Topic: Comparison Test: German Compact Luxury Sedans

[johngenx]

I agree. Have three distinct C models. A C-something diesel that has a fairly basic trim level. A C350 Elegance with a decent selection of luxury, and a C350 Sport with handling goodies. The 350 should have 320-350hp

[jt328i]

We just went through this process and picked the A4. I would have ranked it:

1. Audi A4
2. BMW 328i
3. MB C300

In all fairness, we didn't test drive the MB, but the exterior and interior design are dated and the interior is very plasticky and that was a deal-breaker.

Our first german sports sedan was (and still is) an E46 328i, so we wholly expected to end up with another one... not so fast.

First off, the BMW is quite a bit more expensive. It's hard to compare apples-to-apples because of what each manufacturer includes in their option packages, but it you want everything except the top-shelf stuff, the Audi is a few $k less.

Second, am I the only one that doesn't like the new BMW front end? The headlights aren't supposed to merge into the kidney grill, it's a BMW kidney grill... they stand on their own! And the way the nose drops off at the grill isn't working for me either.

Third, the interior is way too busy. Interiors are supposed to get better from one generation to the next, but the best 3-series interior was the E46. The E90 interior went too simplistic and looked sparse w/o iDrive and when iDrive was optioned, it looked like an afterthought. The F30 has gone too far the other way and there's too many materials and too many levels going on. We much preferred the A4 interior (especially on the S-Line which is what we got), nice materials, beautiful button action, cupholders where they should be, cool flat-bottom steering wheel, etc.

I know looks are subjective, but that and the price were the deciding factors for us. Dynamically, they're very close, with the BMW having the edge in engine power and handling. I've always felt that Audi's have traditionally had overboosted steering, so getting the Drive Select was critical so that I could set up the steering with some feel. I wasn't fond of the BMW's start/stop feature either, so that would end being turned off and essentially useless.

As they say, you just gotta go out there and drive them (and look at them and sit in them in the showroom and not just once, but a few times) and make your decision from there. I bleed BMW blue and white so I'm as surprised as anyone else that we ended up with the A4, however the next car might just be an E92 M3

Thanks for sharing! I'm curious did you buy it out, finance or lease? I ask b/c anecdotally people seem to lease this class more, and if that is the case does BMW still offer better lease deals (higher residuals) that effectively offset the msrp b/c the real monthly cost is lower?

We leased. I think the days of high BMW residuals are over. We did not notice any significant difference in the monthly lease payments between BMW and Audi.

[mmret]

Interesting that the VWAG 2.0T feels most powerful, despite being the oldest engine with the least rated hp.

I guess the torque and years of refinement do wonders.

I never found the interiors of these cars to be all that wonderous (and yes I have sat in all three of recent vintage) but they're usually sitting next to the big brother 5/E/A6.

[johngenx]

Audi's boosted engines tend to have amazing delivery of their power, making them feel very strong.  I think their dyno is also a little off.  The TT-RS makes 360hp and posts numbers that suggest that number is low.  Could be the 2.0 is also underrated.

I have not convinced a friend of mine with a TT-RS to let me drive it,    but even as a passenger, the power delivery is startling.  The ironic thing is that the TT-RS is his "winter beater" to protect his collection of Porsches, but the Audi serves up more performance than most of those cars.

[nlm]

We leased. I think the days of high BMW residuals are over. We did not notice any significant difference in the monthly lease payments between BMW and Audi.

And M-B? They seem to be the "value-leader" of the 3 msrp-wise. I'm curious if that translates to a lease as well.

[nlm]

Audi's boosted engines tend to have amazing delivery of their power, making them feel very strong.  I think their dyno is also a little off.  The TT-RS makes 360hp and posts numbers that suggest that number is low.  Could be the 2.0 is also underrated.

Isn't torque the better stat to use for seat-of-pants power feel?

[dirtyjeffer]

Audi's boosted engines tend to have amazing delivery of their power, making them feel very strong.  I think their dyno is also a little off.  The TT-RS makes 360hp and posts numbers that suggest that number is low.  Could be the 2.0 is also underrated.

Isn't torque the better stat to use for seat-of-pants power feel?

manufacturers can "rate" them at whatever they want (as long as they don't go higher than what it can do, of course)...this used to be done back in the days when some cars put out more power than they were advertised as such, likely to avoid hefty insurance premiums or other things...perhaps VW would like to advertise their vehicle's specifications more conservatively and closer in line to how much power hits the road in the real world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpvbENam0kQ

[Fobroader]

Audi's boosted engines tend to have amazing delivery of their power, making them feel very strong.  I think their dyno is also a little off.  The TT-RS makes 360hp and posts numbers that suggest that number is low.  Could be the 2.0 is also underrated.

Isn't torque the better stat to use for seat-of-pants power feel?

manufacturers can "rate" them at whatever they want (as long as they don't go higher than what it can do, of course)...this used to be done back in the days when some cars put out more power than they were advertised as such, likely to avoid hefty insurance premiums or other things...perhaps VW would like to advertise their vehicle's specifications more conservatively and closer in line to how much power hits the road in the real world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpvbENam0kQ

Like the Japanese with their 276 horsepower gentlemans agreement. Yeah, the Supra Turbo, Skyline, Evo and Sti only came with 276 horses, pinky swear, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean 

[Soram6275]

We just went through this process and picked the A4. I would have ranked it:

1. Audi A4
2. BMW 328i
3. MB C300

In all fairness, we didn't test drive the MB, but the exterior and interior design are dated and the interior is very plasticky and that was a deal-breaker.

Our first german sports sedan was (and still is) an E46 328i, so we wholly expected to end up with another one... not so fast.

First off, the BMW is quite a bit more expensive. It's hard to compare apples-to-apples because of what each manufacturer includes in their option packages, but it you want everything except the top-shelf stuff, the Audi is a few $k less.

Second, am I the only one that doesn't like the new BMW front end? The headlights aren't supposed to merge into the kidney grill, it's a BMW kidney grill... they stand on their own! And the way the nose drops off at the grill isn't working for me either.

Third, the interior is way too busy. Interiors are supposed to get better from one generation to the next, but the best 3-series interior was the E46. The E90 interior went too simplistic and looked sparse w/o iDrive and when iDrive was optioned, it looked like an afterthought. The F30 has gone too far the other way and there's too many materials and too many levels going on. We much preferred the A4 interior (especially on the S-Line which is what we got), nice materials, beautiful button action, cupholders where they should be, cool flat-bottom steering wheel, etc.

I know looks are subjective, but that and the price were the deciding factors for us. Dynamically, they're very close, with the BMW having the edge in engine power and handling. I've always felt that Audi's have traditionally had overboosted steering, so getting the Drive Select was critical so that I could set up the steering with some feel. I wasn't fond of the BMW's start/stop feature either, so that would end being turned off and essentially useless.

As they say, you just gotta go out there and drive them (and look at them and sit in them in the showroom and not just once, but a few times) and make your decision from there. I bleed BMW blue and white so I'm as surprised as anyone else that we ended up with the A4, however the next car might just be an E92 M3

Thanks for your review.  Very informative.

[Soram6275]

What I find interesting in the above link is that the detuned 3.5 (248 HP) gets the same combined mileage (9.1 l/100 km) as the 302 HP version. Additionally, the 4-matic version of the more powerful engine does .1 l/100 km better which seems unintuitive. So if the detuned version is from the same engine class why doesn't it do better with 54 less horsepower

likely because it has to work harder to do the same work, therefore, reducing the operating efficiency of the engine...honestly, these "detuned" engines bother me...GM did it with the various 2.0T versions used in several of their vehicles...just put the engine in it in its most efficient manner.

I agree.  It's absolute nonsense.  Audi is doing it with its 2.0T which is annoying because the same engine is found across the VW lineup, but detuned (less hp and less torque).  I guess it's because Audi must show superiority.  For years the 2.0T was identical to both brands.