Boston.com's view

Usually, hot new cars do not sneak up on me.

They loom in the rearview mirror of my awareness as spy photos, snippets picked up in auto industry magazines, even tips from PR folks who tell me they don’t talk about future product, but then fill me in on what to watch for.

The 2004 Acura TSX sports sedan took me by surprise. I was not aware it was coming. Had not heard of Acura’s plans to sell 15,000 of these zippy little cars in the United States each year in direct competition with cars such as the BMW 3 Series or the Audi A4.

But there it was one day, right in my driveway, ready to grow on me the more I studied it, the more I drove it.

In Europe, they call this car the Honda Accord. But the European Accord is not the same Accord as sold on this side of the pond. Theirs is smaller, more tightly tuned, and aimed at Europeans with a bent for performance along with reliability. The TSX is about 6 inches shorter than the American Accord, 2 inches narrower, and has a 3-inch shorter wheelbase.

It is powered by a four-cylinder, 2.4-liter iVTEC engine that can truly feel like a snappy 6-cylinder as it delivers 200 horsepower and 166 lb.-ft. of torque.

The engine can be matched with either a six-speed manual transmission, as tested, or a five-speed automatic with a sequential shift option. The manual transmission was a snap to use, clicking through the gears and showing its racetrack roots. It is housed in a magnesium alloy case, which cuts weight by 6.6 pounds, quite a nice bit of refinement in as inexpensive a car as this one.

The TSX reveals itself as something different from Honda/Acura in its handling when pushed hard. The suspension is essentially the same that underpins the American Accord, but it is a much more tightly tuned system.

It has dual control arms up front and a five-link independent setup aft. Gas pressurized shocks and big front and rear stabilizer bars help with the tweaked stiffness.

The result is a car that sits totally flat in highway lane changes, does not dive when braked, does not lift when heavy gas is applied at launch, and showed only slight body roll in a series of fast, sharp S-curves.

The only performance negative I felt was a tendency of the driving front wheels to slip their grip if I gave it serious gas with the wheel turned even slightly. This is an awareness point, not a safety issue.

That said, traction and stability control systems, working in concert with the drive-by-wire throttle and ABS systems, fixed even induced rear end wiggle, understeer, and slight skidding on sand-coated pavement.

Sitting on standard 17-inch wheels, the TSX looks ready to cut through the air.

Its sharp, five-sided grille seems to protrude like an arrowhead. With functional air scoops below and High Intensity Discharge headlamps to either side, accentuating the pointed V, the TSX has an aggressive stance.

What really grew on me the more I viewed the car, however, was its side lines. A sharp knife edge starts at the top of the headlights and rises crisply over fenders, doors, and rear until it stops abruptly at the high, chopped off trunk. It all adds up to a slicing wedge effect.

Inside, the TSX is a statement to fine fit and finish. Standard features include perforated leather seats, leather wrapped steering wheel with audio and cruise control buttons, dual zone climate control, a 360-watt sound system, power windows and door locks, and an 8-way power driver’s seat. Even the power moonroof is standard.

In fact, the only real option for the TSX is a $2,000 navigation system that features an 8-inch touch screen and voice recognition.

The dash is horizontally bisected by a metal strip that crisply defines upper and lower cockpit and even continues along the door panels. The strip can also be wood in some models, thoug the brushed metal certainly better fits the personality of this car. Brushed metal against black leather is surely the more aggressive treatment.

In a car that can be driven hard, safety has to be a consideration, and Acura has not skimped here. This is the first Acura to be offered with standard side curtain air bags for both front and rear passengers. Also standard are front and side air bags for both front seat occupants.

When they set out to design the TSX, Acura folks had to wonder if a four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive performance sedan could cut it against the likes of BMW and Audi. For the most part, it does. No, it does not have the guttural, tail-wagging personality of the rear-wheel-drive BMW. And it does not have the confident cling of Audi’s all-wheel-drive system.

This one falls somewhere in between — but at a price far more people can afford.

Usually, hot new cars do not sneak up on me. I never saw this one gaining on me.

Nice touch: The glowing neon blue arcs that, from the sides define the temperature and fuel gauges at each side of the gauge panel and that, from above and below, define the trip computer at center panel.

Annoyance: The twin bins, one atop the other just below the navigation screen at center console. Why two small bins with separate doors instead of a single bin, one door, and larger, more usable space?