We’ve driven the Acura RSX plenty of times since its introduction in 2001, so when the updated 2005 version arrived we decided to do something different with it.  Acura’s sport-compact hatch is the darling of legions of car modifiers and cruisers everywhere, and its prowess on the track is undisputed.  But how well-equipped is the RSX for a road trip?  We packed up a handsome copper-colored RSX Type S and headed to the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, to find out.

For 2005, the RSX Type S gets a minor …

Some Mondays are just like this:  shortly after ten in the morning, I got a call from my best friend, whose faithful Escort wagon had just been clobbered at a traffic light.  She wanted to know if I’d come out and shop for a new car with her, and I was all too happy to hop into the 2004 Acura TSX in my driveway to oblige.

Her experience should’ve been a warning to me, however.  The Bad Drivers were out in force on this particular Monday.  I had barely gotten a …

Like it or not, this is the muscle car of the future.  When the Playstation Generation hits forty and goes looking for that car they always wanted when they were young, stupid and broke, the 2002 Acura RSX will be one of those on the list.

That’s hard for some sports-car purists to swallow, because the RSX, like many Acuras and most Hondas, doesn’t have much in the way of a personality.  The quirks and nuances that endeared thousands of drivers to MGs, Mustangs and Alfa Romeos are all but absent …

The all-new TL has made the leap from forgettable to unforgettable, and it brings a stronger design, better performance and best of all a much more distinct identity to the game.

The only, and we mean only, problem with the all-new Acura 3.2 CL Type S is that it works so smoothly and seamlessly that it doesn’t have much spirit.  And to be honest, that’s only a problem for Car Guys, who spend their free time between ramblings about cubic inches and roadholding with incomprehensible mumbling about the “soul” of Alfa Romeos and the “song” of a V-12.  Stuff that makes no sense whatsoever, unless you’re One Of Them, of course.  To put our assessment of the newest Acura in real-world …

Wow.  Leather and wood, in-dash satellite navigation system, silky V6 power, CD and sunroof.  Does it get any better than this?

Well, to be honest, it does.  This is the 2000 Acura 3.2 TL.  It’s neither the largest nor the most luxurious car on the road.  It isn’t even the top-of-the-line Acura.  It’s one of the better members of a group of cars known as near-luxury vehicles:  cars like the Mazda Millenia, Infiniti I30, Volvo S70, and Chrysler 300M.  Most of them are just good enough to make you wonder if …

Here’s a bit of irony which always strikes me when dealing with mid-size sport-luxury cars: everything in this class is good. You can’t go wrong–whether you choose the BMW 5-Series, Audi A6, Saab 9-5, Volvo S60, Cadillac STS, Lexus GS or the Acura TL Type S it really boils down to a matter of taste. For me to do a review is almost superfluous. It’s a great car. They all are. If I were to be honest I’d tell you to stop reading and decide for yourself which one …