hardly unbearable in the metropolitan Detroit area this past January. If the tranny grinds, you can always try the TSB at the dealer or you can spend $20 and swap out your fluid.

yeah the 05' was the only redesign year, and it looks marginally different...brakes were upgraded, +10hp, suspension, but the biggest change were the gear ratios, which if I remember right give you better acceleration with closer gears...

To be honest I only heard about 2nd gear grind through the net...nobody I know personally had that problem, I certainly didn't...outside of that the car is pretty bulletproof, and can handle tons of abuse

Are you gonna keep it NA? if not...If your willing to take the base model over the Type S, the base model takes much better to boosting, and will be cheaper for your initial purchase...

outside of that get the Type S

Hmm.....Mason......what do you know about turbocharging the base?!

Heh heh.....:drool:

I've been reading up on the 05 type-s and all the upgrades they have done. They are catching my eye more and more. I actually like the 02-04 lights on it though. They went back to the standard lights on the 05. I plan on keeping it NA for awhile, unless I win some big money while I'm in Las Vegas. (that's where I'm moving to) I can afford a brand new type-s, I was just trying to stay cheaper to have more money to play with from the start. I have read through alot of the threads on here about the shifting issues. I definitely will become very comfortable with my car before I ever take it to the track though!!! I seriously don't want to misshift and blow a valve like was on another thread. I also saw that they changed up Cams and went with carbon instead of brass sychros for smoother transitioning between 5th and 6th. Do you guys use Premium gas?

hahah oh Paul Kramer...wheres S777 neways? hed be good to answer these...

I know that the Type S is running a 11.0:1 compression ratio which is way to high for boosting...the base has a nice 9.0:1 compression which can handle a fair amount of boost without any serious modifications

I can't speak personally about the 05 since I no longer own an rsx, and I only owned an 02...but their supossed to be a decent improvement...as for shifting, you kinda have to be a moron to shift from 3rd - 4th and hit second by acccident, the 2 gears are hard to get confused on the car

Fuel? high compression ratio, premuim only, or you could do some nasty things to your car (it has safeguards...obviously)...I used premium and only went to Sunoco (which in Canada has the highest octane gas)

Did I say something stupid? (wondering why you're laughing....)

I laughed cause u were drooling over a turbo rsx...it was funny

Oh, OK. Now I understand.....