1999 Acura 3.2 TL

Recalibrate your impression of the Acura TL. While the previous TL and its Vigor forbear were competent-but-unexciting also-rans in the near-luxury category, the new '99 Acura 3.2TL will prove a stimulating and attractive alternative to the likes of the Lexus ES 300, BMW 328i, and Mercedes C280. The TL gains its new stature from a solid chassis, sporty steering and handling, a spacious cabin virtually as roomy as the '95 Legend, a silky, muscular 3.2-liter DOHC V-6, and a window sticker thousands less than comparably equipped opponents.

Along with the Honda Accord, this new TL is built on the "Midsize Global Platform" by Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio. The TL shares its floorpan and suspension layout with the Accord and also meets the EPA's standards for domestic content. Still, even that common floorpan is stretched 30 millimeters and almost all structure above it is TL-specific. Notably, its suspension and steering boast aggressive exclusive tuning strategies. After a day of wheeling a pre-production 3.2TL around Quebec, its heritage seemed more Germanic than Accordian. Acura officials asserted that the "Midsize Global Platform" was originally penned with the TL in mind, but the Accord leapfrogged it in production order due to the latter's more prominent role in Honda's profit picture.

A GPS-based navigation system is the only factory option. An impossibly long list of standards is highlighted by leather seating, traction control, 180-watt Bose sound system with CD player, anti-lock braking system, power moonroof, remote keyless entry and a transversely mounted 3.2-liter/225-horse V-6 closely related to that in the 3.0CL and Accord. It features smooth-running 60-degree Vee (rather than the previous 3.2TL's right-angle Vee) construction, DOHC cylinder heads, variable valve timing, a lofty 9.8:1 compression ratio, coil-on-plug ignition, and a whopping highway fuel-mileage estimate of 27 mpg. Its four-speed electronically controlled automatic features lightning-fast upshifts in its "semi-manual" mode. Acura predicts a 0-60-mph time of 8.2 seconds.

But the most appealing feature of the '99 3.2TL is its window sticker, which Acura placed at below $30,000-more than $3000 under the lowest priced of its comparably equipped main rivals. Alone, that's plenty stimulating and attractive.