Acura 3.2CL 2002  
 
The Golden Boy  
 
I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, I received a phone call from one of my client. She was opening a new car dealership and wanted me to set them up with the same service I had put in place at her other store.  
 
I call her accountant, which I already had met several times and made a working lunch appointment with him.  
 
During lunch he told me that they were opening a new Acura dealership, I was a little curious although I had seen a few Acura's but I never did see one close by.  
 
When we finally got to the dealership, they had just taken delivery of a few cars. After filling the proper documents and training the new cashiers, I returned to the accountant to inform him that every thing was on-line and that his new staff was already trained.  
 
He said that he was on his way out to try out his new demo and asked if I wanted to come along. I really must say that this car was very impressive, I am not quite sure what model it was, but it sure gave a very comfortable ride.  
 
I told myself; here we go a few more lean years for Detroit. But on the way to the market, a funny thing happened. Acura's early popularity vanished, I never found out why, but it was a rare occasion to see one on the road at least in our area.  
 
Recently a friend of mine that lives in South East Asia bought a brand new Gold Acura 3.2CL. If you think a gold color car will get some attention in America, it is nothing compares to the looks he is getting in Asia with this very flashy, but classy automobile.  
 
Automobile description:  
 
The new 2002 Acura 3.2CL is available in 2 models for this year. A base model and a supercharged high-performance 3.2CL Type S.  
 
From the exterior both models look the same, they have beautiful sporty lines and it is combined with a very elegant silhouette.  
 
The base model is the one I drove and it was fully loaded, I asked my friend Mike if he had to pay a lot for all the extras or if he bought a package. I was surprised when he told me that all the equipment was standard even on the base model.  
 
Here are some of the standard equipment the 3.2CL is equipped with: air bags for driver, passenger and side, remote keyless entry, power windows, locks and mirrors, cruise control, AM/FM CD player, sunroof and leather seats.  
This is quite an impressive list of standard equipment for a base model.  
 
The interior of the Acura 3.2CL is very particular; it comes with twin sets of bucket seats. That's right this is not a mistake, you have two bucket seats in the front and to in the rear.  
 
I must admit that I have never seen this in a coupe before, the closest thing I have seen that might resemble this seating arrangements were the seats I had in my 1962 Thunder Bird. Twin Buckets in front and a sofa like seat in the rear that looked like semi buckets seats.  
 
As I mentioned earlier the Acura CL comes fully loaded, since it is not a very big automobile you may think how did the engineers at Acura manage with all those controls and gages.  
 
Every controls are easy to reach for the driver and also quite easy to detect. The dashboard is very well designed and you can tell that they have put a lot of attention to the details in this car.  
 
Now nothing is perfect, if there is one flaw it is that it may be a tight fit for a large body person. But aside from that the seats are extremely comfortable and the Bose sound system which comes with an in-dash CD changer is something to listen to.  
 
When looking at the Acura CL from the front, to me it seems as if something is missing. I can not quite make out what it is yet, maybe it is a lack of chrome, it has some but mostly around the lights and grill.  
 
Well anyway aside from that the car looks great. Not that it will make people turn their heads as one goes by, but it a beautiful coupe.  
 
On the road:  
 
I must admit that I did not have a chance to drive this car very much. Only a few shorts drive, within a few miles from our cottage. But for the times I did drive, it was a great experience.  
 
The one thing I did noticed during these short drives is the excellent all around vision the driver has and this includes a very small dead spot from the side view mirrors.  
 
A few times when I drove the car it poured, as it can in Asia. The car ABS breaks worked just fine and it was easy to control the automobile at all time mainly because it is a forward wheel drive.  
 
Under the hood:  
 
The Acura 3.2CL I drove was equipped as follows:  
 
Engine: A V-6, 3.2 liters that produces 225 Horsepower.  
Transmission: A 5-speed automatic.  
Breaks: 4-wheel disc breaks with ABS.  
 
 
Final thought:  
 
First let me say if you want to be noticed, get a Gold car, at least it works in Asia.  
 
But aside from this the Acura 3.2CL is an excellent automobile and quite recommendable for anyone looking for a car that has bucket seats in the rear.  
