Too bad. The car really wakes up after the break-in period. But I guess there's no way to test drive one that's broken in unless you have a friend with one.

Well, to each their own. I will agree with whoever posted about the acceleration feel. My stock NSRT-4 (although factory freak) does feel like it pulls a LOT harder than the SS, but in reality its just more raw, not actually faster. At first I was kind of disappointed, but I'm really starting to appreciate the smooth power of the SS. It goes along with the rest of the car being way more refined. Also, I'm less than 1k miles so we'll see what happens when it breaks in. Personally, I think someone would be high on drugs to pay way more for the Mazdaspeed, STI, VW or something. But, there is the American made compact car stigma for whatever reason. I'll take my <$20k pocket rocket and save for the next one. 135i/335xi twin turbo..... or whatever else comes out in the meantime.

i've been told gm put a restrictor on the engine for the first 1200 to 2000 miles, after that it wakes up and goes to full power.

I have an RPD and it shows knock and retard.. The dealership put 87 octane in it when I bought it and it did have knock/retard showing on the guage, even after the tank was almost empty; best idea is to use premium 91+ and be on the safe side, plus you'll get more torque anyways.
As for your test drive, the car's are very stiff when they're brand new, but my tranny was pretty butter smooth even at my first drive; and the engine was very smooth but it really wants to go in 1st gear.. even now.. 800 miles it wants to take off like a race car from every traffic light.. some ppl think you're racing them lol and I'm barely touchin the freakin gas pedal.
The car does seem slower than an SRT-4 for example, (I know, I owned one previous to this car) but in reality, it'll pull hard on a stock SRT-4, and I mean by probably in excess of 4 car lengths or even more in the quarter. I think it's just that the power delivery is much smoother and the torque curve or powerband is pretty smooth from 2k-5.5k so u don't feel any surges of turbo power at any point in time, but trust me, when you get on it, it's really moving alot faster than you think it is. A guy in town here ran against an STI on the track, beat him 14.15 to 13.77 with nothing more than an exhaust on it.. not even tuned yet. As for myself, I've pulled on a couple of cars in the war stories section.. it's pretty deceiving how fast this little car really is.. and ppl still call them Slowbalts :lol:
OH.. and if you do go buy one, or for whoever, during break-in period (approx 500 miles), you shouldn't be downshifting anyways.. it's right in the owner's manual.
Somebody said they don't like NLS'ing from 1-2; I've only ever done it once so far, and the engine seemed to lose power, so could be some truth there, or I forgot to turn off the bloody traction control :lol: I forget :S
As for problems getting them into reverse, go into 2nd first, and then do reverse.. kinda synchronizes the gears properly since they're about the same ratio ;)

I don't know I like mine, from the moment I got it going, it felt different as the clutch was very fake like it wasn't even there, so did the gas pedal, but once I got used to it, shit was over, never really cared much for interior stuff, so I didn't really paid much attention during the test drive, was looking for a fun car to drive every day and the sedan SS fit my needs (wife's wants, lol) perfect

If you're losing power NLS from 1 to 2, then either you didn't hit it right, or your TCS kicked in and bogged the engine. I know this FOR SURE from experience because it took me a few tries to get the NLS from 1-2 (lol, is it just me or does first gear rev up REALLY REALLY fast?!)

If you land a good NLS from first to second you'll spin the tires for about a whole second, at least I did lol, it's pretty freaking sweet.

yeah, but you have to feather the clutch and let it slip out instead of releasing the clutch all together.

I just dropped the clutch the first time with horrendous results, bogging and redlining followed by missed 1-2.

I have NLS down perfect now with minimal wheel spin on the stock continentals! :cool:

Don't be cheap .... you bought a performance car !!! If premium is recommended why put 87 in it ?? You may think you don't feel a diff. between regular & premium, but for a car with forced induction premium fuel makes a big difference.

My guess on the lower performance maybe because of what someone else mentioned. Often the dealerships will put 87 octane without knowing these cars run at their best with 91+. When I bought my SS/SC back in 2007, I had to get them to promise they would fill the tank with premium.

Too bad it wasn't the car for you but good luck on finding the right one. I'm off to test the SS Sedan for myself this evening.