The 2002 Acura RSX

I recently bought a 2002 Acura RSX, but does it compare to Mustangs and Camaros? For starters, it's a 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder with a 5 speed manual transmission. These cars came with the base model and the Type-S and I have the base model. The Type-S came with the same motor with 40 more horsepower, and a 6 speed manual transmission. The car has two doors and four seats, with adjustable front seat placement in both forward and backward, leaning back and forth, and height off the floorboard.

Although the car only has 160 horsepower, which may not seem like a lot for a sports car, the car weighs 2,600 pounds with a full tank, which is extremely light, considering it’s about 1,000 pounds lighter than the Camaros and Mustangs. Another great thing about this car is because it has a four cylinder and the gas mileage is great! It gets an average of about 27 combined mpg with a 13 gallon tank. If you were to take this car on a road trip, you would get closer to 30 mpg on the highway, and almost 400 miles to the tank.

The RSX is a hatchback with a fold down back seat meaning that it has the cargo space to hold multiple suitcases, bikes, large boxes, you could probably even fit a regular sized dresser in the back seat. Even with the back seat up normal, it has plenty of trunk room, I have fit a roadside safety kit, 6 skateboards, 6 full jansport bags, and a milk crate full of bike parts and still had plenty of room to put just about whatever I wanted in there. One downside to the car is that when you are sitting four people in the car, leg room can be a little tight. The back seat doesn't have a lot of space, but the people in the front seat can adjust for them.

The car is powered by the Honda made motor, the K20, which is one of the most followed motors in the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) community. The RSX can do 0-60 in 6.7 seconds, which is 4 seconds faster than its rival at the time, the Civic. It can also do 80-0 in 200 feet, which is 120 feet less than the new Mustang. It has such a big following that just about anything you want to do to it to make more power, multiple performance companies have put out pre-fitted parts, that you can buy and bolt on. For under $1000 you can slightly upgrade and tune the motor with a turbo to be putting out 300-400 horsepower, that's as much as the base model v8 Camaros and Mustangs, all while being 1000 pounds lighter.

All around, I’d say this is a great car, not only for a teenagers first car, but for someone who is looking to get into the car scene without spending too much money. You can find them online for anywhere from 3k-6k depending on condition, mileage, base model or Type-S, and which transmission it has. These cars are quick, fun, and the best part is the are very inconspicuous. If you were thinking of getting a Civic, RSX, Integra, or anything like it, this is most definitely the car for you.