I bought an Aqua LS 4WD w/o addons at invoice plus the extended b to b no deductible for $1200, at a no haggle invoice pricing dealer (the invoice matched edmunds) they gave me more than anyone else would for my 01 Olds minivan with 140,000mi. which wasnt much.

I went with the Aqua because what the dealer had was silver, grey, the puke tan and white. Some of the colors gave me 90 era vehicle flashbacks, some gave me minivan flashbacks. The black interior is a PITA when you have a white cat [sm=smiley13.gif]. I really liked the red but I could only find in 2WD and at a dealer that wanted 3K more for the car [:@]

I love the ride and handling, I dont want the suspension to loosen up at all. But then Im a truck kinda girl

I do have the bearing knock, Ive only heard it twice plan on taking it to the dealer on Friday. I dont have the mirror noise but did drive a red2WD that had wind noise. I will post my manufacturer date when I can. I do have the vin, how do you tell the month from the Vin the 10 digit is 7 so Im assuming it was made in 07? When I first

So my questions: Has anyone noticed a 3+sechesitation on aceleration out of a corner? It happens in regular drive and manual and the tranny is in 2nd (it doesnt do it in 3rd).

How it happens is slow for the corner then start the turn off acelerator then at he apex I go to acclerate out of the turn push on the gas nothing happens then it starts to oversteer because I was calculating the acceleration to pull me out of the turn then the throttle catches up and rockets me forward, possibly because in the absense of acceleration Ive pushed it further. I thought I had tried it with the ASC off but cant remember for sure. I also noticed it when Ihad slowed to get around a car that was parked and when to accelerate again because I was in the oncoming lane and it hesitated again then took off.
As a passenger it feels like the driver has poor throttle control and isjamming on the throttle, I noticed itwhen I had hubby drive itto see if I was imagining it unfortunately I wasnt.

Just for the record I am not complaining about the acceleration, I ride and repair sportbikes so fast acceleration is a great thing, when you expect it.

Question #2: Has anyone installed the trailer hitch, how is the hitch height compared to a normal truck, and does the ball hit the tailgate if you open it? Does anyone know where I can find a Pic of an OEM hitch? If anyones towed how was it, Im not too picky I used to tow with my minivan.

So heres my pics.

 

Can't answer the hitch question but as far as the lag, I have definitely noticed it when starting from stop but it's maybe a a couple hundredths of a second. Another thing is I only notice the lag when in full auto mode- no lag when I'm controlling the gearing through the sportronic shift.

BTW, welcome to the forum. Lots of great people here and useful information.

 

The throttle lag is due to the drive-by-wire throttle system, same thing happens on several other brands of cars as well. It bugs me too. Not much you can do about it. Someday auto manufacturers will figure the new technology out.

 

The hitch is low. You need the ball to be raised up about 3 to 4 inches. When you do this the lower tail gate will hit it.

 

No need to decode it. There is a sticker on the driver side door frame that will tell you the manufacture year and month.

An example here: http://outieclub.com/viewtopic.php?p=194#p194

In regards to your driving question. Try downshifting manually before the corner, and start on the gas sooner (ie, while you're still going straight).

Gosok

 

I realllllyyy like that color...

 

As far as hitch goes:

 

Same issue with the lag..it's my only real complaint with my vehicle. It's really noticeable to the point of annoyingwhen I navigate parking lots.

I personally think it's the transmission since I've only noticed it in full auto and full auto mode is defnitely optimized for economy (which I've been quite pleased with in town). I think it's in too high ofa gear and is downshifting before applying any throttle input.


As far as the hitch. I'm getting one installed as part of my deal. I wouldn't worry about how low the receiver is so much..just make sure the hitch has plenty of rise.

 

Yep, Biscuit is dead on with this. I didn't even think about the throttle being fly by wire. I tested an 07 Yammie R1 last year and noticed the same issue. Some vehicles allow you to calibrate the throttle sensitivity at various pedal positions. Don't know yet if the Mits can be calibrated.

 

That was my first choise of colors from checking them out online. It looks awesome until you see it in the sunlight. No offense to any guys that pick that color but it comes off to me as more of a womans color.

Oh and a 3 second delay in gas response, I have yet to notice this. I can hit the gas whenever I want and get an instand response. The only thing im still adjusting to is hitting the gas so lightly off the start to advoid jerking the car and cherping the front wheels. I would hate to drive in all wheel all the time. Im still adjusting from my gsx eclipse but im almost there.