Powertrain performance: 210 HP -- over 100HP per Liter. There just was no other car in it's price range for that kind of performance.

Fuel economy: 30+ mi/gal with the above performance. Unheard of.

Front seat room: Full racing seats that are adjustable for a 6' person to be comfortable. It's a small car, but I didn't feel cramped in the vehicle.

Powertrain performance: 180HP just wasn't enough.

Front seat room: I felt trapped in a box. It was just too tight. The door felt up against me -- too close.

Driving position & visibility: The visibility seemed to be less due to the frame design. I didn't like the location of the front blind spot.

Exterior styling: I love hatchbacks that look like coupes. The tC was that, and for thousands less than the little competition.

Fuel economy: with 163hp, it got relatively decent fuel economy.

Powertrain performance: Smooth shifting and good horsepower to weight ratio. Nice feature that holds the speed on hill descents (uses torque converter for "engine braking").

Handling: Good weight balance for a mid sized car. The steering ratio gives tight control while remaining comfortable -- it's not too aggressive. Body roll is minimal. Front wheel drive doesn't fight back in corners.

Powertrain performance: Underpowered, even for a small car. I expect 200 HP these days and anything less feels mediocre.

Exterior styling: Hatchback. Just personal taste...

Interior styling: Seems too cheap to bear the Acura name badge.

Interior styling: Interior is top notch, high quality materials surrounds you. This is what small cars today are trying to accomplish, and Acura had it back in 02! The seats are something of beauty, and hold you as good they look. Deep bolsters and good ventilated leather.

Reliability & durability: I did have a problem with the 2ed and 3rd gear grinding while shifting. Acura serviced under warranty and completely resolved the problem.

Exterior styling: Clean lines, classic Acura. The 05/06 model refresh did away with the cutouts on the headlights and taillights. I think this makes the exterior cleaner and more modern.

Powertrain performance: Excellent 2.0 liter. Sky high 8100 redline! 6 speed manual transmission. The motor loves to rev, it’s a blast to drive at redline.

Handling: Excellent handling with a slight hint of understeer if pushing hard with the motor. Very nimble and perfectly weighted steering feel. I just know how this car is going to react when tossed around, very predictable.

Insurance & depreciation: Insurance is high for a car in this class. Mostly has to do with they type of people that purchase them. I think one report had this car as the second most deadly car, and it was not because it lacked safety features, it’s who’s driving it!

Rear seat room & comfort: The rear seat is not much use if the front passengers are over 6ft. Very little head/leg room. But you don’t buy this type of car to haul 4 people around. But in a pinch I’ve had 4 in there, and I’m 6’4”.

Ride smoothness: It rides like a sports car, you feel most of the irregularities in the road. This is great to help the driver gauge how hard to push the car, but can become tiresome for the daily grind.

Handling: Stock suspension offers excellent road feel, and the steering is tight enough for precise control but is still pleasant to drive. Turns are easily made without excessive braking, since there is little body roll.

Powertrain performance: While it's not the most powerful car, the RSX is no slouch -- especially over 6000 rpm. It's tame enough when driven lightly, but the engine literally begs you to stomp on the pedal (and rewards you for it). All this for 25 mpg in the city, too.

Reliability & durability: In three years, I have never once had a mechanical or electrical problem with the car. No major maintenance is scheduled for 100k; I've just had to change the oil regularly.

Cargo capacity & towing: The rear seats fold flat for some serious cargo capacity; I've hauled everything from a reclining armchair to all of my worldly possessions in the trunk (literally, when I moved across the state) at some point.

Safety & braking: The stock disc brakes are grippy and linear, but not oversensitive. As for safety, I personally know two people who have totaled their RSXes and walked away from the wrecks without injures both times. Sure, they were lucky, but I'm still impressed.

Insurance & depreciation: I don't know how many other factors were involved (such as my age), but I discovered that this car is not cheap to insure at all. My driving record has no serious marks against it, yet my insurance payments were higher than my lease payments for a while!

Audio & nav systems: The stereo system is passable, but audio quality not one of the car's strong points. For a system with a "subwoofer", it's sorely lacking in bass response, and the overall sound is fairly uninspiring.

Quietness: The car is noisy at highway speed; I have to really crank up the music to hear it clearly over the road noise. Phone calls and conversations are possible, but not comfortable. (Aftermarket tires may help with this; I still have the stock ones.)

Ride smoothness: The tradeoff for the great handling of the stock suspension is ride stiffness. In San Francisco, where streets are uneven, the ride can be quite uncomfortable at times. Potholes, patches, and cracks make themselves very obvious with the RSX.

Available features: Do you want a nav system? Bluetooth support? Premium audio? Power seats? None of these are even offered as options on the RSX.

Exterior styling: Looks good, everyone likes it.

Handling: For a front wheel drive vehicle. I don't think any car I have driven can match up.

Fuel economy: If I stay below 68mph I can get 350 miles from 10 gallons of gas. 400 from 12 gallons. City driving 26mpg and I drive very fast.

Powertrain performance: It does what I ask.

Interior styling: Nice combinations of colors that do not clash, leather seats are top rate and very supportive.

Rear seat room & comfort: Anyone over 5 foot will not fit comfortably behind the driver. Any one over 5'8" is too tall for rear roof line.

Reliability & durability: I have had the car for five years with no problems and very little maintenance.

Handling: Its well weighted and responsive steering along with tight suspension make carving up traffic fun and effortless.

Fuel economy: With fuel prices rising I am very pleased with how efficient the car is with gas. If I decide to take it easy and not use my lead foot, I can get gas mileage that rivals any non-hybrid car of its size.

Powertrain performance: The Type-S variant has more than enough power and torque to be quite fun. I can cruise past other vehicles over mountain passes in 6th gear.

Exterior styling: It has a sporty yet understated style that does not look out of place at a race or formal occasions.

Ride smoothness: On long trips, the tight suspension can firm seats can be exhausting.

Quietness: At cruising speeds there is a considerable amount of wind and road noise.

Rear seat room & comfort: The rear seats are to be used strictly for short trips, pets, or children.

Fuel economy: 33 mpg in summer, 31 mpg in winter

Exterior styling: It looks sporty, not your 3-box design. hatchback allows for extra loading space (skis)

Powertrain performance: free-revving 4-cyl, good acceleration for size/price, decent auto transmission w/working manual feature

Reliability & durability: In 5 yrs/145000 miles had very few problems

Handling: composed on highway, great steering (a bit on on heavy side, which is good), good in twisties

Rear seat room & comfort: short legroom

Cargo capacity & towing: small trunk

Insurance & depreciation: relatively high insurance premiums

Ride smoothness: ride is in harsh side

Exterior styling: long fron overhang