2010 Audi S4 vs. 2009 BMW 335i - Comparison Tests

All the sports-sedan action is below a $50,000 base price, we’re told by Audi’s marketers. Think of it as the Hugo Boss class of cars, where respected labels adorn quality goods that look swish but still fall within a stretch for wage earners. Go over 50 large and a psychological trigger trips. That’s the realm of the luxury seeker, a rare air where sporty drivers don’t dwell en masse. Even in normal times, go above $50,000 and the dealership traffic trickles.

Turbocharging usually means lag and lumpiness, but not here. BMW’s blown six streams its power in a silky, sateen torrent that cleaves through 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, a dead heat with the more powerful Audi. The six-speed slips into its gates like a runway model into a size 2, and the steering—oh, the steering: The forearm effort is light, but the response is immediate and the feedback no fainter than if your palms were dragging on the road.

You could drive this BMW for the entirety of a quiet commuting life and never be dissatisfied, even with the firm ride. No question, BMW crafts a smooth engine, but real power lives only in the higher registers, above 4000 rpm. Where the cocksure Audi blitzes hills in third and fourth, the BMW’s cooker demands frequent visits back to second to keep its sauce boiling.

Despite the 3’s superior skidpad performance, in harder real-world corners its Bridgestone run-flats lose their bite earlier, the razor-responsive steering dissolving into sideslip with an abrupt degeneration of control and at lower thresholds than in the Audi. At any pace exceeding 80 percent of insanity, our confidence likewise dissolved.

As we boogied over the asphalt strings that drape the mountains of Southern ­California, the BMW invariably fell behind. Whether you’re steering, braking, shifting, or flooring it, the 335i is always enticing you to push harder—but in the unflappable Audi, you in fact can.

The BMW’s brakes are excellent, but time stops for no one. The 335i was new in 2007 and got a mild styling jiggle for 2009. Competitors have improved, and some aspects of the 335i—its lofty price, the coldly impersonal cockpit with its meniscus-shaped dash and slightly old-fashioned displays—never pleased everyone. Polarized sunglasses are a no-go: From the driver’s seat, the audio and climate control’s LCD readout goes dark.

The wheelbase is two inches shorter than the Audi’s, so it does not come as a startling revelation that the BMW’s back seat is less accommodating and involves more of a struggle past doors and over sills to get back there. In both cars, the trunks are spacious.