TOP 5 SPORTS SALOONS
BMW M3/M4 COMPETITION
THE GOOD: Mighty 503bhp straight-six; front axle’s never-give-up attitude; dreamy chassis balance
THE BAD: Takes up an awful lot of road; no manual gearbox option; close to 911 money; social rejection THE UGLY: Looks only a mother could love; inevitably horrendous depreciation
THE ONE TO BUY: From £74,813 (Comp saloon). xDrive all-wheeldrive variant superb. Touring estate version arrives this year
BMW M5 COMPETITION
THE GOOD: An animal when you want it to be; soothing transport when you don’t
THE BAD: Firmedged ride quality on Competition suspension
THE UGLY: That the CS version is already gone
THE ONE TO BUY: Just one model now, the Competition: £104k/£1586pcm
AUDI RS6 AVANT
THE GOOD: Cushy interior, cushy ride, anyweather pace – and a genuinely exciting drive
THE BAD: Not as outright entertaining as an M or an AMG
THE UGLY: Slack steering a step back from the previous-gen RS6
THE ONE TO BUY: Vorsprung trim adds adaptive suspension
ALFA GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO
THE GOOD: Charisma in spades, fantastic agility and almost as good as an M3 to drive
THE BAD: Emphasis on almost as good as an M3 to drive
THE UGLY: Flaky interior quality; infotainment a step behind the best
THE ONE TO BUY: Just the one, wonderful, model: £69k/£1800pcm
MERCEDES AMG E63 S
THE GOOD: Sumptuous interior, bags of space, fab V8 and Drift mode
THE BAD: Aged enough to remember when all this was fields – and V8s
THE UGLY: Filling up every 250 miles
THE ONE TO BUY: S version adds an e-di and 40bhp for 603bhp total. Estate version genuinely cavernous