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Once upon a time, when the German car companies had only just begun one-upping each other with continually increasing horsepower numbers, Audi's 80/90-series was the 97-pound weakling of the small-sedan crowd. Its buffest competitors, the 158-hp Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.6 and the 168-hp BMW 325i, boasted in-line sixes that made mincemeat of even the most powerful Audi 90 -- that is, until 1990, when the Audi 90 Quattro 20V showed up to challenge the big boys.

To me, in terms of performance, the BMW 128i makes more sense than 135i. Power doesn't come as easy or quickly as it does in the 135i, but the manual is so rewarding that I actually prefer having to downshift to get into the most out of the normally aspirated 3.0-liter engine. Plus, it still has all the other qualities-excellent ride and handling balance, perfectly weighted steering, attractively trimmed interior-that the turbo 1-series has, at a savings of almost $7000 and 2 mpg improvement in city driving.