Seems Like Old Times: 4 Performance Sedans Compared

The Comparo: Gather, Test, Judge, Write, Repeat. Gather, Test, Judge, Write, Repeat

"Side-by-side comparisons are more revealing than you could believe." So we said in a 1966 sports-car comparison test that Ken Miles helped judge. The statement remains true today. Circulating through a group of cars over three or four days, we drive on freeways and twisty roads, in urban traffic, and even on racetracks. We evaluate back-seat comfort with two and three occupants, an often sweaty endeavor that lays bare colleagues' hygiene. Over the evening cheese ball or Bloomin' Onion, we argue about the subjective categories, from fit and finish to steering feel to the way the engine sounds. Uncovering the characteristics that elevate a car to greatness or send one to the bottom of the heap is what former managing editor Steve Spence called "the most important service C/D performs for readers."

Here we go again, driving sports sedans and untangling some of the finest canyon roads Southern California has to offer. Sports sedans have long been Car and Driver favorites. Former editor David E. Davis Jr.'s 1968 ode to the BMW 2002 was a seminal work in celebration of the genre, back when muscle, pony, and sports cars were what captured the imagination. Today, ultraquick EVs, mind-bending hypercars, desert-running pickups, and SUVs of all stripes garner most of the attention, but we're still drawn to the purity and practicality, the aesthetics and the athleticism of this enthusiast-friendly four-door format.

The cars we assembled for this comparison test come from the U.S., Japan, and Germany. Each contender provides genuine performance for an outlay that's not far beyond the current new-car average.

2025 acura integra type s 2025 audi s3 2025 cadillac ct4v 2025 lexus is500 f sport

The Acura Integra Type S compact four-door is thematically in line with the sports-sedan ethos, even if its luggage hold is accessed via a hatch and not a trunklid. It starts at $54,095, and with Liquid Carbon Metallic paint ($600) the only extra-cost item, our as-tested total came to $54,695. That made the Acura the least expensive car here. But just barely.

Audi offers its smallest sedan in three strengths: the lease-friendly A3, the pavement-ripping RS3, and, what works out to be the average of the two, the S3 we invited to the test. The S3 has more power for 2025, as its turbocharged 2.0-liter four finds another 22 horses for a total of 328, while torque stays at 295 pound-feet. For 2025, the S3 borrows the RS3's (and Volkswagen Golf R's) torque-vectoring rear differential, which helps the steering achieve the desired direction. The S3 starts at $49,995 but climbs to $56,195 in our top-spec Prestige trim. Our test car added another $4645 in extras, the most significant being the S Sport package ($1100), which brought revised suspension tuning and adaptive dampers, swelling the bottom line to $60,840.

The Cadillac CT4-V is also the penultimate model in its lineup, sitting below the CT4-V Blackwing. The 'Wing-less V starts at $48,790, and ours wore $6220 in add-ons. The least costly item, performance brake pads for $100, was the only one that would affect test numbers, so even though the Caddy's $55,010 as-tested price was a relative bargain in this group, with more judicious options choosing, you could spend even less and replicate its performance.

2025 acura integra type s 2025 audi s3 2025 cadillac ct4v 2025 lexus is500 f sport

We broadened our outlook past four cylinders and into the V-8 world of the Lexus IS500 F Sport Performance. We'll grant that a Lexus IS350 F Sport, with its 311-hp V-6 and $47,010 base price, may have jibed more closely with the other sedans. But we were intrigued by the idea of the IS500's naturally aspirated V-8, and its $60,595 starting price aligns with the Audi's as-tested figure. That price rose to $69,265 with options, though, and made the Lexus the spendiest proposition here.

You might be wondering about the new Mercedes-Benz CLA and the BMW M235 Gran Coupe. Stop. The Merc didn't arrive stateside in time, and the BMW, well, it was missing in action on a truck somewhere between Jersey and SoCal.

You could see this group as America versus the world, a theme we featured in a January 1980 comparison test, where the U.S. (in the form of the Buick Skylark on GM's star-crossed X platform) met Japan (represented by the Honda Accord) and Europe (with the Swedish flag–waving Saab 900 and Germany's Audi 4000). The Buick wasn't our favorite in any scoring category, despite being the quickest of the group with a 10.8-second time to 60 mph. Today's increasingly international auto industry brings a more level playing field, such that even a Vegas bookie might have struggled to handicap this match.

The Audi's angles, planes, and angled planes impart a sense of modernity, if not luxury.

Interior and Exterior

Audi interiors were once industry benchmarks, but we couldn't warm up to the S3's Joint Strike Fighter–like riot of angles, flat planes, and hard surfaces. The Audi cabin attempts to dazzle with mood lighting and big screens, and both the instrument display and the center touchscreen offer numerous configurations. Possibly too many. Oddly, a gas gauge isn't a permanent fixture in the instrument cluster, instead showing only a distance-to-empty readout. And we cursed the native navigation system's vagueness, which in some formats calls out upcoming directions but omits the name of the street, leading to more than one wrong turn in Los Angeles. The S3 is the smallest car here, but it is well proportioned, and its bright-red livery and stylish 19-inch wheels enlivened its look.

The IS500 is the elder statesman of the group, and its interior is something of a time warp. Look! It's a remote touchpad; we thought Lexus got rid of that. And is that a CD player? Grab your Destiny's Child disc. What you don't find is a place to put your phone—surely this car doesn't predate cellphones. But Lexus has had some practice building the IS, and it shows. There's a real impression of solidity here: in the satisfying sound of the door closing, the slick action of the shifter, and the feel of the steering wheel. The busy exterior styling has not aged so well, and this car's Flare Yellow special appearance package amplified that fact.

The CT4-V has also been around for a while—you can tell by its small 8.0-inch touchscreen. But the navigation system works extremely well, and the old-school interior carries some ergonomic virtues such as a shift lever and plenty of physical buttons. There is no upside to the hard-plastic materials, however, and the cabin is effectively a luxury-free zone. Meanwhile, the exterior designers have penned a restrained, sharply drawn sedan, albeit one that's particularly understated in our car's steel-blue gray.

The Caddy's physical buttons were welcome; the cheap-feeling materials, less so.

Acura Integra Type S

HIGHS: Chassis from the gods, upscale interior, and it's a manual.LOWS: Noisy on coarse pavement, busy-bee freeway ride, cheap seats.VERDICT: Never mind the hatchback—this sports sedan stands supreme.

That the Acura's interior shames the Cadillac's is shocking, given that some deride the Integra as a fancy Honda Civic. The Type S's two-tone treatment helps, but it's more the interesting surfaces and rich materials. Minor controls such as the three dials for HVAC and the little joysticks to operate the vents are simple and intuitive. The sightlines are vast from behind the wheel, thanks to a low cowl and narrow A-pillars. The seats, though, feel like economy-car fare, and the billboard-style infotainment display has small touchpoints. Looking at the Integra from the outside, some saw a few too many boy-racer details, while others found a just-right amount of fender-flare flamboyance.

2025 lexus is500 f sport

Powertrain and Performance

Judged by this quartet, it seems there's no consensus on the ideal powertrain format for a sports sedan. The Lexus takes the most traditional approach, with a longitudinally mounted, naturally aspirated V-8 hooked to a conventional eight-speed automatic driving the rear wheels. The Caddy also has a conventional automatic and rear-wheel drive but with a turbocharged 2.7-liter four. Audi employs a turbo four as well, here 2.0 liters mounted transversely and driving all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The Acura's turbocharged 2.0-liter four pairs exclusively with a six-speed manual and drives the front wheels.

The four-cylinders were tightly grouped in power output, at 320 to 328 horses, but varied considerably in torque, with the CT4-V's 2.7-liter pushing out 380 pound-feet to the Integra's 310 and the S3's 295. Unsurprisingly, the Lexus's 5.0-liter V-8 was the most muscular engine, with 472 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque; even with the most mass to move, the IS500 had the best power-to-weight ratio.

Audi S3

HIGHS: Blazingly quick, telepathic automatic, fuel economy.

LOWS: Synthetic steering, some ride jitters, splashy displays' flawed logic.

VERDICT: More impressive than endearing.

But it's not the quickest, at least in most measures. That would be the overachieving Audi, which used its all-wheel-drive traction and launch-control programming to reach 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, just shading the Lexus (4.3 seconds) and well ahead of the Caddy (4.7 seconds) and the Acura (5.1 seconds). Its 12.8-second quarter-mile tied the Lexus for quickest. The Audi was again on top with its zip from 30 to 50 mph thanks in part to its highly reactive dual-clutch automatic—though the dual-clutch did suffer some occasional lurching at parking-garage speeds. The other two automatics annoyed us by upshifting too early even in their sportiest modes. The stick-shift Integra, of course, sidestepped that issue, and we loved the shifter's positive throws, its friendly clutch takeup, and the involvement that a manual fosters.

Despite its 5.0-liter displacement, the atmosphere-sucking Lexus V-8 needs revving to reach its 4800-rpm torque peak. The turbos in the group take less effort to provide peak torque, 2600 rpm for the Integra and just 2000 rpm for the S3 and the CT4-V. But in the rolling-start 5-to-60-mph run, the instant response of the Lexus's naturally aspirated V-8 means no waiting for turbos to spool, so it beat the second-place S3 by half a second. And the IS500 was a monster when passing dawdlers on the two-lanes—note its best-in-test 50-to-70-mph time—all while sounding like your favorite song from the past.

2025 Cadillac CT4-V

Cadillac CT4-V

HIGHS: Balanced chassis, plenty of power, handsome exterior.

LOWS: Grim interior environs, trucklike engine note, gearbox could be quicker. VERDICT: Doesn't quite soar like the Blackwing.

The Lexus V-8 was the most vocal at full shout, but the quality of sound is superb. By contrast, the Cadillac's big four was universally derided for its engine note, which sounds like the low-revving truck engine that it is. When just cruising, though, the Acura was clearly noisier than the others, transmitting far more road noise over rough pavement.

For all four, observed fuel economy landed within 1 mpg of the EPA's city estimate. The Integra and the S3 returned 22 mpg, while the CT4-V managed 19 and the IS500 just 17 mpg.

2025 Cadillac CT4-V

Driving Experience

The S3 is highly capable on canyon roads, with grip that's easy to exploit. We didn't get much sense of the new trick rear differential working under power, and while we felt comfortable cornering near the car's limits, none of us found extracting its capability to be much fun. Blame the not-so-endearing combination of anesthetized steering with no buildup of effort and rubber-band tires (235/35R-19) that transmit every pockmark and groove into the cabin like a record needle. Even with the dampers in their softest setting, the Audi's lack of tire sidewall made for a rough ride relative to the Cadillac and the Lexus.

Cadillac chassis development has advanced the art of sports-sedan ride and handling balance, and the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing have been fixtures on our 10Best list since their debuts. Indeed, the rear-wheel-drive CT4-V has terrific chassis balance thanks to weight distribution that the Audi can't match, but its 0.92 g of lateral grip is below the group average. There's more configurability in the CT4-V than in the others, including steering weight, throttle sensitivity, engine sound, brake response, and the added layer of Performance Traction Management that tailors the stability- and traction- control systems to your liking (save your favorite combo with the V button). Really, it's more than you need, although the steering feedback is best in the sportiest mode, even if that didn't eliminate the wander zone on-center. The relatively forgiving 40-series rubber on 18-inch wheels serves up a placid highway ride, but headrests that jut too far forward diminish driver comfort.

The IS500 likes its curves to be fast and sweeping rather than slow and tight.

Lexus IS500 F Sport

HIGHS: Seductive V-8 sound, evident quality, driver's seat you won't want to leave. LOWS: Powerful thirst, soft brake pedal, feels like it's from another era. VERDICT: Respect your elders.

The Lexus's ride is just as good, and you're enjoying it while sitting in what feels like your favorite club chair and listening to its dulcet octet. Secure and fluid in fast sweepers, this relatively weighty bruiser felt less willing in the tight sections, where initial compliance that enables ride suppleness has the Lexus moving around more on its suspension than the other cars. In quick transitions, the IS500 feels heavier than the others, and at nearly 4000 pounds, it is. Its long-travel brake pedal feels soft, and the IS500's stability control was also the most intrusive, though it can be switched off (at a stop).

The Integra's firm springs and dampers will set your softer bits jiggling on the freeway (particularly in Sport+ mode), but otherwise, we found little to criticize. The chassis is reactive and predictable, with fantastic, direct, and quick-feeling steering no matter the drive mode and a nice firm brake pedal that earned universal praise. Mass, or a lack of it, is the central theme here. At 3206 pounds, the Acura is some 300 to 800 pounds lighter than the others. On sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber, it flirts with 1.00 g on the skidpad, beating the next-best Audi by 0.04 g. You're aware the front wheels are doing the pulling, but the car puts the power down effectively and without any front-drive histrionics. The Acura was unquestionably the one we all wanted to drive in the canyons.

2025 acura integra type s 2025 audi s3 2025 cadillac ct4v 2025 lexus is500 f sport

And the Winner Is . . .

The Acura Integra Type S gets the win, and fans of cheap speed will delight in the fact that the least expensive car takes the crown. Despite its acceleration deficit, the Acura comes out on top by virtue of its lively and rewarding handling, excellent steering feel, and confidence-inspiring brakes. The well-finished interior was perhaps an unexpected strong point—though its sister Honda Civic Type R's seats would be a welcome addition. It's also practical: Its rear seat is livable for two, and its cargo hold is the largest by far. We loved the manual's snickity-snick shifter and rowing our own gears, but that didn't prove to be a huge factor overall.

The S3's strong objective performance pushed it into second place, abetted by good fuel economy, sporty good looks, and an abundance of features and amenities. We didn't embrace it as much as we might have, though, mostly because its steering and handling didn't cultivate much of a connection, and its interior felt like function yielded to form. It also lost points for its cramped back seat, an outgrowth of the Audi's smallest overall size.

2025 acura integra type s

Given our affection for the CT4-V Blackwing, we might have expected a higher finish for the just-plain CT4-V. But while this turbo four gets the job done, its coarseness and lack of flavor give the impression that it's unhappy in its work. Cadillac also has had several years to upgrade this interior yet has failed to do so, which is particularly unfortunate given the CT4's attractive exterior. The CT4-V has a good chassis, but these minor issues dragged it down.

The Lexus is an emotional play and has plenty of appeal despite its last-place finish. If you can afford to feed it, the powerful, rev-happy V-8 is a jewel. It burbles a seductive low rumble at startup or when you're just prowling around a parking lot, then flips to a hair-raising intake wail when you stand on the gas. The best-in-test seats were also inviting, but the Lexus's advantages were largely undone by its lofty as-tested price. Next to the others, the IS500 comes across as a cushy, high-powered cruiser, which isn't the worst persona to have.

Even though the popularity of sports sedans has decreased, this automotive form continues to evolve, improve, and captivate us. Maybe that's why we're still so enamored of this genre after all these years.

If these cars were lined up in order of quickness, the Audi would be leading, with the Lexus close behind. Instead, they're arranged by color in an order the photographer thought looked pretty.

July August 2025 Compact Sedan comparo final results