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Front-wheel-drive layouts worked better twenty years ago, when cars were lighter and engine output was akin to a couple of ponies on quaaludes. Today's obese modern cars require serious, purebred muscle to haul them around, and as a result, quick front-wheel-drive cars suffer from easy-to-provoke wheel spin and steering that's been novocained to mask torque steer. Point a powerful front-wheel-drive car up one of San Francisco's famously steep grades and try--just try--to get moving without squealing the front tires. Now try it in the rain, or--heaven forbid--snow.

The Audi A4 Avant may not turn heads like a chiseled Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon and, at least in this test car's configuration, won't win any races against a grocery-toting BMW 3-series. But make no mistake, this is a handsome, pleasant-to-drive vehicle.

It would have been the perfect birthday bash: Audi celebrates its July 16, 2009, centenary with the rebirth of an icon - the original 1980 Coupe Quattro. But it wasn't to be. Although the concept car was almost complete, the board pulled the handbrake at the eleventh hour. What happened? All of a sudden, the brand chiefs decided that Audi should present itself in a less aggressive and more eco-friendly manner.

The only car I can really compare this Vantage to is another Aston Martin. Perhaps Aston is stealing a few potential Porsche 911 or Audi R8 buyers with the V8 Vantage, but I'd be worried about losing DB9 sales to the slightly smaller, slightly cheaper Vantage. Inside, the cars are virtually identical and, though the Vantage is much cheaper, Aston Martin's own web site lists it as just .3 second slower to the 60 mph mark. The DB9 will theoretically do 190 mph to the Vantage's 180 mph, but that's not good for much more than bragging rights.inline_mediumwraptextright29425200/reviews/editors_notebook/0908_2009_aston_martin_vantage_v80908_11_z+2009_aston_martin_vantage_v8+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue