Easily Improved Handling?

[j3studio]

Greetings from the Corvette and 300M forums! And from someone whose first new car was a 1994 Civic EX coupe...

:)

My wife and I are looking to replace our (heavily used, aging) daily driver Chrysler 300M and are considering an Accord EX V6 sedan. We're predisposed to Hondas because of our good Civic experience. Here's the issue:

My wife prefers ride/suspension that is (relatively) tighter - we had the performance package on the 300M and she hated the 'normal' 300Ms when we had them as rentals. When I read reviews of the new Accord, they politely hint that the handling is tilted toward the comfort side (like a Camry/Lexus). We'd prefer something more Acura/Nissan like - in fact we're also cross-shopping the Acura TSX (unfortunately, my wife is an automatic person and the TSX is not exactly fast with the slushbox).

So, my question is: are there quick, easy, relatively inexpensive upgrades that would tilt an Accord's handling substantially in the performance direction without killing the ride?

Thanks for your expertise.

[princess]

When reading your post I have to wonder if you've driven an '03 Accord. We just traded our '02 Accord V6 for the '03. We really didn't expect much of a handling difference. We loved the '02 & the only reason we traded was for the Nav system. Much to our surprise the '03 is even more sure footed. We took her on a drive to a local lake. Nice & winding road, perfect for a test. She actually handles noticably better than the '02 that we loved! She's a pinch wider & maybe that is the difference. I honestly don't know. I do know we were easily taking 35-45-mph turns at 65 without any sway.

So before you decide to make any changes, do some driving. I don't like the leather as well in the '03, but it has out performed the '02 on every test we've made!;)

You "feel" the road without too much of that solid thud stuff going on. We also don't care for the "spongey" ride some autos have.