This is my impression after having our RRP EXL-RES for three days and putting about 80 miles on it. Since this was a replacement for my 01 I will try to sum up the differences. I’m sure that some of my initial thoughts and opinions will change over time but this is how I see it now.
Build Quality
Fit & Finish – Our 02 definitely has a slightly better build quality in terms of body panel alignment than the 01. The 01 was plagued with miss-aligned doors and non-uniform fit between the various panels. The 02 is much better but there are still some issues. The passengers side rear vent window is out of alignment and angles down towards the rear. I think I'll fix this myself, since I don’t trust any of the nearby dealers to handle it without making something else worse. The passenger front door is also miss-aligned slightly. It’s not terrible so I will fix that one myself also. The areas just behind the rear wheel wells are very flimsy (a carry over from 99 ~ 01). Installing the mug guards took care of that and now that area is very rigid. Both sun visors seem to hang down from the ceiling when they are in the retracted position. My 01 fit snug against the headliner when retracted. Not sure how to fix that one yet. Any input would be appreciated. All in all, pretty minor stuff.
Paint/Color - My biggest worry! So far, the paint job looks good. I’ve washed it once and I haven’t been able to see anything abnormal except a few smudge marks on the passenger sliding door. Looks like they are under the factory clear coat. Good enough so far. The color? My wife is very happy with the RRP and that’s what counts. I don’t necessarily dislike it, but it will have to grow on me a little. It is a dramatic change from the SS. I remember the SS color being a shock when we bought it as a replacement for our Black 2000 Accord EX-V6.
Wheels – They’re OK. I think I prefer the 01 in terms of appearance but again, they will grow on me I’m sure.
Grill & Tail lights – I like the changes here. Fresh look and the amber taillights add some dimension to the van. Then again, I like the look of the LX black door handles and side moldings better than the body colored ones. It breaks up that monotone look.
Interior
Leather – In one word. Awesome! I still can’t get over the transformation that took place by adding the leather. It really makes this van feel like it’s approaching the luxury category. Very refined throughout. I don’t agree that the vinyl backs feel cheap as some have posted. This interior is very well done.
Heated Seats – What can I say. I live in the Chicago area. It gets cold. This is a welcome feature. I do think it should have been an option however because people who live in Southern California for example will generally not need this feature. But if they want leather they don’t have choice in the matter.
Lumbar Support – I’m sure some of the after market powered systems work better but still,this is a welcome addition. The adjustment is easier than on earlier Hondas but the range of travel is pretty small.
RES – Again, awesome. This system is done so well. I’ve only seen three or four factory supplied systems but this one takes the cake. It is very flexible and user friendly once you figure it out and in my opinion it is well worth the money. Not to mention that it’s DVD based. They could have easily charged more for this system. Even the rear passenger headset volume control & aux input panel is lighted. Well thought out. The single drawback that I can see is that it was necessary to lose most of the front console drawer storage space to make room for the DVD head unit. Although there is still a small drawer, its nothing to brag about. This is true also of the passengers left rear storage compartment that had to give up a little real estate to make way for the headset & aux input panel.
New Features:
To numerous to mention but the minor improvements just add insult to injury as far as the competition is concerned. More handles, hangers and conveniences to up the ante on an already impressive list of features.
Magic Seat
– Bummer! Our new magic seat doesn’t lay completely flat just as the 01 didn’t. I was hoping Honda would wrestle this thing to the ground. It’s hard to imagine why Honda can’t control their suppliers on the tolerances for these seats. Other than that it works fine and is obviously still one of the strongest selling points for the ody.
Sound Quality – Maybe I’m getting old but I’ve worked in the sound field all of my life and while I agree the sound isn’t equivalent to my studio monitors it is very good for a stock, no frills factory system. Frequency response is solid and still transparent. When parked, and not being masked by road noise, the low end is strong. Sure a 200-watt Bose or JBL system would make a world of difference but from reading prior posts I was ready for complete trash. This will work just fine for me. Maybe some speaker swaps here and there. A subwoofer would help for on the road but isn’t needed when standing still.
Performance
Brakes – I feel that the 4 wheel discs make a very noticeable difference. Much smoother. I don’t have the feeling that I need to slam on the brakes to bring the van to a stop.
Suspension – Feels heavy and doesn’t seem to grip the road like my 01. Not that it is bad by any means, just different. The steering seems sloppy at low speeds. A better way to put it would be that it feels like you would expect it to feel when it’s three years old. Good, but not brand new and tight feeling. Could be the new tires. Dunno’
Engine – Noisy. More so than the 01. I don’t know why but it sounds more strained. Even at idle. I get a sensation as if a feed through grommet was left out of the firewall and the sound was coming through. I think I’ll check. Maybe that did happen. It is definitely louder than I am used to with the 01 ody. Although I haven’t worked the engine yet, because I want to break it in gently, I don’t really notice much of a difference concerning the added 40HP. I imagine that when I can open it up a little I will feel it. Especially in the middle of it’s power range.
Transmission – Rough shifting both up and down. I think I have a problem here. It doesn’t feel real smooth and seems to have a slight amount of slipping at low speed when I let off and then reapply the gas pedal. Also, there is a rather loud wining or whistling sound when it enters second gear. the sound continues on through third gear then disappears when it shifts into fourth. I am going to give it a week or so to see if it has to do with break-in. If it’s not better by then I’ll take it in for diagnosis. I had a problem with my 2000 Accord trans at 600 miles and Honda replaced it without a question. We might all want to watch this one and see if mine is isolated. (as a side note, it would be great if we could track problems by model year on the forum)
Ride Quality/Road Noise – Not impressed. I really can’t see any difference between this and the 01. Road noise seems no better or worse. I know Honda insulated, changed the suspension, and developed new tires with Michelin but it’s just as noisy as before. The wind noise is even higher than the 01. I’ll have to check out my door seals to see what is up. There were no body changes so why would the 02 be any louder?
I also have tons of rattles. So many that I can’t even tell easily where they are coming from when I’m driving. I’m going to have my wife drive me around while I isolate them one at a time and see if they can be eliminated.
Miscellaneous – Gas sloshing sound is unchanged for 02. Not a big deal but someone in a earlier post asked if it was fixed.
Didn’t drive enough to do any meaningful mileage checks. I’ll do that one later.
Enough said. Remember these are just my opinions after a few days of ownership. I am anxious to hear if others have similar observations.
------------------
Tom
2002 RP EXL-RES
Build Quality
Fit & Finish – Our 02 definitely has a slightly better build quality in terms of body panel alignment than the 01. The 01 was plagued with miss-aligned doors and non-uniform fit between the various panels. The 02 is much better but there are still some issues. The passengers side rear vent window is out of alignment and angles down towards the rear. I think I'll fix this myself, since I don’t trust any of the nearby dealers to handle it without making something else worse. The passenger front door is also miss-aligned slightly. It’s not terrible so I will fix that one myself also. The areas just behind the rear wheel wells are very flimsy (a carry over from 99 ~ 01). Installing the mug guards took care of that and now that area is very rigid. Both sun visors seem to hang down from the ceiling when they are in the retracted position. My 01 fit snug against the headliner when retracted. Not sure how to fix that one yet. Any input would be appreciated. All in all, pretty minor stuff.
Paint/Color - My biggest worry! So far, the paint job looks good. I’ve washed it once and I haven’t been able to see anything abnormal except a few smudge marks on the passenger sliding door. Looks like they are under the factory clear coat. Good enough so far. The color? My wife is very happy with the RRP and that’s what counts. I don’t necessarily dislike it, but it will have to grow on me a little. It is a dramatic change from the SS. I remember the SS color being a shock when we bought it as a replacement for our Black 2000 Accord EX-V6.
Wheels – They’re OK. I think I prefer the 01 in terms of appearance but again, they will grow on me I’m sure.
Grill & Tail lights – I like the changes here. Fresh look and the amber taillights add some dimension to the van. Then again, I like the look of the LX black door handles and side moldings better than the body colored ones. It breaks up that monotone look.
Interior
Leather – In one word. Awesome! I still can’t get over the transformation that took place by adding the leather. It really makes this van feel like it’s approaching the luxury category. Very refined throughout. I don’t agree that the vinyl backs feel cheap as some have posted. This interior is very well done.
Heated Seats – What can I say. I live in the Chicago area. It gets cold. This is a welcome feature. I do think it should have been an option however because people who live in Southern California for example will generally not need this feature. But if they want leather they don’t have choice in the matter.
Lumbar Support – I’m sure some of the after market powered systems work better but still,this is a welcome addition. The adjustment is easier than on earlier Hondas but the range of travel is pretty small.
RES – Again, awesome. This system is done so well. I’ve only seen three or four factory supplied systems but this one takes the cake. It is very flexible and user friendly once you figure it out and in my opinion it is well worth the money. Not to mention that it’s DVD based. They could have easily charged more for this system. Even the rear passenger headset volume control & aux input panel is lighted. Well thought out. The single drawback that I can see is that it was necessary to lose most of the front console drawer storage space to make room for the DVD head unit. Although there is still a small drawer, its nothing to brag about. This is true also of the passengers left rear storage compartment that had to give up a little real estate to make way for the headset & aux input panel.
New Features:
Magic Seat
Sound Quality – Maybe I’m getting old but I’ve worked in the sound field all of my life and while I agree the sound isn’t equivalent to my studio monitors it is very good for a stock, no frills factory system. Frequency response is solid and still transparent. When parked, and not being masked by road noise, the low end is strong. Sure a 200-watt Bose or JBL system would make a world of difference but from reading prior posts I was ready for complete trash. This will work just fine for me. Maybe some speaker swaps here and there. A subwoofer would help for on the road but isn’t needed when standing still.
Performance
Brakes – I feel that the 4 wheel discs make a very noticeable difference. Much smoother. I don’t have the feeling that I need to slam on the brakes to bring the van to a stop.
Suspension – Feels heavy and doesn’t seem to grip the road like my 01. Not that it is bad by any means, just different. The steering seems sloppy at low speeds. A better way to put it would be that it feels like you would expect it to feel when it’s three years old. Good, but not brand new and tight feeling. Could be the new tires. Dunno’
Engine – Noisy. More so than the 01. I don’t know why but it sounds more strained. Even at idle. I get a sensation as if a feed through grommet was left out of the firewall and the sound was coming through. I think I’ll check. Maybe that did happen. It is definitely louder than I am used to with the 01 ody. Although I haven’t worked the engine yet, because I want to break it in gently, I don’t really notice much of a difference concerning the added 40HP. I imagine that when I can open it up a little I will feel it. Especially in the middle of it’s power range.
Transmission – Rough shifting both up and down. I think I have a problem here. It doesn’t feel real smooth and seems to have a slight amount of slipping at low speed when I let off and then reapply the gas pedal. Also, there is a rather loud wining or whistling sound when it enters second gear. the sound continues on through third gear then disappears when it shifts into fourth. I am going to give it a week or so to see if it has to do with break-in. If it’s not better by then I’ll take it in for diagnosis. I had a problem with my 2000 Accord trans at 600 miles and Honda replaced it without a question. We might all want to watch this one and see if mine is isolated. (as a side note, it would be great if we could track problems by model year on the forum)
Ride Quality/Road Noise – Not impressed. I really can’t see any difference between this and the 01. Road noise seems no better or worse. I know Honda insulated, changed the suspension, and developed new tires with Michelin but it’s just as noisy as before. The wind noise is even higher than the 01. I’ll have to check out my door seals to see what is up. There were no body changes so why would the 02 be any louder?
I also have tons of rattles. So many that I can’t even tell easily where they are coming from when I’m driving. I’m going to have my wife drive me around while I isolate them one at a time and see if they can be eliminated.
Miscellaneous – Gas sloshing sound is unchanged for 02. Not a big deal but someone in a earlier post asked if it was fixed.
Didn’t drive enough to do any meaningful mileage checks. I’ll do that one later.
Enough said. Remember these are just my opinions after a few days of ownership. I am anxious to hear if others have similar observations.
------------------
Tom
2002 RP EXL-RES