Archived Comparison
From the September 1999 Issue of Car and Driver
Is it us, or are European luxury-car manufacturers marching boldly into car markets other makers have been shrinking from? They already offer a batch of premium wagons here, and more are on the way. Ditto for sports cars and convertibles, two more market segments where other manufacturers haven't exactly been clamoring to get in.
Yet another example is limited-production sports sedans, four of which we've assembled here for a comparison test. They are the Audi S4 Quattro, the BMW M3, the Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG, and the Saab 9-3 Viggen. They're the fastest, most exclusive smaller sedans you can buy. (Remember, we define a "sedan" or a "coupe" not by the number of doors it may have, but by how much room is in the back seat.) Each represents its maker's best crack at high performance on an existing car platform.
Costly, low-volume performance models built off more mainstream platforms aren't new. The concept got its start in the late 1950s and early 1960s with domestic muscle cars like the Chrysler 300 and the Pontiac GTO. Those early hot cars were cheap to produce, often amounting to little more than a big engine, a stiff suspension, and a few badges. Automakers liked the showroom traffic these "halo" cars generated for their less-exiting offerings. Within a few years, Detroit offered performance packages on nearly every car it made.
By the 1980s, overseas manufacturers were in on the game, and you could buy souped-up entries ranging from a Suzuki Swift GT to a Renault Alliance GTA.
Those days are gone. The number of factory performance packages has declined precipitously this decade for all kinds of cars. Performance no longer commands the respect of young car buyers that it used to. The cost of insurance surcharges, always a problem for more powerful cars, certainly didn't help. Even car critics like us, who in the past have mocked the half-baked performance efforts of many carmakers, must take some of the blame.
Ironically, pleasing the customers who still want these cars is probably more difficult than ever because they're more likely now than in previous times to be committed enthusiasts. Drivers who once bought performance as a fashion statement are now driving pickups and sport-utes. No wonder so many carmakers have walked away from the high-performance factory hot rod.
Increasingly demanding customers may explain why European carmakers remain in this game. If you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, you certainly can't design a decent factory performance car from a cheap-car platform. These four cars were all developed from advanced designs with sophisticated independent suspensions. The Audi S4 is a version of the slick A4, and the Bimmer M3 is derived from the highly coveted previous-generation 3-series. The C43 is built off Mercedes' sturdy C-class, and the Viggen was spawned from Saab's successful 9-3.
So these models comprise a rare breed. On average, each will account for about one in eight sales of its respective platform in the U.S. They're the most expensive versions of each car model you can buy, too. Base prices run from a low $38,465 for the Saab 9-3 Viggen to a high of $54,651 for the Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG.
For cars that vie for the same customers, they're a diverse bunch. The Saab has front-wheel drive, the Mercedes-Benz and the BMW are rear-drivers, and the Audi is driven by all four wheels. The Audi has a V-6 and the Saab a four, both turbocharged. The BMW comes with an in-line six, and the Mercedes boasts a big V-8, without forced induction. The Mercedes and the Audi are four-doors, the Saab is a three-door, and the BMW is a two-door. The Audi comes with a six-speed manual. The others are five-speeds—manuals in the BMW and Saab, an automatic in the Mercedes. The last time the drivelines varied this much, it was in a comparison of exotic sports cars.
We wrung out these eager runners over 1000 miles of test driving, including interstate jogs in Ohio, brisk runs through the sweepers of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, and howling track laps at Nelson Ledges Road Course just outside Cleveland. Here's how these rare sedans stacked up.
