Auto News 5

If the auto industry were a college literature course, Mercedes, BMW, and Audi would be those tight-pony-tailed girls who sit right up front taking color coded notes and organizing study groups for every chapter. Jaguar would be that guy who walks in late with Cheetos on his sweatshirt, apologizes for bringing the wrong novel, and then scores the highest on the final exam.

It's a tough time for yesterday's heroes. With the current automotive zeitgeist increasingly focused on economy, weight has become more relevant than sheer power, mechanical and electronic advancements have had an increasing effect on driving pleasure, downsizing has grown in importance, and design and engineering are guided not only by performance but by efficiency issues. That's why even the two newest members of this group of four performance coupes -- the Nissan GT-R and the Lotus Evora -- have, for different reasons, already started to show their age. The V-8-engined BMW M3 introduced in 2008 and the Porsche Cayman, which first came to market in 2006, are even longer in the tooth.