2000 Acura TL Affordable luxury with sports appeal. By Mitch McCullough, Editor-in-Chief, New Car Test Drive .com

The Acura TL offers performance, styling, luxury and value. Completely redesigned and re-engineered just last year, the TL comes with a powerful 3.2-liter V6 engine, a nicely balanced suspension, a rigid chassis and classy styling.

For 2000, Acura has replaced the four-speed automatic transmission with Sportshift with a wonderful new five-speed Sportshift. Advanced side-impact airbags were added. Revisions to the engine increase mid-range acceleration performance and reduce emissions.

Acura's TL is available as one fully loaded model that retails for $28,400. It is called the 3.2 TL in reference to its 3.2-liter V6. (The previous-generation TL came as two models with a choice of engines.) Its price is less than many of the TL's current competitors, representing a strong value.

The only option available is Acura's navigation system, which adds $2000; this system has been improved for model year 2000 and now uses a Digital Video Disc (DVD) player for mapping.