mmarshall

Everything-else equal, FWD cars, of course, are more power-limited than RWD or AWD because of potential torque-steer problems.

As far as the price goes, a lot of people apparantly don't agree with your 35K limit for a FWD car.....the popular Lexus ES350 proves that. Many of them list, with options, near 40K or more, although, of course, usually discounted a little. The big FWD Cadillac DTS, which is bought mostly by older senior citizens, can easily run 50K or more......I've seen them as high as 60K.

Fizzboy7

A new, optioned up ES stickers for around the same. This is the new mid-level pricing for these cars. A4 and 3-series too. Mind you, the TL leases VERY cheaply, thanks to it's lousy sales.

A V8 for the TL? No. The RL needs a V8 way before the TL does.

mmarshall

I would agree that, if it came down to that, the RL flagship should get a V8 before little-brother TL does, but, again, it begs the question of whether either car really needs one? Needs and wants are sometimes two different things. The Acura-V8/RWD question is an issue that has been debated over and over in CAR CHAT, in numerous threads, by many CL members. Though it is true that some TL/RL competitors do offer V8s, it's also true that the V6s Acura uses, like the 3.5/3.7L V6s used in Nissan/Infiniti products, are not slouches either...they have almost-V8 power.