With your budget constraints, and the 32" width, you are in 60" tub territory. Those are fairly common, and you can pick one up in stock at any box sore for $500 or less. You would have to go to a 36" wide tub and/or increase your budget to get the longer tub. The Kohler Mariposa ($700)is the least expensive 66" tub that I'm aware of with the tile flange, but it's 36" in width, as are most tubs that size. I've spec'd it before in a couple of remodels and people were pleased with it's performance. Would you still have the code minimum clearances in front of your vanity and toilet if you went to 36" tub? If so, then that's a no brainer. If it will impact that too much, then you're going to have to drop back to a 5' tub and possibly use that extra 6" to create some shower niches in the back wall. That could be attractive and useful as well. Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler Mariposa

It feels totally fine without the mortar base. Keep in mind that it IS plastic and if you push on the sides, there is a little "give" but it's not cast iron, so to be expected. I love the look of it, but to me it feels like it retains dirt more than other tubs, because it is plastic. I feel like I want to scrub it after every bath, as opposed to just rinsing/quickly wiping it and then scrubbing every week. But the overall clean lines look of it is amazing and I did not see any other tubs that I liked as much. I think we covered this in upper convos but remember that there are two heights (we chose the lower one and I would stick with that as it feels more standard. And the other thing is that it comes with a single or double tiling flange. If you need more info on that let me know, and I will give you more details.

Yesterday I went back and applied the Epoxy Grout to the tub. I used Laticrete's SpectraLock Pro Epoxy grout and only mixed roughly a 50% mix. I added a hair more powder to make the mix a little stiffer than specified on the package. First thing I did was clean the tub again and buff out the edge on top. Then I taped off the area that would not see grout and protected the blower holes from dropping epoxy grout. I rammed the grout into the little void again with my finger and smoothed it close. I did this all around and then before using any sponge removed the tape. This left the job a little rough - so then I went back with the sponge and my finger (this time without the glove) and smoothed things down. The uneven height change made it hard to keep super even so I took my time and slowly added and removed a little grout here and there. I found using the baby sponge that came with the grout perfect if I used it like a block plane and gave almost no pressure. Then a smooth with my finger and it looked great. Took me two hours just to prep for grout, grout and clean up. Quite a change from last week. No more shadow lines and the colour is almost a dead match. I find that epoxy grouts darken a little as they dry and have not yet used LAticrete's white so I hope this will not happen much. Right now or rather yesterday when I left it was like Laticrete made this grout colour for the Blizzard Ceasar Stone Slab. Looks so much better and hopefully will stay put and make cleaning the tub a little easier for my client.

I used the kohler 60” archer which is extra deep but easy to step over. Very nice product and looks fabulous! Client loves it