I just bought a used 03.5 recently and when I took in to the dealer a few weeks ago and drove the 04.5 loaner, it was a totaly different car. The handeling was much smoother and the car seamed more responsive. Any idea what the drastic different could be? The 04 had the sports package, does the stiffer suspension make that big of a difference. Any idea if a steering fluid flush improves the handeling of the vehicle?

 

Smooth and responsive can mean alot of different things. The smoothness you felt could have been the sport suspension on a nicely made road compared to what the 03.5 was used to being driven on. The responsiveness could come from the fact that you typically drive at a normal pace...but if you drive alot of wide open throttle (wot) the cars ecu will adjust for this and allow the car to access the power that it has. It comes down the the cars ecu memory settings...drive hard all the time and the car will respond to it....drive modestly all the time and it will adjust to that.

 

How many miles do you have on your 2003.5? If you have like 80k miles on it then the shocks are going to be worn which will hurt your handling... You will really notice it when you compare it to a newer car with few miles on it like the loaner you got....

 

Shocks, driving style, tires (miles on them), stuff like that. The title of this thread is a bit overstated.

 

Stating that it is a totally different car is a little exaggerated.

 

I have 34K on my 03.5. I am thinking that it could either be the tires/RIMS and/or the sport suspension. True I might have exagerated a bit, but the car really did drive very different. I want to modify mine so that it drives like the loaner did.

 

Get better tires and sways and you car will be a whole new monster.

 

i know wa u mean..

my coworker had an 06 loaner...which had only 4k miles..and mine is 53k..but there were noticeable difference..

short shifter
suspension stiffer compared to wen i first bought mine

 

I owned an 03.5 with the sport package and currently own an 05 with the sport package and I really didn't notice any difference in the handling. I have driven several loaners from 03-05 and if they don't have the sport package the cars are totally different in the capability and feed back based on the lack of a sport suspension. The sport suspension makes a big difference in feed back and performance.

 

i own a 03.5 6MT with sports package and i drove a 04.5 with a sport package and nothing seemed different to me.. both drove like butter~
one of the best things about the sedans are the handling i think...