Liberty GT to Accord Euro

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Originally Posted by JeffyG

Have you considered a Mazda6 MPS also? Ive never been in one, but have read that it is a close call with the Liberty GT.

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I've been in both, the Liberty GT's interior spanks the MPS' one in, out and upside down. :p

Just some comment as a Euro driver.

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Originally Posted by shane

1. Brakes. Virtually no feedback through the pedal. Felt like I was pressing on air and had to visually judge how hard I was applying the brakes. Drove me absolutley nuts. The NRMA review of this car stated that the brakes were disappointing also - I guess this is what McKinnon meant.

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I find this as well. The brakes are very light but extremely effective and quite large for the car. They do tend to "grab" due to the power assisted braking as well.

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Originally Posted by shane

2. Seemed to be twitchy - stiff sway bars? I also lit up one front wheel while cornering without trying which concerned me. The stability thingy was ON at the time. I considered the Euro twitchy (quick to change direction without driver intention) eventhough I have stiffer suspension on the 2.5i than standard.

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The Euro has very stiff suspension for a stock car though. The Stability assist does seem to take a second before it kicks in. I can spin the wheels very easily from a standing start, and I have an auto.

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Originally Posted by shane

3. No trip meter - not a major issue but there really should be one. Is there in the new model?

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It has been addressed in the '06 model. Unfortunately most of us have 05 or earlier :(

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Originally Posted by shane

4. I have been told that it's difficult to drive at a constant speed in traffic as if the drive by wire system is too crude. I didn't notice this but sure I would have picked it up in time.

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Haven't noticed it myself and I do 90% city driving. I find you do so many diff speeds anyway in traffic.

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Originally Posted by shane

5. Too much chrome.

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It looks nice though, but does show fingure prints and greasy marks easily.

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Originally Posted by shane

6. Seats hurt my arse badly - twice. Couldn't explain it! Probably just me.

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You have a funny shaped ass then :) j/k. I find the seats wonderful compared to my lancer.

What was good -

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Originally Posted by shane

The gear change - scarey smooth

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Oh yeah, 1 of the huge selling points.

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Originally Posted by shane

Engine pick up - easily accelerated cleanly up the SE freeway in Adelaide in 5th gear from 100 to 140kph.

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It does have one of the best 5th gear pickups for a n/a 4cyl car.

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Originally Posted by shane

Dual Climate control

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I thought it was a bit of a wank at first, but my wife and I actually do use it quite a lot.

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Originally Posted by shane

I own a 2.5i Liberty Manual. I test drove the Euro twice before deciding on the Liberty. What I disliked about the Euro was

1. Brakes. Virtually no feedback through the pedal. Felt like I was pressing on air and had to visually judge how hard I was applying the brakes. Drove me absolutley nuts. The NRMA review of this car stated that the brakes were disappointing also - I guess this is what McKinnon meant.

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Seems ok to me. Guess you have to get used to it. I drove the 2.5L Legacy Heritage (the previous model) before from Canberra to Sydney, and I thought the brake feedback was terrible. I had to press very hard to get some stopping power going.

What I don't like about the Euro's brakes though is that while it has great initial bite, pressing harder doesn't give that much more braking power.

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Originally Posted by shane

2. Seemed to be twitchy - stiff sway bars? I also lit up one front wheel while cornering without trying which concerned me. The stability thingy was ON at the time. I considered the Euro twitchy (quick to change direction without driver intention) eventhough I have stiffer suspension on the 2.5i than standard.

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The Euro has no LSD unlike your Liberty (lucky bugger!). Hence it will light up the inner wheel, especially since it is a FWD. It's not actually twitchy, but rather it tramlines. If there is a slant in the road surface for one wheel (say a right slant that hits the right wheel), then the car suddenly pulls to the right. It is scary and UNDESIRABLE! :(

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Originally Posted by shane

3. No trip meter - not a major issue but there really should be one. Is there in the new model?

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The 2006 model has it. Tempting us to upgrade. They should have included it in the first place since the 2003 Accord in Japan has the trip computer in the base model!

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Originally Posted by shane

4. I have been told that it's difficult to drive at a constant speed in traffic as if the drive by wire system is too crude. I didn't notice this but sure I would have picked it up in time.

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I haven't noticed this. Mine must be a good one? :) It is difficult to drive at low speeds in 1st gear at low RPM smoothly though.

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Originally Posted by shane

5. Too much chrome.

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Yeah... I would have preferred the front chrome to be body coloured. Window chrome is ok though. The Euro Sport has black trim instead of chrome and dark metal door handles. Looks a bit boring though.

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Originally Posted by shane

6. Seats hurt my arse badly - twice. Couldn't explain it! Probably just me.

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You have a square bum? :p Joking! The Outlack H6's leather seats hurt my bum bad. Bad enough to give me pins and needles in my bum after the drive back from Blue Mountains. The Euro's seat is great for my bum. I made the trip to Canberra without pins and needles or even feeling sleepy! Let me emphasise, I LOVE THE EURO SEATS!!!!!!!! Really, The Liberty is better than the Euro in many departments, but I very very much prefer the seats of the Euro. :D

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Originally Posted by shane

What was good -
The gear change - scarey smooth
Engine pick up - easily accelerated cleanly up the SE freeway in Adelaide in 5th gear from 100 to 140kph.
Dual Climate control

I doubt there would be much between the Euro and 2.5i in manual form through the Adelaide hills unless it was wet - then forget it, no competition. The 2.5i would be the pick hands down.

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I bet if the hills were smooth flowing corners that the Euro would be quicker than the 2.5i. If it were sharper corners, then the Liberty would be quicker (because the inner wheel spins if you apply power too early in the tight corner!).

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Originally Posted by shane

As for keeping up with an XR6 - the manual 2.5i running on 98 will do this. I have proven this at 3 consecutive sets of lights one night, against an AUTO XR6. I doubt I could keep with a manual version.

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Have you tried keeping up with a manual Euro? :p (on the drag strip of course). Would be interesting to see.

Regarding the brake pedal feel of the Euro - don't really think its a big problem since you're going to be driving the Euro around the circuit anyway :) I find the initial bite to be a bit too hard for my taste so if you have a sensitive passenger riding, (s)he might complain a bit.


I think it brakes quite effectively and the caliper/rotor combo is quite big so you can trust it completely. But like I said before, the ABS in this car is a nuisance, kicks in way too early and increases potential braking distance I think!

The inital bite is very hard, I agree. My wife has commented on it, both as a passenger and a driver of the car.

the eletronic throttle drives me nuts at times...the liberty throttle is spot on

The Liberty throttle is very very good. I can change from walking pace (foot not on pedal) to running pace and then to putting pace without any acceleration jerk whatsoever. Then she'll fly up to redline in less than a second without hesitation - but I don't do that very often.

I find this :wave: really annoying.

I have heard some reviewer say this Throttle being jerky on the Euro as well, I think it was Autospeed.

Anyway, for some reason I don't find this to be so. I can easily adjust the level of throttle.

Did you guys notice that the ACCELERATOR on the Euro is per BMW style? You actually step down on it, not push it forward.

As such to make better adjustment you need to use your toes to press against it, also you got to put your whole foot on the pedal. If you press in the middle of the pedal, of course its going to be jerky, you're only getting half the adjustment you should get!

I test drove the Euro the other day since I'm thinking about changing over from the Liberty but two things really bugged me (apart from the occasional loss of traction) -

1. The drivetrain snatch. Compared to the Liberty, as soon as I lift my foot off of the accelerator a little (I'm talking about the manual here), the Euro engine brakes quite a bit. Then when I press down on the accelerator again (ever so slightly) the car seemed to jerk forward. The Euro never wanted to cruise and the ride felt very "on-edge".

2. The droning sound. This could have just been due to the particular car I drove but even with decent revs on board (over 4000rpm) the engine and exhaust just droned. It never sounded very nice at all. Also when engine braking, the same sound appeared. There was none of that boxer growl for certain (yes I know the Euro engine is in-line).

So what do Euro owners think of this? If I do buy a used model what should I look out for please? I have just realised that I'll have to buy a luxury model to get the 225/45/R17 tyres.

Also wondering about torque distribution in the wet. I reckon I would loose the front wheels often.

Ta,
Shane.

It sounds to me you got a thrashed test car. Although mine is auto it certainly doesn't have any of those traits. It's soooo quiet, all the way through the rev range, if fact I've bounced off the rev limiter several times cause it was so quite I thouht I had more revs to go.

As far as wet traction, the traction control and stability assist works well, but could kick in earlier I think.

If you want 17" wheels but not everything else the Lux has, just buy some aftermarket rims and sell the 16" on ebay.

I fully agree with ya Billzor

I have a MT, and dont get any of thoes sympoms, I always hit fuel cut out if I havnt driven it for a while, ( just cant get used to the lower redline ). very quiet engines.

the drive fine in the wet, but driving with traction control off and a wet road will result in wheel spin.

*MERGED*