09' Test Drive and my .02

[VQ30GTR]

Took an 09' for a spin yesterday. Driving impression was a good ride, visibility was less than that of 1st gen. Car handeled well, and did not sense the artificial steering so many have written about. Steering was tight, and responsive, no wandering with hands off driving. Controls were good, the Nav system was difficult though.

First off being recessed, ther is a plastic lens over the screen, and it slopes opposite the Nav screen. So with the sun behind you, you see the dust and reflection on the lower 1/2 of the screen. Also the control know was difficult to move around and find the destination.

I did like the traffic, and weather that was pretty cool. The location finder was pretty good. You put in the beginning of the town and it only allows the letters available int he area to make up the town. Ex: Hoffman Estates and I began to enter and as I progressed, it gave me suggestions for towns in the area that began with hof..

One gripe was the paddle shifters in sport mode. I like the ability to move the stick in the 1st gen. You shift down to "S" and the paddle shifters will become active once you touch them. If you do not, then it stays in full auto.
It was just a tad difficult to shift when going into a turn with the paddles.

Other than that the grill is ok, I do not see it while driving and I think some blackout or body matching paint can remedy the full length mirror look. Maybe even a matte clear coat or a light grey would reduce the glare.

Overall the car is comfortable, and roomy, rode and handled nicely, acceleration was ok, not a 6, but acceptible. The dash info was good, avg.,mpg, TPMS, Temp etc.

Still going to look for an 08' I think, I like the touchscreen Nav, and autostick feature, but could live with an 09' if I could get one at invoice.

Did notice teh speed sensing audio, and that was cool. Stereo got louder at highway speeds so you did not have to adjust.

[zhieson]

Good review. Haven't really seen a more positive one than this. Car in general is nice but not much of an improvement from the 1st gen. It's bigger but uglier, slightly more power but heavier.

[pcdawg]

Nice review, im thinking of test-driving on as well to see how it fairs with the first gen.

As a side note, shifting is only used before or after a turn. Shifting in the middle a turn is not the proper way to do it. LOL

[Colin]

One gripe was the paddle shifters in sport mode. I like the ability to move the stick in the 1st gen. You shift down to "S" and the paddle shifters will become active once you touch them. If you do not, then it stays in full auto.

FWIW, it's not quite full auto, but a 'sport auto' mode that holds gears a little longer and provides more engine braking.

[VQ30GTR]

FWIW, it's not quite full auto, but a 'sport auto' mode that holds gears a little longer and provides more engine braking.

I guess what I meant was if you move it to the "s"- unless you actually move the paddles, it will still automatically shift for you. You have to actually go up or down (With paddles) to have the gear show up on the dash, and become active. So you can drive around in the "s" mode and then when you want it just move the paddles instead of having to rememeber to move to the "s" mode and then shift with the paddles. You have to use the shift release button to move to the sport mode, as opposed to the 08' style where you move the shifter, and there is no release. :)

P.S. I guess I forgot to add the interior quality was top notch. Materials were quite nice and had a good feel to them.

[Colin]

So you can drive around in the "s" mode and then when you want it just move the paddles instead of having to rememeber to move to the "s" mode and then shift with the paddles.

Well, you could do that in drive as well. If you are in regular "D' and pull a paddle, the car will respond to your request and then return to 'D' after the pass is done.

If you are in 'S' and you pull a paddle, the car is in 'manual' mode and you will need to handle all gear changes. To take it out of this mode, you would have to go back to 'D'.

I guess there are 4 ways to drive it

1) Drive - never touch paddles
2) Drive w/override - temp manual mode, tranny returns to "D'
3) Sport - kinda like Drive but with faster shifts
4) Sport Manual - You're on your own...

[mkaresh]

Drove one last week. Didn't have a big problem with the steering, possibly because my expectations were low. The handling isn't as agile as before.

The biggest suprise for me was the height of the IP--it towers over the driver with the seat in its lowest setting. Much different than before. And Honda used to be known for low IPs.

[Yflyer]

My wife just purchased an '08 after extensive back-to-back comparisons of the '09 and '08.

Verdict: for a shorter driver (she is 5' 4") the instrument panel is just too high as are the window sills. The '08 dash is clean, simple and looks well thought out. The bi-level dash on the '09 looks cheesy as do the myriad of buttons surrounding the nav unit.

Can't comment on the engine/trans as we drove new cars and did not want to trash them. However, in normal traffic driving, the '09 does not feel any more responsive than the '08.

And then there was that below invoice price plus $1500 Honda cash on the '08 vs. near sticker on the '09. Deal!

[tsx4life]

09 tsx sucks ass...as long as u happy then goodluck to u

[mkaresh]

Verdict: for a shorter driver (she is 5' 4") the instrument panel is just too high as are the window sills. The '08 dash is clean, simple and looks well thought out. The bi-level dash on the '09 looks cheesy as do the myriad of buttons surrounding the nav unit.

My least favorite bit when I test drove the 2009 was the height of the instrument panel. And I'm significantly taller than your wife. Hondas used to all have such low IPs, what happened?

[fltsx08]

1st gen fan,but nothing against the 2nd gen.

[D-BesT]

1st gen ftw.