2002 Acura 3.2TL Type-S; Technically, perfect.

Acura has posed us with a quandary. How do we judge a car that does everything so right, embodies so much of what we as enthusiasts desire and represents the best value in its segment-but still leaves us wanting? And what exactly is it that we want, anyway?

Acura's 3.2TL Type-S- due to arrive next month with a sticker starting under $30,000-has all the right ingredients to make a fun, midsize sport sedan. In a segment where grocery-getters set the stan- dard, the Type-S breaks out of the confines of reliable, safe transportation and offers more: more engine, more handling ability, more point-and-go fun. And it delivers. It just lacks something basic.

We want any car with ``sport'' as part of its advertising to move us, to stir that passion for driving that dwells in our guts and fingertips and toes. If it's a run down an empty, winding mountain road or that stiflingly monotonous commute to work, we want to make the run with a smile on our face.

It's of no use to talk of soul. Anyone who claims to have a firm grasp on what comprises the soul of a car probably holds some degree in the art of cow-flop flinging. Better to say that the Type-S takes few risks; the Type-S will leave many satisfied but few feeling truly ecstatic.

Harsh words, perhaps, for a car of the Type-S's breeding. It's an Acura, after all, the company that gave us the Integra Type-S and, by association, the Honda Civic Si, S2000 and a whole host of truly memorable cars. And therein lies the rub: You walk away from those cars remembering your experience.

Power in the Type-S comes from a specially tuned, 3.2-liter dual-over-head-cam V6 with Acura's patented VTEC variable valve timing. Acura bumped up output in the Type-S by 35 hp over the base TL, to a peak 260 hp at a slightly higher 6100 rpm. Torque gets increased as well, from 216 lb-ft that peaks at 4700 rpm to 232 lb-ft available over a flat band from 3500 to 5500 rpm.

Acura engineers made several changes to the 3.2 to achieve the power improvement, namely by using a more aggressive VTEC set-up, reducing backpressure through the exhaust and opening up the intake.