While the world wasn't looking -- its attention was focused on GM black eyes like private-jet flame-outs, bankruptcy paperwork, and brand closings -- Buick quietly released a midsize sedan that stole all the spotlights in the theater.

No sense being coy about "The L Word." With its new-for-2010, Epsilon II-platform LaCrosse, Buick has clearly targeted the Lexus ES 350. Though the Buick is slightly longer, taller, and heavier than its Lexus rival, the two are close in size and closer in specification. Both are front-drive, flaunt comforts-filled cabins, and use similarly sized V-6 engines coupled to six-speed automatics (the LaCrosse also has a smaller, 3.0-liter six, and a four cylinder is reportedly in the pipeline). Only a few years ago the similarities would end there, and we'd be extolling the superiority of the "smoother, more refined, more stylish, etc." Lexus. Not anymore....Why?