Yup, my wife is pregnant with our first, and it's due around the end of April / beginning of May. Long-time readers have heard me talk about going test-driving cars for fun, but now it's actually for keeps. Right now, we've got my wife's 1997 Acura Integra GS and my own 2000 BMW Z3 coupe. Both two door, manual transmission. We have a two-car garage, not terribly large. My Z3 has actually been working just fine lately, so I'm less inclined to trade it in. The Integra has lots of little things wearing out, although it would probably continue running just fine if we wanted to keep it. Let me briefly describe our needs, and then we'll throw it open for people to yield up their advice.

Given the forthcoming baby, we're clearly going to need a real back seat, and from every parent I've ever spoken to, we really need a four-door car. I've also been told that we only need one family car, at least in the beginning. A second family car, if necessary, can wait a few years. One of my concerns with any replacement car is its width. Space in the garage is relatively tight, so even a few extra inches might be an issue.

Right now, the front runner(s) are the Acura TSX and TL. Both are available with a manual transmission. The TSX is three inches skinnier than the TL and has fold-down back seats (advantage TSX). The TL has buckets more horsepower, memory power seats, and a much better-sounding stereo (advantage TL). The TSX stereo has an accessory input that, with a third-party adapter, would allow me to mount an empeg, while it's unclear if you can do that to a TL (advantage TSX). Of course, if we ditch the Integra, then the empeg stays in my BMW.

What's the competition? The Honda Accord or Toyota Camry would be attractive, if generic, but the V6 and the manual transmission are mutually exclusive. The new Acura RL sounds very swank, but it's pricey, it's even wider, it's automatic-only, and I'm hesitant about getting a first model-year car. Other cars on my test-drive list are the Mazda 6 V6, Subaru Legacy GT, and maybe even the Saabaru 9-2X. The Subaru/Saab cars don't have a nav system, which is a minus to me. I'm not sure about the Mazda. I suppose I should also check out Nissan and Infiniti, although I'm concerned about torque steer in the Nissan models ('cause you gotta have that huge 3.5l V6), although the G35 Sedan is certainly something I need to look at again. Last time I looked at it, I really hated the interior. (Nissan used to do really, really nice interiors. These days... uggh.)

That's pretty much it for sport-luxury-four-door cars from Japan. What about the U.S. or Germany? The reliability numbers plus my own experience on the German & Swedish cars scare me. Nothing really exciting in four doors seems to come out of Detroit, e.g., the Chrysler 300C is just too big, and the PT Cruiser doesn't have the luxury features.

Am I missing something? Do I need to swallow my pain and go get a BMW 330i before it gets Bangled to death? Do I have enough time to wait for the new Audi A3 to come out (the old A3 isn't available in the U.S.), and do I want to get a first model year Audi?