This hotly contested segment has a clear benchmark; it is the Acura TL (and its 2-door cousin Acura CL). The TL succeeds in blending comfort, style, luxury, and sport into an efficient package at an affordable price. If you are leaning more toward the luxury scale, the Lexus ES 300 might be a more practical purchase.

We also recommend the sporty and Euro-flavored Audi A6, the comfortable Buick Park Avenue, the affordable and fast Infiniti I30.

Despite intramural competition from big-sister A6, the A4 remained Audi's volume seller in calendar 2000, helped by a 7-percent year-over-year increase to near 34,500 units. Just around the corner are new second-generation models that are slightly larger and more rigid, have more room and power, and look rather like the A6. Wheelbase expands to 104.3 inches, overall length by 2.7, width by 1.3, and overall height by half an inch. Audi claims 1.7 inches more rear knee room and 2 cu. ft. more sedan trunk space. Suspension is modified slightly and now made largely of aluminum to save weight and improve handling response.

Per usual German practice, the new A4 line rolls out in stages. Sedans arrive this summer, followed within weeks by Avant wagons, all as 2002 entries. Most will have standard quattro all-wheel drive, but a price-leader front-drive sedan should continue. New high-performance S4 versions should reach dealers by spring 2002 as early '03s. Like the 2001 models, the '02s will have standard curtain and front side airbags; rear side airbags are optional in Europe and may also be offered here, perhaps as standard on S4s at least.

Engine choices stay basically as is, but not the engines themselves. The base 1.8-liter turbo 4-cyl should add 20 hp for 170 total, while the current iron-block 2.8 V6 gives way to a new-design all-aluminum 3.0-liter with multivalve cylinder heads, variable valve timing and about 220 hp in U.S. trim. Audi hasn't confirmed S4 power, but it will doubtless be a twin-turbo version of this V6 with around 300 hp, according to European sources.

Audi also hadn't yet confirmed transmission choices, but a 5-speed manual should remain standard for regular A4s, with a 6-speed unit again reserved for S4s, though that may be optional for lesser models. A conventional 5-speed automatic with manual shift feature should remain optional, but U.S. A4s may get Audi's new "Multitronic" continuously-variable transmission (CVT) in lieu of that or as an extra-cost alternative. Already available in Europe, Multitronic follows other CVTs in using a system of belts and pulleys to provide an infinite number of gear ratios. Audi's design also allows sequential manual shifts through six forward "speeds" via the floor lever or steering-wheel buttons.

Further out, a 2-dr four-seat A4 convertible will reportedly bow sometime in 2002. It'll be a spiritual successor to the Cabriolet based on the old 80/80-series that was phased out a few seasons back, as well as a running mate for the small TT convertible. A companion A4 coupe should follow in 2003, also with seating for four. Audi is still mulling a derivative coupe-like 4-dr hatchback, but that wouldn't appear until 2004 at the earliest. With hatchback cars lately generating renewed interest among a small segment of American buyers, this "4-dr coupe" has some chance of joining Audi's U.S. fleet.