I'm still grinning from ear to ear. Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to the BMW driving experience event in Sunrise, FL.

Besides a section to just drive the 330 and get tips from the Pro, there was a head-to-head comparison section against the A4 (3.2L w/ Quattro and sport package) and the G35 sedan (2wd / sport package). All cars were automatics.

The course was tight and fun, and unfortunately long as long as I'd like, but it's probably a good idea to prevent amateurs from picking up too much speed.

First, my impressions of the E90. This car had Active Steering, sport package, and had its DSC "partially" disabled. We ran the course with the Step in sport mode but without using +/-. This car felt great. First turn out of the stop area was a slow left that really opened my eyes. Effortless steering was nifty. The steering didn't feel any different once I was racing around the course. If this feature reduces feel I certainly couldn't tell. I of course will reserve judgement on AS until I drive the same car without AS. In the meantime, it seems to me a real winner. Power was plentiful, smooth, and was helped by the transmission which was NEVER in the wrong gear. Body roll was not an issue. Braking was predictable and strong. My initial prediction was that the E90 was better than the other two, but I had no idea it was by that much! What's remarkable ( and typical BMW) is that on the rough stuff it's STILL the better car. Who do they do that?

G35 Sedan w/ SP. This car was ran in regular auto mode, because (supposedly) it doesn't have an auto sport mode. (Don't know about it's stability control mode). This car suprised me in a negative way. Just like the test drive I tood before choosing the Bimmer, I found this car to be too floaty. It has tons more body roll, pitch and squat than the BMW, and I was very much suprised to find it SLOWER as well (just a tad, though). I don't think the engine is to blame, but rather the extra weight and especially the fact that the transmission was sometimes (but not often) in too high a gear. Steering was okay, but again the body roll distracted from the fun. Braking was good but the car still felt too heavy. Perhaps a manual would really help this car, much more so than a manual would have helped the Bimmer.

A4 3.2L w/ Quattro and SP. Well, initially, my preconceived notion was that this car was a bloated pig. Until I drove it, however, I had no idea how right I was. Very first impression was the extremely over-boosted power steering. Isn't this a sports sedan? What the h*** was Audi thinking? Anyway, moving on. Upon racing the car felt much slower than the others, but that wasn't the biggest drawback. The worst part about the car was the understeer, coupled with excessive body roll and dive. Next most annoying was that the car was RARELY in the right gear when you mashed the throttle after curves. In one instance I remember muttering "Oh come on" as waited what seems like an eternity to downshift to 2nd gear. What can I say!? I'm a Florida driver so I can't comment on what having Quattro means for you Cold-Weather-Folks, but I just can't imagine how several extra hundred pounds of "technology" weighing-down the front of a car can help with handling in any condition.

So the winner? The BMW 330i w/ Sport Package and Active Steering (duh!).....but by a bigger margin than one would think (not-duh!). In addition, these are of course just my opinions, but they indeed were shared by everyone in the four-person team I was grouped with.