Let's try to forget for a moment that Acura has left upwardly mobile enthusiasts out in the cold for the last decade or so. After baiting us with such great rides as the Integra GS-R, Integra Type R, and RSX Type S (not to mention the Honda CRX and sporty Civic models), they've pretty much left us to our own devices when it was time to buy a larger car. Of course, we're selfish people. We want to have our cake and eat it too, so to speak. So that means we can't give up all the wonderful qualities that endeared us to our Acuras or Hondas in the first place.

There are basically two choices within the Honda/Acura family for the up-and-coming person who needs to move out of their Civic/CRX/Integra/RSX into a more practical 4-door: the Accord or the TL. Due to its clearly mainstream intentions, let's skip the Accord part of the argument for now and go straight to the TL. The TL is a great car and it's plenty potent with a 260hp motor available in the Type S, but at 3500+ lbs it offers a vastly different feel from any of the smaller sporty offerings. Beyond the "beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep" that greets your key in the ignition and the styling of some of the switchgear, there's little about the TL that reminds you of any of the sportier Hondas/Acuras. Add the lack of a manual transmission (a requisite for almost any enthusiast) and ho-hum styling that makes your grandma do a double-take, and it's no wonder that Acura's been losing a large portion of the customers it captured with the Integra or RSX to the likes of Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, and increasingly, Infiniti (thanks to the G35).