The official “What car is replacing the Acura RSX” thread…

Kerry & Kathy

Kerry & Kathy

Member #007
Location (City)
Fredericktown, Farmington and Viburnum MO
First Name
Kerry
Last Name
Owen
Well…the Acura is officially dead.
It was a great car that we owned for 10 years. I bought the car from an Acura dealer in Ft. Pierce Fla. In 2008 when it had only 14K miles. It had 168,666 miles on it at the time of the accident.
With the exception of the notorious alternator…it required only routine maintenance and ran great…even when run hard. Good handling and surprising power from a 2.0L four cylinder automatic.

However, its replacement was purchased this afternoon in Evansville IN and will come home tomorrow.

The replacement car is not a well-known model but offers some surprising features.
I researched cars non-stop for the last week…often all night until 9 am until I narrowed the selection to four… then to one after a few test drives.

So… I decided to make this a club quiz with ICE CREAM being the prize….

I am going to provide a few hints on what vehicle it is…and the first person to guess correctly…gets a free large Shake or Malt of your choice of flavor from me…
Tim…are you listening…???

For every wrong guess…I’ll add another hint.

To start… I’ll provide five initial hints:

- The car is built by a manufacturer not known for building performance cars.
- The engine is a double overhead cam, four-valve cylinder head.
- The car has four-wheel independent suspension with a Torsen Limited Slip Differential.
- The engine is direct injected, runs on 87 octane low lead and makes approximately 350 HP....but it is NOT a V-8.
- The car is an 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

Your turn…:)
 
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Ok, I'm not using the internet....so, here are my guesses so far:
- It's foreign, not one of the big three (Ford, Chevy, Dodge)
- DOHC engines are typical of Honda, Subaru, Nissan, but, the "not typically known for performance cars", that eliminates Honda (acura brands) and Subaru (the WRX).....so, that leaves me a lot of choices...Hmmmm
- Four wheel independent suspension - AWD car? This is typical of Subaru.....but, they ARE known for performance cars......
- 350 HP - impressive.....
- 8 speed auto - practically everyone is using these....but, I would say it's 2016 or newer

So, any incorrect statements above before I take my guess?
 
Purple Venom said:
Ok, I'm not using the internet....so, here are my guesses so far:
- It's foreign, not one of the big three (Ford, Chevy, Dodge)
- DOHC engines are typical of Honda, Subaru, Nissan, but, the "not typically known for performance cars", that eliminates Honda (acura brands) and Subaru (the WRX).....so, that leaves me a lot of choices...Hmmmm
- Four wheel independent suspension - AWD car? This is typical of Subaru.....but, they ARE known for performance cars......
- 350 HP - impressive.....
- 8 speed auto - practically everyone is using these....but, I would say it's 2016 or newer

So, any incorrect statements above before I take my guess?
Click to expand...

Your warm... It is Foreign
It is not AWD. It is RWD.
It is NOT newer than 2016.

Fun Fact:

It is quicker and faster than a 1969 Camaro 396 SS in both 0-60 and ¼ mile time and MPH.
 
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TaylorH said:
I'll hazard a guess.

Hyundai Genesis
Click to expand...

You are very close...but...you need to identify the series of Genesis and specific model.

Next hint:

It has Brembo Brakes on all four corners.

Brembos.jpg
 
Purple Venom said:
Hyundai Veloster?
View attachment 6159
Click to expand...

Nope...Not a Veloster....though it was considered.

New hint:

The car was produced in two generations.
The first gen was produced for four years from 2009 to 2012
The second gen was also produced for four years from 2013 to 2016 with a redesigned front end and a multitude of changes including LED lights, an upscale navigation system, a redesigned leather interior and an increase of 40 HP...with an MSRP slightly over $35K

The second generation was discontinued in 2016 with plans by Genesis to redesign and reintroduce the third generation in 2020 at an MSRP of $45K

Note that Genesis is the upscale division of Hyundai...much like Acura is the upscale division of Honda.
 
MPTech said:
I was thinking the same thing this morning when I first read this thread.

Is there a Sport Coupe? I remember hearing they were a performance car when they came out, but I don't know the sub-models that well.
Click to expand...

Getting VERY VERY warm...

The person that can name the correct sub-model will be enjoying Ice Cream soon....!

coupe.jpg

Hint: There were Three models and two engine choices...including a turbo in the 2009-2013 model years but by 2014 and later, the turbo was dropped and they had only one engine choice...a naturally aspirated 348 HP 3.8L V-6 across three models...one of which was completely new in 2014.

All three of those models were available with both an automatic 8 spd and manual 6 spd.

Of the two..the automatic is the quickest...having run a 0-60 of 5.1 sec and a 1/4 mile ET of 13.6-13.8 @ 103 mph depending on which road test you read...
....with highway fuel economy of 27-28 mpg.
 
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I ran into an article in a British magazine that tested the Genesis Coupe in the sub model (yet to be identified ) and found the results interesting.

Evo Magazine conducted a test of the 2016 3.8 8-spd Automatic Genesis Coupe on 6/2018 and published the test results in an article "Korean Performance Cars" in the 7/2018 issue:

0-30 mph = 1.9 sec
0-40 mph = 2.9 sec
0-50 mph = 3.9 sec
0-60 mph = 4.9 sec
0-70 mph = 6.2 sec
0-80 mph = 7.8 sec
0-90 mph = 9.2 sec
0-100 mph = 11.5 sec
(1/4-mile: 13.8/106)

0-110 mph = 14.4 sec
0-120 mph = 17.4 sec
0-130 mph = 22.6 sec (1000m: 24.6/135)
0-140 mph = 29.0 sec
0-150 mph = 38.9 sec
0-160 mph = 55.6 sec (top speed: 169.9 mph)
0-170 mph = n.a.

Dyno results: 278 rwhp @ 6,400 rpm & 225 rwtq (lb-ft) @ 5,600 rpm
Engine ratings: 348 hp @ 6,400 rpm & 295 lb-ft @ 5,300 rpm

I thought the top speed and 0-60 time were noteworthy
 
The Subaru BRZ has been regarded as one of the best handling bargain coupes you can buy today at any price...but is unfortunately considered to have a somewhat spartan interior... and in need of more power.
I seriously considered the BRZ, even communicating with Tom Johnson on his personal experiences with his BRZ....which he loved.
But in the end..the Genesis Coupe had more interior room, more creature comforts, a quieter interior and a lot more power.

I found this comparison of the two cars interesting... primarily in the lap times at three tracks/road courses where they were compared.

BRZ vs Genesis Coupe.JPG
 
MPTech said:
2016 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Ultimate Coupe R-Spec ?
Click to expand...

Close enough for government work...!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner...!

...or Ice Cream shake in this case.

Technically ours is a 15K mile 2015...not 2016, but both years are identical cars.

It is indeed the Ultimate model with R Spec suspension.

side.JPG

Mark...I owe you a large shake/malt of your choosing when we next meet at Sonic in Oct....!!
(will be out of town for the Sept meeting)
 
That's a good looking car Kerry and I remember reading about their performance when they first announced them. Quite a departure for Hyundai at the time.
It's RWD? wow, that is some handling!
 
MPTech said:
That's a good looking car Kerry and I remember reading about their performance when they first announced them. Quite a departure for Hyundai at the time.
It's RWD? wow, that is some handling!
Click to expand...

Yes RWD.

We just returned late last night from Evansville after picking up the car and driving it home 192 miles...

All I can say is...WOW...just WOW.
10 years ago I would never have believed I would drive...let alone own a "Hyundai"...
Apparently, I was not paying close enough attention to the South Korean auto manufactures.

I have owned Caddilac, Lincoln, many Honda's, multiple Acuras...yet this is car is impressive.

I would never have imagined that a 348 HP V6 Korean car could have matched the performance of a 1968 360 HP Ram Air Firebird that I owned... and do it with FAR better handling and FAR better comfort.

The more I drove the car the more impressed I became..yet I have only scratched the surface of all the features and amenities it offers.
The damn owners manual and navigation manual is literally over 1.5" thick...
This is truly ...a VERY impressive car.
...and IMO at a bargain price.

Original MSRP when new was $35,640 and was a one owner lease. All maintenance was done by the dealer and it had a perfect CarFax with detailed regular maintenance records.

I found five 2015-2016 Ultimate automatics that were candidates with this particular car being the closest and having the fewest miles. The other four were 2016 models...one in Rogers AR, one in Huntsville AL and two in the Fort Worth/ Dallas Tx area.
I have bought cars in Chicago, Nashville, Bridgeport CT. and Fort Pierce FL...so I was willing to go wherever the best car could be found...and this car did not disappoint. I made two trips to Evansville and checked it out thoroughly.
The engine compartment was immaculate. It looked like it just came off the assembly line. I looked in the spare tire well for any water...( the early 2009-2012 models had an issue with tail light gaskets allowing water to leak into the trunk)..and the trunk looked and smelled like new. I could not find an imperfection anywhere around, inside or under the car.

The dealer was asking $24991 and I negotiated a final purchase price of $23500 which was $500 under NADA value.

It was also a CPO car (Certified Previous Owner) which included a 150 point inspection and allowed me to retain the balance of the original Hyundai 10 year / 100,000-mile factory warranty at any Hyundai dealership...which has 7 years and 85,000 miles remaining. Any unexpected drivetrain repair would cost me no more than a $50 dedutible.

Saving $12,140 under MSRP for the first 15K miles of depreciation was icing on the cake.

The only negatives so far...

- The street brake pads are just that...street pads. I would expect to replace them with some Hawk or EBC pads at the first opportunity.
- The tires are original OEM Potenza 225/40/19 and 245/40/19 RE050A's Max Performance summer compound that has about half the original tread. They are fine for now...but will be replaced with a newer Potenza S04 series.
- The R Spec suspension is definitely built for handling...not ride comfort. On smooth surfaces it is excellent. On rough surfaces, you feel every imperfection. But...it is a fair tradeoff.
- The car is built to under-steer for safety with the average driver. I believe with a change in tires/air pressure that more balanced steering can be obtained. The steering is heavier than on a BRZ for comparison. But will be safer for Kathy.
- The center armrest has a sewn leather seam that is pronounced and irritating to your elbow when resting your right arm on a trip.
- The red color is going to be a law enforcement magnet. (I was looking for a more clandestine dark grey)
 
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Looks very nice indeed...happy motoring my friend... appears you certainly picked a winner... research is everything...enjoy your new wheels...
 
Nice looking car and if leading, will certainly distract any smokies in front of us :D
 
I thought you were not going to buy a (hot rod), nice looking car Kerry. I worked witha guy years ago that said I needed to watch the South Korea car market, that they were going to take over from the Japanese and they are sure trying.
 
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