How Reliable Is Your High-Mileage Acura RSX-S?

[Windadct]

You say the Toyota was under powered but it did 190.000 it must have been a good engine if you had to put it to the metal all the time.

The Tercel was fine / excellent around town - the underpower issue came up on highway merge - esp when merging with a full car vs an empty one - the whole acceleration profile was different. It 3 speed auto with OD - so highway / loaded hills - etc. The highway driving - I do have a heavy foot and it took this pretty well, but the noticeable difference was above 70 maybe 75 MPH - the fuel econ would seriously nosedive - the RPM just too high. We did take pretty good care of it - which pretty much amounted to regular oil changes. If I could buy the same car back today I probably would for my son ( about to turn 16)

 

[Loren]

Obviously you have not owned a Ford

Or a Cavalier!

 

[czelaya]

Acura RSX-S with close to 200,000 miles. However, this isn't a regular 200,000 miles of use. It's me driving this car to it's 8100 rpm redline under brutal acceleration. Downshifting the car under hard conditions. This little car is a pocket rocket. Not one single problem. Most cars driven in these conditions wouldn't make it past 100K miles. Of course, I change the oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and all the filters. When it comes to performance and reliability, Honda's engineering is legendary. The K20 engine that is utilized throughout the Honda/Acura fleet has proven itself as one the most high-strung engines with bullet proof reliability that requires little maintenance. About the only other engines that I know that can with stand this level abuse are the 1ZZ-EE in the Toyota Celica GT-S (made in tandem with Yamaha) and the F20C in the S2000. Of course, there are the engines created by BMW's M-division and all the Italian sports car automakers but they require horrid and expensive maintenance to have this level of performance.

I've replaced some of the leather and other interior pieces. No rust because I clay bar the car's paint, strip, wax, and re-coat.