Comparison Tests
The Law of Diminishing Returns: A yield rate that, after a certain point, fails to increase proportionately to additional outlays of capital or investments of time and labor.*
Relax, we're not about to launch into a sleep-inducing lecture on money supply, interest rates, and the effects of Alan Greenspan's bedtime rituals on the Gross Domestic Product. The definition is for those of you who are wondering how we could even think of comparing a car costing $25,000 with two that each cost 60 percent more. The question here is: If you spend that extra 60 percent — 40 thousand bucks in all — do you get a car that is 60 percent better?
In the 40-grand corner we have the Audi S4 Quattro and the BMW 330xi. In the other corner — actually, down in the bargain basement — lurks our underdog, the $24,520 samurai challenger, the Subaru Impreza WRX. Unfair comparison, you say? Duuuh! But wait — check the spec sheets. All three cars have full-time four-wheel drive, four doors, manual transmissions, engines with 225 or more horsepower, and interior and exterior dimensions that come within inches of one another.
Our glowing reviews of the WRX suggest it's a worthy opponent to two of our favorite sporting sedans. The snorty little Subaru sedan has rocked the sporting establishment by producing a remarkable combination of performance and character for the price. We only decided to send it to the wolves after we looked at other similarly priced sedans and realized that matching them against the WRX wouldn't be a comparo, it'd be a slaughter. So we called in the German sharks.
Both the Audi and the Bimmer have been frequent honorees on our 10Best list (10 straight years for the 3-series and three years for the S4's less-powerful sibling, the A4). Audi's S4 is a pumped-up, twin-turbocharged version of the A4 and has the added distinction of being the first and only car to outperform the previous-generation M3 in a comparison test. While the M3 has moved up in price — to $46,000 — and in performance, BMW has also upped the performance of the entire 3-series line. The model representing a step down from the new M3 is the 330i, offered in both two- and four-door bodies and available with a $1750 four-wheel-drive system that changes the model designation to 330xi. Ask any one of us to pick our favorite cars, and these three would be high on our list.
If you're thinking we've put ourselves in the unenviable position of having to choose a favorite child in this test, you would be right. We put the three through our usual battery of performance tests, lapped DaimlerChrysler's 1.7-mile road course, and tore up the curvy roads of northwestern Pennsylvania — a fitting locale since the discovery and eventual refinement of oil in these hills made fortunes for many and changed the country's path nearly 150 years ago. And, of course, without oil we wouldn't be writing this.
Many of us have been quick to point out that there's no need to spend more than $25,000 on a car. Do the German cars deliver the goods to justify their major-league prices? Let's find out.
*American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
