Text / Photography by Sammy Chan
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In a short span of 10 years, Japanese car
manufacturers have already established a strong foothold in North America's
luxury car market, however it's still early to say that they have completely
succeeded. On the contrary, there's still a lot of gaps they have to fill, a
good example can be found in the luxury coupe market. Here, competition could
only be found amongst European makes like Mercedes' CLK, BMW 328Ci and Volvo's
C70, and except for Acura's 3.2CL, there really is no other Japanese
counterforce worth mentioning.
Since its debut in 1996, Acura 3.2CL 
although
enjoying relatively good sales, still lags behind the Europeans in terms of
image and appointments. In order to bring 3.2CL's image more upscale, Acura has
worked on a lot of improvements in its new generation of CL, and along the way,
it has also instilled some excitement to the lineup by adding a performance
version in the name of Type S.
Styling of the new CL is tasteful but not as bold as the model it replaces, at least not when the rear aspect of the car is concerned. Front fascia has the sedan's familial look, but differs from having a more posing and aggressive stance. Acura could have done more to Type S's styling, but apart from its stylish logo at the back and starry 5-spoke wheels, there's not much to differentiate the Type from its more humble stablemate.
However, once the word Type is mentioned, any
car enthusiast would immediately know what goes under the hood of a " Typed
" car. 
Base
engine of Acura's new CL is not a 4 pot anymore, but the same 3.2 litre V6 first
used by TL, output is still classed at 225 horses and 216 lb-ft of torque.
However, with numerous engine modifications in Type S, horsepower has been
significantly bumped to 260 at 6100 rpm, while torque is raised to 232 lb-ft all
the way from 3500 to 5500 rpm.
Enhanced performance in Type S is derived from 3 main areas: 1) a low restriction air intake system; 2) a new Dual Stage Induction System to increase filing efficiency by producing resonance and inertia charges; 3) a low back pressure exhaust system. Other modifications include new piston design, different intake valves and cam timing, and with compression ratio increasing from 9.8:1 to 10.5:1, it now only needs 6.5 seconds for Type S to reach 60 mph from a standstill. Mind you, it doesn't even need a manual to attain this acheivement, although Type S does have one of the most advanced autobox in the market.
Automatic is now a 5-speed design with manual-like Sequential SportShift, actually the same transmission was first adopted by this year's TL. " Self " shift gate is still to the left of the box and still leaving me with the hope that handy shift buttons on the steering wheel will one day materialize. In manual mode, apart from having a mind all its own in 1st gear, all other gears will be left to the driver redlining at around 7000 rpm. Upshift and downshift response is quick and smooth, Honda had never been renowned for its automatic, but CL's has to rank one of the best I've ever tested.
Acura is so proud of its new baby so much so that they've brought along several high profile competitors for us critique to compare in a recent test event in Austin, Texas. With Mercedes-Benz CLK320, BMW 328Ci and Volvo C70 in check, Acura 3.2CL excels them all both in performance and ride comfort, Steering feel though very good for a front driver as in the CL, is still the forte of BMW, and high speed stability probably not so much in traction as in road hugging feel is also better amongst the Europeans. Suspension has actually been redesigned in the new CL, utilizing multi-link wishbones both front and back. Type S also provides a more sporty feel, in fact, front and rear suspension in Type S have been significantly retuned and rounding the equation are now new 17 inch rubbers.
There's also a more personal and sporty
atmosphere to new CL's interior design than in the sedan. Seats, bolstered
everywhere, have all been redesigned, and the 2 individual buckets in the rear
also appear very successful in giving a sporty cohesive feel. 
Worth
mentioning is the adoption of Acura RL's Occupant Position Detection System in
the new CL, here sensors on the front passenger seat will be able to detect the
size and position of the occupant thereby disabling the passenger air bag if
situation warrants to prevent any unintentional risk posed to small children.
As if to tease its competitors, the 2001 model year 3.2CL will first arrive in only Type S trim and pricing for this performance class-leading model has been set at $40 000, a mere six thousand more than a lesser albeit more door TL. It's also about a fifth cheaper than similarly equipped competitors, talking about which, they better start keeping a close watch of this new CL from now on.
Specifications
Wheelbase: 2715 mm
Length/Width/Height: 4877 / 1794 / 1408 mm
Engine: 3201 cc, SOHC, VTEC, V6
Horsepower: 260 hp/ 6100 rpm
Torque: 232 lb-ft/ 3500- 5500 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed automatic, SportShift mode
Suspension: Double wishbones, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Brakes: Vented front discs, Solid rear discs, ABS
Tires: Michelin MXM4 215/50R17
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