– Acura has raised prices $170 on the 2003 3.2 CL, which goes on sale Thursday with fresh front and rear styling and a 6-speed manual transmission as a new feature on the Type-S model. The base 3.2 CL is $28,200 and the Type-S is $30,550, not including the $480 destination charge. The base model comes with a 5-speed automatic transmission and the Type-S with a choice of automatic or manual at no extra cost. The only factory option is a satellite-linked navigation system that costs $2,150, up $150 from the 2002 models. The navigation system includes General Motors’ OnStar communications service.
– A 5.3-liter V-8 engine with an aluminum block will become optional in the fall on extended versions of General Motors’ midsize sport-utility vehicles, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT and GMC Yukon XL. Official power ratings will be issued later, but GM says it will produce more than 280 horsepower. The TrailBlazer and Yukon use a 4.2-liter, 270-h.p. 6-cylinder. GM uses the V-8 in other trucks with a cast-iron block instead of aluminum.
– OnStar Communications, the nation’s largest in-vehicle communication system, is now available on the Acura 3.2 TL and 3.2 CL. They join the 2002 Acura RL sedan, 2002 Audi A4, Saab 9-5 and 9-5 Viggen and many General Motors Corp. vehicles with the system. OnStar, which provides a variety of services including handsfree, voice-activated cellphone capability and emergency roadside and medical service, also will be available in the 2003 model year on Subaru and Isuzu vehicles, spokesman Terry Sullivan said.
