2002-2003 Entry-Level Luxury Sport Sedans Comparison Test

Remember the movie Scent of a Woman, starring Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell? There's a scene where Pacino's character, a blind military veteran named Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, manages to procure a Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet for a test drive with his caretaker, O'Donnell's Charlie Simms, acting as his eyes. After they both jump into the cockpit, Slade tries to allay Charlie's fears about riding shotgun with a fired-up blind man at the controls by stating, "You never forget the feel of a Ferrari." And indeed, Slade does a generally fine job of piloting the prancing horse, running the gearshifter through its metal gates as he bombs down several backstreets with Charlie telling him when to slow down, turn and stop.

In a way, that's how a good sport sedan should be, familiar and communicative to the driver.

It seems like just last year we held a similar comparison test. Oh, wait a minute, it was just last year. Our 2001 Entry-Level Luxury Sport Sedan Test had nine cars and the Acura TL Type-S barely edged out the class favorite, the BMW 330i, for the win. But since then, four new players have jumped into the game: Audi's redesigned 2002 A4, Cadillac's 2003 CTS, Infiniti's 2003 G35 and Jaguar's 2002 X-Type, though the last car was not available at the time of this test. As is customary when we conduct a comparison test, we have the winner of the last comparo defend its title by going up against the newest rivals, which can either be a new model or a redesigned existing model.

As BMW addressed our major gripes with the 2001 car — namely a skimpy-for-the-price-tag standard features list and over-assisted steering — we invited it back for another chance. And the new kids? Audi's A4 has grown up a little, looking more like its big brother, the A6, than its entry-level car. Cadillac's CTS sports daring sheet metal and improved dynamics over its Catera precursor. And Infiniti's G35 is taking a serious stab at the 3 Series, what with a rear-drive chassis propelled by a potent V6.

This year, we decided to have two comparison tests to separate the luxury sedans from the luxury sport sedans. With this test being for the latter, we kept our emphasis on the driving enjoyment part of the equation, rather than weighing driving dynamics and luxury equally, as in the past.

Far from being just a "drive 'em and cast your votes" process, our comparison test protocol involves performance testing at the track, driving the vehicles back to back on identical road loops and subjecting them to the less glamorous duties of running errands and rush-hour commuting. Afterwards, we calculate all manner of scores, dealing with everything from performance to rear seat comfort. And once the numbers are crunched, we celebrate by fighting over the merits of each car at a pizza and beer celebration. Relax, we're kidding about the last part…it's actually burgers and beer.