BMW 3 Series alternatives mix it up

Motor Trend gets mad thorough on your ass with a ten-pager comparing four pretenders to the 3-Series throne, each of which tries to combine sport and lux in the most effective manner. The contestants are the Saab 9-3 Aero, Acura TL, Cadillac CTS, and Infiniti G35. If you haven't been comatose for the past three years, you can probably predict the winner and the loser easily: Saab scrapes the bottom, Infiniti rises to the top. The Infiniti is really the only car here that can truly compete with the 3er because of its ample power and delightful road manners, even if it is a little unrefined inside. The slight surprise comes from second place, the CTS, which seems to beat out the TL mainly because of the TL's weaker front-drive platform. A worthwhile read if you've got a couple hours to kill. It even comes with a confusing chart at the end explaining the inversely proportional relationship between ride quality and sportiness. Unfortunately, I left my Ti-82 graphing calc at home today.