qtiger

Its competition is pretty sparce here.

The EVO is the only thing that even came close in my mind... and as nice as it is, we've all seen the same package before. Exterior is poor, interior is worse. I see it as an SRT-4 with AWD. It's certainly not a daily driver for most, and reliability is certainly questionable.

Secondly, it's really a tiny evolutionary step over the previous EVOs. Not to mention all the fun bits Mitsu stripped from it for the American market. It is an excellent car in two respects only: power and grip. Add to that I simply can't respect a FNF bandwagon car.


The TL now... great interior, exterior, handling, power for its class, etc. An all around excellent car. It might not excel in one area quite so well as the EVO, but it has far more going for it.


1) Best Smallish Sporty Car, $20,000 - $25,000

Acura RSX-S. Despite all the criticisms about its weight and power, it still manages to find its way to the top of the comparisons. Beyond straight line performance I adore overall car feel and for that you can't go wrong with Honda steering & gearbox.

2) Best Midsize Car, $20,000 - $25,000

Tough choice here between the Mazda 6 and the new Accord. 6 has the edge on exterior styling especially vs. the Accord sedan. However, the Honda's interior is much better than the Mazda's. If the Accord EX V6 MT fit into this price range, it would win hands down... but it doesn't. I say tie.

3) Best Car, $25,000 - $35,000

TSX at the low end, TL at the top end.

4) Best Car, $40,000-$60,000

Mmmmmmm.... I'm going to say MB E320 sedan just to break from the BMW herd.

5) Best Car, Exotic Car

360 Challenge Stradale

6) Car of the Year

Acura TL

ultramantaro

Here are my choices:

1) Best Smallish Sporty Car, $20,000 - $25,000
The Dodge Neon SRT came very close to taking this one but I have to award it to the WRX. Impeccable rally performance plus real seating for 4 full size adults.

2) Best Midsize Car, $20,000 - $25,000
The Mazda6 almost takes the cake with its un-family sedan like handling, but I have to award it to the Accord. Major interior upgrade from the previous generation with a sweet V6 plus and unflappable transmission (auto or 6 speed)


3) Best Car, $25,000 - $35,000
A lot of competition in this range varying from the V6 powered mid size crowd to the compact AWD propelled pocket rockets (a la STi), but the award goes to the G35 coupe and sedan. A lot of car for the money with a lively drivetrain and backed by a consistently highly rated ownership experience by JD Power & Assoc. Buy a G35 for your daily car, and here in the Bay Area, you get another G35 for a loaner....that's tough to beat. TL has better bang for the buck but playing tug-o-war with the steering wheel is a serious flaw. The GTO is another notable candidate, but unfortunately I haven't been able to see one or even drive one.


4) Best Car, $40,000-$60,000
BMW knocked itself down by putting questionable parts in the new 5's interior and an exterior that just stepped out of the Guggenheim museum. Winner therefore: MB E Class, notably the E500.


5) Best Car, Exotic Car
McLaren F1 - as close to a real race car as you can possibly get with a center cockpit.

6) Car of the Year
Voted for the Rx8 as it was on the list and will stick with this one. Great execution of the suicide door design with aggressive styling inside and out. Lovely 6 speed with a whine only rotaries can produce. Adults can fit in the back, but albeit for shorter trips. Should I suggest twin turbo to Mazda?

socalprelude

1) Best Smallish Sporty Car, $20,000 - $25,000- Acura RSX type S

2) Best Midsize Car, $20,000 - $25,000- Honda Accord

3) Best Car, $25,000 - $35,000- Infiniti G35 coupe

4) Best Car, $40,000-$60,000- Lexus LS

5) Best Car, Exotic Car- Ferrari Maranello

6) Car of the Year- Acura TL

MrFatbooty

You TL voters are a bunch of Honda nut sweaters.

1) Best Smallish Sporty Car, $20,000 - $25,000 - RSX Type-S. Sure it's boring to look at and none of the numbers it makes produce any sort of excitement, but when you strap it on for a drive it manages to do everything right and at the same time never give you the idea that it's cheap.

2) Best Midsize Car, $20,000 - $25,000 - Accord, for the same reason as the RSX. Now if only Honda could manage to make their cars a bit less yawn inducing in the style department.

3) Best Car, $25,000 - $35,000 - Infiniti G35 Coupe & Mazda RX-8 (tie). The G35C is way too sexy to buy a TL instead of this, unless you really need to put people in the back seat. The Bluetooth cell phone link of the TL is sort of cool and I'm sure the stereo is nice, but that's not enough to sway me in its direction. Although I could just as easily go for an RX-8 since it's similarly unique as the G35C although not quite as classy.

4) Best Car, $40,000-$60,000 – Mercedes E-Class. I don't care how the new 5-Series drives, it's ugly. The Z4 is growing on me but I can't say I'd actually buy any one of these "flame-surfaced" Bimmers. The E-Class is an insanely competent cruiser with timeless styling, and with the sport package provides plenty of grip and damping for this class of vehicle. The Lexus LS is for old people, it's too sanitized for me.

5) Best Car, Exotic Car - Sure, I'll say the Enzo.

6) Car of the Year - Out of these choices...RX-8. I saw one on the highway on Monday when I was taking a taxi back to the airport, and the styling just worked. The front fenders are so wacky yet they manage to make the car stand out. This is a truly unique looking car whose features rely too much on being three dimensional to be judged through pictures. Yeah it's underpowered compared to its competition but the styling and the overall chassis balance that Mazda is always able to imbue its rwd sports cars with--see FD RX-7 and Miata for reference--are more than able to make up for it. If I was shopping for a not-quite-fully-sports car (i.e. not the 350Z or S2000) it would be a damn tough choice between this and the G35 Coupe.

98CoupeV6

And it hasn't been produced for 7 years. But welcome to HAN and the N&R board

qt - the EX-V6 is close enough to 25k. The MSRP is only like 800 bucks above it, and they're going for far below that.

Keep up the good voting guys, the votes will be tallied at the end to produce winners in each class :thumbup:

Ochdx

1) Best Smallish Sporty Car, $20,000 - $25,000
Neon SRT

2) Best Midsize Car, $20,000 - $25,000
Accord

3) Best Car, $25,000 - $35,000
TSX

4) Best Car, $40,000-$60,000
LS430

5) Best Car, Exotic Car
Enzo

6) Car of the Year
TL

qtiger

I thought they were $26,500 for some reason. :thinking:

In that case, Accord > 6.

Dorikin

Wow chris dont tell me you would take a TL over an RX8. The TL is an FWD family car through and through. The thing makes you fight for the wheel all the way through third. Its just a quasi performance car, who gives about the 270hp, with FWD you cant handle it. The RX8 may have less hp, and slightyly slower straight-line times, but in spiritied(read: country back road), the RX8 will rip the TL to ribbons.

I know you are an interior man, and sure you may think the TL ownz the RX8, and sure its nice, but who has ANY use for DVD-A. Its kinda wasted on people. And the people I know who have Bluetooth phones all drive S-class or 7-series style rides. Sure the stereo is nice, but the RX8s stereo is equally good for what you need. Its not like you require a mobile concert hall.

It comes down to this: The RX8 looks hot, makes some awesome rotary sounds, and drives like a wet dream. Its arguably the most distinctive style on the market. And c'mon, it was in X:2

The TL...alright its nice, but its like Hagen Daz Ice cream. They tried to make it european but when it comes down to it, its just bland. The cut line down the side with the brake light seems kinda silly, and that ACURA embossed in the bumper...too domestic for my tastes.

Its just like the 330i vs. TL. On paper, the TL seems like it should tear it up, but when you drive it, the TL seems so banal, so utilitarian..so Honda. The 330i exudes a magically ability of properly weighted steering, perfectly neutral cornering and all around fun that FWD cars, and Honda(with the exception of its top of the line sporting models) cannot bring.

Im not comparing the TL to the RX8, as that would be a classic case of apples vs. oranges, rather Im trying to illsutrate why you have to be nuts or a Honda fanboy to pick the TL over the rotary rocket.

BTW I voted for the GTO...it appeals to the :rick: inside me


Edit: Now that I think of it, on a STRICTLY performance level, the TL is kinda like the SRT-4. Big horsepower, big torque, lotsa acceleration, LSD, but torque steer and the overall FWD charecteristics keep it from being a truly potent performance car.

As C/D said, its one rear driveshaft short of a full reccomendation

MrFatbooty

Um just to comment, the SRT-4 was pretty free of torque steer in its original form because of its equal-length half shafts and with the addition of the Quaife diff for '04 it's even less of a problem.

98CoupeV6

All true, all true. However, I have to base my opinion off of which car impresses me the most. Would I take any sports sedan over the TL? I can give you an unequivocal no. Would I take any sports coupe/convertible over the RX-8? Well, yes. The S2000, 350Z and G35C all come to mind. I've never been too big on the RX-8's styling and I'm iffy on its reliability prospects. But it was a close call for me between the RX-8 and the TL...however, I believe that the TL is really a much more impressive car than the RX-8.