charts, Honda's tribal elders decided that Acura should be a pure luxury
make. This was followed in short order by another about-face, emphasizing
performance and sporty character.
Finalized during the waning days of the pure-lux era, the CLs wound
up with a personality that's a tad out of synch with the new direction,
leaning more toward the luxury side of the ledger.
That's why Acura left a manual transmission out of the mix for the 3.0
edition.
If you check around in this price-performance sector, you won't find
many other players. It's been suggested that the Chrysler Sebring LXi offers
a comparable car for considerably less, but we don't see it. Pretty though
it is, the Sebring is no match for the 3.0's performance or refinement.
And the only other coupes in this realm wear BMW emblems--the 318is
and the 328is, which are still style and performance pacesetters. But they're
also pricey. The 138-horsepower four-cylinder 318is starts at over $28,000,
the 190-horsepower 328is, with its sweet inline six, opens the bidding
a bit north of $33,000.
So Acura's CL is swimming around out there pretty much by itself, an
uncomfortable situation for a new car. There's not much to compare it to,
not directly anyway, and that means it has to achieve recognition on a
basis of brand and styling.
We think the styling will speak for itself. As for what's beneath the
distinctive sheetmetal, we think that will speak--seductively--to the inner
driver.
Like all current Honda designs, the CL has a relatively long wheelbase
for its tidy overall size, which pays off in ride quality and more room
inside. The track is also proportionately wide, which benefits stability
as well as interior volumetrics.
The new coupes ride on Honda's sophisticated double wishbone suspension,
with disc brakes at all four corners. The 3.0CL has bigger front brake
rotors than the 2.2, and antilock is standard for all models. Next Page