Road Test: 2004 Saab 9-3 Aero, Acura TL, Cadillac CTS, and Infiniti G35
Generally, great handling and a supple ride are antagonistic qualities, and for sports sedans, it's a performance trade-off of particular significance. Here's how our quartet of four-doors manage the balance, with handling represented as slalom speed and ride quality measured as vertical g's recorded over a variety of surfaces and speeds. As you can see, the Infiniti is tops in handling, while the Cadillac significantly leads in ride suppleness. Splitting the difference is the Acura, while the Saab trails in both ride and handling.
--Kim Reynolds
| TEST DATA |
| | 2004 Acura TL | 2004 Cadillac CTS 3.6 | 2004 Infiniti G35 Sport Sedan | 2004 Saab
9-3 Aero |
| Acceleration, sec to mph |
| 0-30 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| 0-60 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.9 |
| 0-100 | 17.3 | 19.4 | 17.9 | 20.5 |
| 1/4 mile, sec @ mph | 14.78 @ 94.40 | 14.99 @ 91.95 | 14.68 @ 94.02 | 15.09 @ 90.55 |
| Braking, 100-0 mph, ft | 372 | 350 | 320 | 350 |
| Braking, 60-0 mph, ft | 128 | 124 | 111 | 121 |
| 600-ft slalom, mph | 64.1 | 63.7 | 65.2 | 62.4 |
| 200-ft skidpad, lateral g | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.87 | 0.85 |
| Figure-8, sec @ avg g | 27.3 @ 0.65 | 27.8 @ 0.62 | 26.8 @ 0.66 | 27.1 @ 0.62 |
| Top-gear rpm @ 60 mph | 1750 | 2100 | 2250 | 2000 |