PRICE (MIS)MATCH PREMISE

AUDI RS3 SPORTBACK AND MERCEDES-AMG E63 S ESTATE

The Mercedes might cost more than double the price of the Audi, but by and large the E63 and RS3 do the same job. Both will carry a family, its pets and even its household junk in comfort and at enormous speed, thanks in both cases to generously turbocharged engines, and with four-wheel drive they will do so in all weathers. Both have straight-line speed to put the frighteners on bespoke performance cars, too.

It is the more expensive car that plays this all-rounder role more convincingly, though. Aside from a ride quality that can be a touch harsh on rough surfaces the E63 better juggles the day-to-day stuff with back-road thrills. While the Audi, better though this latest one is, feels a little numb and lifeless across a B-road, the Merc comes to life like no other performance estate before it. It has a level of poise, control and agility that makes a mockery of its 2060kg kerb weight.

If the Audi has one big advantage over the Mercedesamg on a winding road, it is size. Four inches doesn’t sound like a lot, but by being that much narrower than the E63, the RS3 is more wieldy and easier to position.

ALFA ROMEO 4C AND FERRARI 488 GTB

One car has been reviewed so harshly that it is impossible to escape that narrative when talking or writing about it; the other has been universally praised. We all hoped the 4C would drive like a miniature Ferrari, but with oddly inconsistent steering and a fevered desire to follow ruts and grooves in the road, the Alfa turned out to be a mini 488 GTB in concept only.

In this case it is the cheaper car that has the exotic carbonfibre tub, but even that particular ace – unique at the 4C’s £52,835 price point – wasn’t enough to make it a giant-killing masterpiece.

MAZDA MX-5 2.0 AND JAGUAR F-TYPE V6 S CONVERTIBLE

It might cost close to three times the price of the Mazda, but the Jag isn’t three times as much fun to drive. The two cars use much the same mechanical layout, and having recently been overhauled the MX-5 now has a four-cylinder engine that’s every bit as satisfying as the F-type’s V6. VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R AND NISSAN GT-R When specified with the DSG dual-clutch auto ’box the Golf R does a fair impression of the GT-R. Ultimately it isn’t anywhere near as raw or as fast across the ground as the big Nissan, but with fourwheel drive traction and bundles of power it does love to attack a B-road.