This hotly contested segment has two clear benchmarks; the Acura TL and Lexus ES 300. Both succeed in blending comfort, style, luxury, and sport into an efficient package at an affordable price. ES 300 offers a little more luxury and TL, with it's Type-S, a bit more sport.

We Recommend the sporty and Euro-flavored BMW 3-Series as a rear-drive alternative. The "3" has enough bodystyles and engine choices to suit anyone. At the other end of the near-luxury spectrum is the posh and comfortable Buick Park Avenue--an old-school luxo-cruiser from Detroit.

The most popular and profitable Acura by far since its 1999 redesign, the TL remains on an upward sales track, though its rate of increase slowed in calendar 2001 to 3.7 percent, versus an 18-percent year-to-year gain in 2000. Based on past experience, the early release of the little-changed 2003 models (click on that report for further details) suggests Acura is speeding ahead with an expected redesign for 2004, though industry sources are still divided on what that will involve. On the one hand, the TL could continue as an upscale version of the front-drive Honda Accord, which itself is being redesigned for '03, or it could become a smaller rendition of Acura's new-generation '03 RL flagship sedan with rear- or all-wheel drive. Your guess as to what the choice will be.