Comparison Tests
From the October 2004 Issue of Car and Driver
TESTED
Look, Ma, no BMWs! — Is this any way to run a sports-sedan test?
Welcome to our October reality show. The reality is BMWs are expensive. Add the higher cost of fuel this year, and perhaps a little extra caution based on what might happen in the Middle East, and maybe this is not the right time to commit to BMW-size payments.
Yes, we know, the 3-series is the very definition of a sports sedan. But $30,000 won't buy you a decently equipped BMW today, not from a new-car dealer. So if you want four doors and fling-around spiritedness for less, you have to check out other labels.
No problem. And no waiting. We've— heh-heh—already done the roadwork.
Starting at the top of the alphabet, Acura turned loose the just-right-size TSX in time for 2004 models, with a six-speed and a wicked VTEC 2.4-liter four. It's a bit more car than the 3-series, about seven inches longer overall with a genuinely useful back seat for adults, yet EPA mileage is 29 mpg on the highway. In real life, this is the European Honda Accord, a sedan of leaner dimensions than the U.S. model. Since our first TSX drive, we've been itching to toss this sweetheart into a comparison.
Next on the A-list is Audi, specifically, the A4. If you go with the standard turbocharged 1781cc four, just say no to all-wheel drive, and resign yourself to life without the six-speed gearbox, you ought to be able to find one of these compact four-doors at a gnat's whisker under our price ceiling. The EPA gives this one credit for 31 mpg on the highway.
The A4 is a senior citizen of the junior-size imported sports sedans, already three years past a makeover. But Cary Grant never got old, just more distinguished, and that's the story here, too. There's a classic sort of muscularity about the tautly drawn sheetmetal, and impeccable good taste in the interior appointments. Cars depreciate, but this one, we'll venture, will hold onto its looks longer than the managing editor.
Two fresh imports also qualify for the class. Subaru just unveiled a new-generation Legacy. The maker has discovered, from the runaway-favorite reception accorded to the outrageously turbocharged Impreza WRX, that big horsepower wins friends and influences buyers. So, if a little is good—227 in the case of the base WRX—then more would be better. Introducing the 250-hp Legacy 2.5GT.
All-wheel drive is standard equipment, of course. And this new version has its horizontally opposed four snuggled lower in the chassis to drop the center of gravity a fraction. Forget those four-wheelin' ventures that come to mind with the high-riding Subies of yore. This one is made for fast forward on pavement.
Last on the alphabetical list, so "almost here" in the U.S. that our T5-level test car had to be a European-model stand-in just to make the deadline, is the Volvo S40. T5 means full-on sport in Volvo parlance. In the S40, it packs a 218-hp turbocharged five-cylinder engine of 2.5 liters, teamed with a six-speed manual gearbox. The EPA says 31 mpg highway for this one, too.
The S40 is a full-FoMoCo-influenced small car based on a platform used by the nifty Mazda 3 and the next-generation Ford Focus. Yet it wears the Volvo family face, having the same sheetmetal creases and furrows as the patriarch, the big S80 sedan.
In deference to the price ceiling, this S40 is a front-driver; AWD would be $1650 more.
While rounding up players, we kicked the tires of Mercedes-Benz's C230 Kompressor, but the budget said no.
We're left with a quartet of quick-reflex four-doors that score high on the fun-per-gallon curve. Are you ready for fun without guilt?
