I went to test drive a red 2001 S at a local Acura dealership, and I gotta say that I am mightly impressed with the car. The sales took the car out of the lot and moved a bit through heavy traffic, and just sitting in the passenger seat was a cool experience. Then he handed over the key at an empty parking lot. The test drive started out very badly since I was stuck behind a USPS jeep going at 20mph (looking at the empty stretch of twisting road in front was very frustrating). Finally a turn came up and here comes wide-open road. I started out a little slow, getting pregressively faster, and the sales did not seem to mind. A little dangerous, I guess, but I ended up going 60+ in a 35mph road.

Then, right after going over a hill, I heard the sales go "oh, no"... and I saw a police car coming from the opposite direction. The cop gotta be able to tell that I was going way over the limit... but I guess he is used to seeing people test driving the S, and he did not even look when we passed each other.

After another turn, we met up with a M3 and had a mini race, and the S easily kept up with the M. In one of the turns, I stepped on the gas a little harder, and I can feel the tail coming out, but a slight counter-steer placed the car back on course with surgical precision. The steering and shifting of the S is flawless compared to my current ride (97 A4).

If I am not in school anymore (no, I don't mean hs, I am in grad school), or am just a little more impulsive, I'd buy the car on the spot. But the price offered by the dealership just does not seem very good. The sales offer the car for no less than around 22k, and no more than 5.5k for my A4... that leaves me with enough chunk of change to get a e36 M3. Maybe that's what dealerships do, but I am pretty sure I am going to go private party to get my S now. Especially after reading about how much Honda dealerships suck in general, particularly in the area of vehicle warranty.

In any case, test drive was incredibly fun... even with very poor shifting, since I have not driven stick for about 2 years, and not pushing the S into VTEC territory that much. Another thing that tick me off is the lack of knowledge of the S of the sales, seems like I know about the car than he does. Hopefully I will find someone who is willing to part with his/her S within the next year with a good price...