[addm]

Originally Posted by drob23

I agree with your general skepticism, you are correct that the most of the insight we have into the performance differences come from bench racer style hypothesizing. Most of these magazine comparisons are not done in a controlled manner (recent MotorTrend S4 vs 335i used AS tires on 3er), so ultimately all we have are anecdotal opinions. Marketing and sales pitches are the worst way to go, and many opinions we read on boards like this are biased based on preference (post-purchase rationalization?) or first hand knowledge of the wrong platform (b7 s4 vs b8 s4 are *completely* different for example).

With that said, it is a well known fact that the biggest performance barrier for an AWD car is understeer. The rear sports differential in the S4 and X6/MX5/MX6 is a pretty cool way to combat this. Does it turn the S4 into an M3 sans V8? No way, it's still an AWD car.

It really all comes down to personal preference. I live in the snow belt and need AWD because I can't afford a DD and weekend toy. The BMW IMO should be driven in the RWD variant, so I ultimately went with the S4. If I was still in college down in SoCal (ugg do I miss the SB beach), I'd probably be driving a 335i. Was this based on scientific fact, of course not, just how I felt about it. Now this doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the after the fact debate , it's fun learning about this and doing the research - just wish there was better information out there.

Well said.