Test drove a 2004 Max SE Saturday, and all I could say was Wow. It's about 3x the car that my loaded `99 SE is. Very nice, and am in consideration.
Anyway, I've been a hard core manual fanatic for a long time (last A/T I owned was 22+ years ago) but am strongly considering an A/T for my next car (old[er] age, plus my current commute, etc.) I admit that A/Ts have come a long way, and am seriously impressed by how smooth the shifts are on my wife's Civic EX, and how readily it downshifts, etc. Long cry from the old days. I noticed right off that the Max had a pretty "firm" gear change, actually causing my head to bob on every up- and down-shift.
Has anyone compared a 2004 SL to an SE in this regard? I know they're different trannys, and I think the 5 speed in the SE is an Aisin unit, but am a bit surprised how jerky it is compared just to my wife's car, which is half the price. I'm guessing it's by design, but saw nothing in the literature to verify this.
Thnx.
Daryl