Acura RSX: Luxuriously affordable

All you young hot rods take note: Acura’s 2006 RSX is the lowest-priced luxury-branded car in America — a powerful two-door coupe that has sporty and spunky written all over it.

Acura is marking its 20th anniversary with an RSX that gives buyers more than a low starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including delivery charge, of $20,940. The four-passenger car has quick-response steering and four-cylinder engine technology that provides horsepower that rivals some V-6s.

The RSX also comes standard with some luxury amenities, such as power moonroof, side air bags, six-disc in-dash CD changer and automatic — not manual — climate control with air filtration system.

Among the perks: a lengthy, six-year/70,000-mile limited powertrain warranty in addition to a comprehensive, bumper-to-bumper warranty of four years/50,000 miles, whichever comes first.

The next-lowest-priced luxury-branded car is the 2006 Saab 9-2X, which starts at $23,710 and is basically a rebadged Subaru Impreza WRX.

You can also take pride in knowing the RSX ranks in Consumer Reports’ “Best Vehicles for $25,000 or Less” list, which was released this month. Its reliability is rated at “very good.”

Import tuners — guys who like to customize their vehicles with eye-catching wheels, lowered suspensions and engine enhancements — have taken a special interest in this car. But the RSX is an impressive performer without modifications.

For 2006, it’s available in two versions: A 155-horsepower with choice of five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission with shift-it-yourself SportShift, and a higher-performance 201-horsepower Type-S with six-speed manual that was the test car.

The base model has 16-inch all-season high-performance tires, while the Type-S wears 17-inch rubber. Passengers sit low to the floor in all RSX models. I dropped down into the seats as I entered and looked up at the trunks of bigger cars in the traffic ahead.

Riders in the two small back seats can feel cramped. The rear windows don’t open, and I found my hair was brushing the ceiling. I liked that the rear-seat floor was flat, though.

It’s obvious that the driver has the preferred seat in the RSX, and it gets better when the car is turned on. Engine power in the Type-S came on so readily, I squealed the tires on the car at startup one morning when the pavement was wet.

The uplevel, 2-liter double-overhead-cam four cylinder with Honda’s “intelligent” valve-control system, known as i-VTEC, has a high redline of 8,100 rpm. And there’s plenty of power for acceleration in second and third gears.

The Type-S feels zippy and responsive, with torque peaking at 140 foot-pounds at 7,000 rpm, while maximum horsepower is 201. Factor in that the RSX weighs less than 2,900 pounds — versus the more than 3,300 for a Ford Mustang with base V-6 engine — and you can begin to understand why the RSX feels so lightweight and spirited.

But be aware that unleaded premium gasoline is the recommended fuel for the Type-S. According to the owner’s manual, using lower than 91 octane fuel “can cause occasional metallic knocking noises in the engine.”

The RSX’s ride isn’t quiet. I heard road noise on nearly all surfaces, except on fresh, smooth asphalt, and there’s also a good amount of engine noise when the revs get above 4,000 rpm. And watch out when backing out of parking spaces, because the large pillars around the RSX rear liftback can block views. The cargo area also requires a big lift up and over the car bumper and body.