Drivers Log.(evaluation of Honda Accord Coupe EX automobile)

2003 Honda Accord Coupe EX

Date in fleet: Dec. 9-23 As-tested price: $26,360 Powertrain: 3.0-liter V6; fwd, six-speed manual Hp: 240 @ 6250 rpm Torque: 212 @ 5000 rpm Curb weight: 3265 pounds

HART: Honda screwed up by casting this car in at the launch of the other new Accords. Why: It's good enough to stand on its own. You could hang an Acura badge on it and no one who drove-or looked at it-would complain. The V6 is strong; the shifter is one of the best around today. I drove this back-to-back with Porsche's Boxster, and the Boxster's shifter felt sloppy in comparison. This Accord Coupe is tight, quick and comfortable.

Add that to a very good interior-one of the best in a Honda in recent memory-and it's an attractive package for $26,000. I would be interested as to how this compares performance-wise with a BMW 3 Series-for $10,000 less. I would think they're close. This may be the sleeper car of the new year.

MANDEL: I don't know what it is that Honda is trying to do with the coupe, which stretches the difference in the psychographics between two- and four-door owners. The two-door version is sporty; the four-door version is plain. The two-door is for the young at heart; the four-door for the family. The two-door should be a vehicle to which you aspire and the four-door model something you park in the nursery school lot.

Yet something about the coupe leaves me flat. I don't know if it is the funky rear styling that's almost bulbous or the carbon fiber-esque center console.

Granted, the coupe behaves and performs well, from the high, quick-revving engine to the short-throw gearbox. But even the shifter knob is odd; too small to fit in any but tiny hands. Weird.