2005 Audi A4 vs. 2006 BMW 330i vs. 2005 Infiniti G35 Design, Styling, & Technology Comparison

The G35's mechanical trump card is simple and effective: a bigger engine carrying maybe a 15-percent power advantage over the 330i. No wonder, then, that as the Bimmer's punch now rises, the G's is climbing in lockstep, growing from 260 horsepower to 280 (when coupled to the automatic) and 298 when the manual box reduces crankshaft speed. However, unlike the extraordinary lengths their German counterparts have gone to, the magical Nissan/Infiniti 3.5-liter V-6 still seems to deliver new power almost just by asking for it. That is, if those sweet nothings include refining the variable exhaust cam timing, improving the radiator's airflow, and beefing things up here and there. More power means more powerful brakes, so the G35's front rotors grow 0.9 inch, the rears, 0.6.

Passion
Enough hard-core technology is here to light your left brain like a Roman candle. But what happens to your pulse when eyes and hands settle on these three?

To editor-in-chief MacKenzie, the G35 looks too aware of its Bavaria-storming mission. As evidence, he points to the oversized kink in the C-pillar and the heavy-handed "tea-tray" rear spoiler. The stance is nice, he opines, with the front wheels pushed well forward, though from some angles, the car appears rather narrow-gutted.

Despite a mild material and design update to the G's interior, it's easy to imagine its wall of multi-tan, grained plastics having been sourced from a giant vat labeled "universal Japanese polycarbonate, just add tan pigment." The design is a pleasant assemblage of simple geometric forms, chief among them a barrel shape that spans the interior, though the orange instruments look as loud as bad golf trousers. The driver's seat electrically adjusts via nudge buttons questionably placed on the seat cushion's right-front surface (a few drivers felt them rubbing their thighs). However, the seat's grip during vigorous driving is C-clamp quality, and backseat drivers can be dissuaded from their mutterings to slow down by the rear seat's optional recline feature.

Compared with its predecessor, visually, the A4 is maybe more different than better. What's changed is the detailing: fussier head and taillights, the crease along the body side. It's almost as if Audi is reacting to (BMW master sketcher) Chris Bangle's edgy designs and the increasingly baroque sedans from Mercedes-Benz, rather than establishing a genuinely new design direction. As with BMW, both manufacturer's painstakingly honed legacy of brilliant-looking cars has become a curse, hard to shake or improve upon. Plying the air is the dreaded corporate horse-collar grille, though here it seems decently proportioned, more integrated, a more comfortable fit. To either side, the headlight enclosures draw comparison to the 330i's similarly stern stare--and since when have cars become so ticked-off looking? Both these sedans need to consider yoga, meditation--anything to get the blood pressure down (think happy face, happy face).