Auto News 5

PREMIUM FUEL ECONOMY
Fuel prices are on the rise again, and so maybe you're thinking it's time to downsize your mid-size performance-luxury car. Perhaps something like a Honda Fit. Since you like to make a statement, you're also looking at the Nissan Cube. The turbocharged Nissan Juke has a bunch more power, so maybe that teensy compact crossover is on the shopping list, too.

Yes, it's tall, narrow, boxy, and not particularly nicely detailed, but it was an enormously successful and influential design. When the Alfa Romeo Giulia body shape was introduced in 1962, the only cars in production with lower aerodynamic drag were the Porsche 356 coupe and the Citroën DS four-door, as listed by Britain's MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) in a little technical paper on aerodynamics. Maybe Panhard's 24 CT was better. But not by much.

No matter how many times I drive an Audi A4 2.0T, I still wind up double-checking to confirm that I am, in fact, sitting behind a four-cylinder engine and not some excellent six-cylinder. Indeed, the words and numbers on the spec sheet -- 211 horsepower, four-wheel-drive, 31-mpg on the highway, and 3600 pounds -- simply do not jive with how spirited and fun the A4 is to drive. Mash the throttle, and the 2.0-liter responds instantly, emitting a throaty howl and propelling this heavy, leather-lined sedan more briskly than it has any business doing. It's not merely a smoke screen of low-end torque and short gearing, either. Snap the precise stick shift into second, and it keeps on pulling.