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"1st Place - Audi S4 Quattro | Points 394.0 Lap time: 1:00.41   Apologies to DiCaprio, Winslet, Cameron, et al., but the is truly one of those &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m king of the world!&amp;quot; cars. Its addictive blend of power, grip, agility and style is enough to make you shout from the bowsprit...or at least from its generously bolstered high-back driver&amp;#039;s seat.   First off, it&amp;#039;s a straight-line rocket, the only car here to crack 13 seconds in the quarter mile. Its direct-injected 3.0-liter V-6 is supercharged using the same 4-lobe high-helix Roots technology as the , and the result is near-instantaneous throttle response, cannonball slugs of low-end torque and a yogurty smoothness right to redline. &amp;quot;More potent than I expected,&amp;quot; said Bailey.   Its drivetrain also drew high praise, the standard Quattro all-wheel drive augmented by the Sports Rear Differential (part of the optional $3950 Audi Drive Select package) that provides the same type of torque-vectored yaw control as the . But the Audi goes one better, with a more natural handling feel and a wider range of throttle-induced rotation. &amp;quot;The diff really does make the S4 feel like a rear-driver on exit,&amp;quot; said Bornhop, &amp;quot;a well-controlled one in stark contrast to the .&amp;quot; Of course, the wide 255-mm Dunlops play an essential part in controlling the mass, as the S4 weighs in at over 2 tons, the portliest of the bunch. It&amp;#039;s not quite as fluid and lithe as the in its handling balance, but it&amp;#039;s a truly satisfying and effective tool for neatly clipping apexes, whether on a back road or racetrack. Around Streets of Willow, it beat the second-quickest car, the , by 1.1 sec.   By virtue of Audi Drive Select, the S4&amp;#039;s throttle response, damping, steering and diff action can be adjusted independently, and the Comfort setting no doubt helps to ace the Ride category in our subjective ratings. Steering is sharp and brimming with road feel, and brake pedal firmness and ease of modulation were judged to be the Infiniti&amp;#039;s equal.   The S4 also knocks it out of the park in styling. Inside, those high-back seats look and feel fantastic, and just-so bright metallic accents really set off the sporty gauges and center console buttons. Said Bailey, &amp;quot;I particularly like the MMI interface with its little joystick in the controller knob.&amp;quot; But in this sort of car, who wants to set the parking brake with the push of a button, followed by the squawk of a laboring electric motor? Please, , a proper mechanical handbrake would fit the S4&amp;#039;s character much better.   So the question remains: Is the S4 the perfect sports sedan? Close, but the shifter\u2014while solid-feeling and a joy for everyday use\u2014hangs up on the 2\u20133 change when really rushed. Golfers won&amp;#039;t like the narrow (yet deep) trunk because you can&amp;#039;t put your clubs in laterally. Rear seat room is tight. And then there&amp;#039;s that high price, with more than $12,000 in options alone. But as you can see in the final points tally, the S4 Quattro comes about as close to perfection as (a lot of) money can buy.   More: \u00B7 2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Tech HPT: | \u00B7 2010 Audi S4 Quattro: | \u00B7 2010 BMW 335i: | \u00B7 2010 Infiniti G37S Sport: |  In My Opinion...           The Acura TL SH-AWD is the real sports sedan here. Not because it best mimics the performance of a sports car, but because it lapped as quick as the driving purists&amp;#039; BMW 335i while being the most practical sedan for the money as well. It&amp;#039;s not the best sedan for going to the track, what with its little brake rotors, but it is the most fun to tote the family around in while enjoying a smooth engine and flickable transmission. \u2014 Shaun Bailey, Detroit Editor           Call me a traditionalist. But as impressive as the Audi S4 is, I&amp;#039;ll take the Bimmer, whose drive wheels are where God intended. The trick differentials of the S4 and Acura TL work amazingly well, but they&amp;#039;re complex (and heavy) Band-Aids needed to fix the inherent nastiness of high-horsepower front-drive applications. Send the power rearward, where it belongs in a sports sedan, and you simply don&amp;#039;t have those issues. Just ask the folks at BMW... \u2014 Andrew Bornhop, Managing Editor           My choice was easy; I liked both the G37 and 335i. Specifically, I liked how light they felt dynamically and appreciated the simplicity of rear drive. I wouldn&amp;#039;t hesitate to recommend or buy one myself. I&amp;#039;m drawn to the BMW with its smoother-revving and livelier engine, silkier shifting and better steering. But the Infiniti has the advantage of more rear passenger room, plus nav, Bluetooth and seat heaters, options that would bump the price of the BMW close to the S4&amp;#039;s! \u2014 Calvin Kim, Assistant Road Test Editor           I&amp;#039;ve dreamt of engines as great as the S4&amp;#039;s 3.0 TFSI V-6, but now Audi has actually manufactured it, and placed it in an athletic chassis that addresses past weaknesses of the marque: numb, strangely weighted steering and excessive understeer. The Audi&amp;#039;s sporty style\u2014especially inside\u2014wins me over too, imparting the same sort of visual thrill that BMW&amp;#039;s 3 Series used to provide. Pricey? Sure, but as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for. \u2014 Douglas Kott, Senior Feature Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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