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Does your taste run toward filet mignon, but the budget keeps you inround steak?

Is the only thing standing between you and that full-size PontiacBonneville SSE sedan you so dearly cherish the more than $25,000 it will take to put you behind the wheel?

If you want the ride and handling and performance of the SSE and arewilling to accept it in a smaller and roughly $6,000 less expensive package,try the midsize Grand Prix sedan.

You don`t get all the plastic ground effects in the Grand Prix as youwould in an SSE; neither the driver-side air bag that`s standard nor thepassenger-side bag that`s optional in the SSE are offered; and you have to putup an extra $450 to get the anti-lock brakes in the Prix that are standard in the SSE.

What you do get is a 3.4-liter, 24-valve, 200-horsepower V-6 that givesthe Grand Prix the life Pontiac never came close to giving it with asuccession of engines over the years-a 2.8- and 3.1-liter V-6 and a 2.3-liter Quad Four.

We test drove the Grand Prix SE sedan with the optional 3.4-liter V-6that was teamed with automatic.

Though not as stunning a design as the SSE, the Grand Prix sedan has been dolled up to provide a sporty appearance, from body-color bumpers and doorhandles to thick bodyside moldings and fancy wheel covers.

Pontiac introduced the SSE in 1988 and thus transformed sedans into therealm of coupes. Four-door vehicles no longer were reserved for the stodgy.You could use the sedan as the workhorse during the week, and play with it on weekends. The same now can be said of the slightly smaller Grand Prix sedan.

With the styling remake of the Grand Am for 1992, Pontiac has a trio ofperformance sedans ranging from the compact Grand Am to the midsize Grand Prixto the full-size SSE. Once the Sunbird is redone in 1995, the trio will becomea set of performance quads. All Pontiac will need then is a performance Trans Sport mini-van, though with the addition of the 3.8-liter, 165-h.p. V-6 in1992, that vehicle`s hardly a slouch off the line.

The 3.4 is not only quick and a complement to the sporty styling, it`salso very quiet. It`s so quiet that, in keeping with Pontiac`s performanceimage, the stainless steel exhaust had to have a little rumble tone built into it.

The 3.4 is so quick that it features a “second-gear start“ switch onthe console when equipped with automatic transmission to make for more sure-footed starts on slippery roads. Four-wheel independent suspension (asports rally setting optional) and 16-inch touring radials help contribute to the Grand Prix`s road manners on wet or dry pavement.

Despite the 200-h.p. rating (210 if you opt for 5-speed manual, but 10more h.p. isn`t worth the grief of shifting in the rush hour much less themonetary aggravation when you realize the amount of depreciation you suffer attrade-in time), the 3.4`s mileage rating is 17 miles per gallon city/26 m.p.g.highway .

Base price of the four-door SE sedan is $16,190. Standard equipment onthe front-wheel-drive SE includes four-wheel power disc brakes, powersteering, tinted glass, fog lamps, air conditioning, visor vanity mirrors,dual sport mirrors, wide bodyside molding with red inserts, side windowdefoggers and AM/FM stereo with clock.

The test car was loaded with options. The 3.4 and 4-speed automatic, for example, were part of the value package that ran $2,132 and included exterior sport appearance cosmetics, rally suspension, second-gear start switch andupgraded tires. Another package that ran $1,423 included power seats/doorlocks/windows/mirrors, tilt wheel, cruise control and illuminated entry. Alongwith the $450 ABS system, an electric rear-window defogger ran $170 and anupgraded sound system with cassette added $140.

A $505 freight charge brought the sticker to $21,010 before $1,075 inoption package discounts brought the bottom line to $19,935.

If the rand Am is too small and the Bonneville too big or too expensive, the Grand Prix is a pleasant compromise.