The basic concept here is far from new: big V-8 stuffed into a smallish car to lend more urgency to forward progress. Detroit applied the formula a lot during the heyday of the big-inch in the ’60s and early ’70s. Never mind that the resulting hot rods weren’t inclined to change directions or stop. They’d go from A to B in a serious hurry, merrily shredding tires, and in those days, nothing else really mattered.

Consistent with today’s more comprehensive expectations, the S4 does much more than merely sprint. It has the balance of an Olympic gymnast and the surefooted all-weather agility of a snow leopard – wrapped in sheetmetal that differs very little from the everyday A4′s. Whether this cosmetic reticence suits you is your call. But it doesn’t take long to figure out this is not your everyday A4. Not with that refined V-8 exhaust music laying down an internal-combustion back beat worthy of Bach.

And, of course, there’s the matter of fast forward. Ja. The S4 does that. As you’d expect. Then again, maybe not quite as you’d expect. We’ll get back to that issue a little later. First, let’s look at the rest of the package.

Given its uberdog role in the A4 lineup, the S4 has stiffer sinews than its stablemates – slightly higher spring rates, revised shock-absorber damping, stiffer anti-roll bars fore and aft, reduced (by 20 millimeters) static ride height, quicker steering, and bigger brakes. Like the idea of bolting in more horsepower, this is fairly standard, with one important exception: Audi seems to have achieved its handling goals – increased roll stiffness, crisper responses – without excessive ride-quality compromise.

The “seems to” proviso is based on a half day exposure to the S4′s dynamics, part of it on the Misano racing circuit in northern Italy, part of it on a variety of Italian public roads, all of it in wet weather. We”ll suspend a definitive judgement until we can subject an S4 to the weather-checked tarmac of southeastern Michigan. But the S4 does shape up as an exceptionally smooth operator for a car in this rarefied performance category, and it’s distinctly smoother than a BMW M3.

The secret, if there is one, lies in the extensive use of aluminum in the S4′s suspension – including aluminum hub carriers – adding up to reduced unsprung mass.

Besides its surprisingly compliant ride and decisive responses, the S4 also seems to be a reliable ally for quick driving in damp conditions. The standard Quattro all-wheel drive accounts for this in part, of course, and the Continental tires provide exceptional grip on wet pavement. But the element that separates this Audi from a lot of other cars in nasty traction conditions is the relatively high threshold the engineering team set for the intervention of the S4′s traction-control and stability-enhancement programs. Instead of instant shutdown at the first hint of slippage, the S4′s microchips allow a fair amount of wheelspin, as well as the occasional judicious broadslide.

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So has Chevrolet hit it out of the park with the Cruze? Time will tell as the sales figures come in, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for the brand.

While not being a standout in any one category does tend to cause the excitement meter to lean toward bland, the Cruze still has something you can’t quite put your finger on that has helped it take the automotive world by storm.

THE SPECS

TYPE OF VEHICLE: Front-wheel drive compact sedan

ENGINE: 1.4L DOHC turbo

POWER: 138 horsepower at 4,900 r.p.m; 148 pound-feet of torque at 1.850 r.p.m.

TRANSMISSION: Six-speed automatic

BRAKES: Front disc brakes, rear drums with ABS

TIRES: All-season P215/60R16

PRICE: $19,495 (base), $23,063 (as tested)

DESTINATION CHARGE: $1,450

TRANSPORT CANADA FUEL ECONOMY (L/100 KM): 9.2 city, 5.6 highway. Standard features: Traction control, stability control, 16-inch steel wheels, power door locks with keyless entry, automatic headlamps, anti-theft alarm, body-colour door handles, heated power mirrors, variable intermittent wipers, driver information centre, tilt and telescopic steering wheel, air-conditioning, cruise control, auto-down windows, driver’s auto up/down window, premium cloth seats, 60/40 split-folding rear seat, and CD/MP3 stereo with auxiliary input and XM satellite radio.

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Built as a joint project between many of General Motors’ branches around the world, the Cruze is what GM is calling a “world car.” The broad development program shows in the Cruze’s ability to keep up with the competitors in the hyper competitive compact-car class. Perennial contenders like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Volkswagen Jetta and Ford Focus would not be easy to beat.

Critical acclaim has come from around the world, including a car of the year award from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada. After a week in the Cruze, I’m beginning to see why it has garnered so much attention.

In a segment with so much emphasis placed on low cost and high economy, the Cruze is right in the mix of things with its competitors. It’s not a significant standout in any one department, but manages to consistently rate above average.

The Cruze’s 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder lands in the middle of Energuide’s ratings. At 9.2 L/100 km city and 5.6 highway, my LT tester wasn’t breaking records, nor was it calling in the environmentalists.

For those wanting to be even more environmentally conscious, the Eco model offers a variety of low-air resistance body modifications and low-rolling-resistance 17-inch tires, but deleted equipment such as the spare tire (a can of tire sealant sits in its place), some of the sound-deadening material, centre armrest and centre rear head restraint and, most annoyingly, cruise control. The changes equate to a 7.2/4.6 city/highway rating with a six-speed manual transmission that features a taller final than the regular manual does, easily rating best in class.

The marquee piece, thought, is the 1.4L. Turbocharging is making a comeback in North America, but these engines are nothing like people will remember from the 1980s. Technology has brought fuel delivery and ignition systems a long, long way, not to mention the updates in the turbochargers themselves.

Despite a touch of turbo lag, the Cruze’s power comes on quickly and smoothly, with 148 pound-feet of peak torque at 1,850 r.p.m. That’s small diesel response off the line, although the peak numbers aren’t quite as high.

What that translates into on the road is a slight hesitation as you tip into the throttle from a stoplight, followed by a smooth, consistent pull all the way to highway speed, which is where the Cruze performs best. The compact Chevrolet rides more like a mid-sized car once at speed.  Quiet and comfortable, only the biggest bumps will upset the car and remind you you’re driving something with a short wheelbase.

Despite the turbo, the Cruze is a bit slower  to reach 100 km/h than the Civic and Mazda3 are, but I expect we’ll see Chevrolet narrowing that gap in the future by squeezing a bit more boost into that 1.4L. Space was also a big consideration, as the Cruze offers great head- and legroom up front.

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There’s one vehicle that bucks this trend, though – the Honda Ridgeline. Every model in its four-trim lineup is outfitted with the same engine, is equipped with all-wheel drive, and features the same crew cab and bed length. The only real difference between the trims is the number of creature comforts in each.

Though no one will claim Ridgeline is meant to take on the responsibilities of a heavy duty beast like a Ford F-350 or Ram 2500, it’s more than adequate at the slightly-less demanding jobs of a smaller truck.

Ridgeline is equipped with a 3.5-litre V6 that produces a generous 250-horsepower and 247 lb.-ft. of torque. That’s at the very least in the ballpark of most V6-equipped competitors, if not a lot more. Its 5,000 lb. standard towing capacity is also ahead of many competitors, and it’s worth noting that most other trucks in the segment need additional towing or off-road packages before they hit the 5,000 mark, which often equates to more moolah.

The Ridgeline has a 1,550 lb. payload capacity as well, which is also well ahead of many competitors, including the Chevrolet Canyon, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma.

Once the comparisons on paper are done, though, Ridgeline proves itself as an able bodied, easy-to-use truck when it’s actually called upon to get its tires dirty. Its automatic all-wheel drive system can be locked in first, second or reverse gear when it’s gotten in (the mud) too deep.

There are no fancy-schmancy footholds or poles to help step into the bed, but you need not worry about scuffing up the steel-reinforced bed when you throw stuff in. Though the heavy duty tie down hooks throughout the bed aren’t adjustable, there are eight of them in total, which should be sufficient for most jobs.

All Ridgelines come standard with a seven-pin trailer connection, pre-wiring for trailer brake control, and heavy duty front and rear tow hooks.

The five-foot truck bed simply may not be enough for some jobs at the work site, but what that shorter bed allows for is a very roomy cabin. We’ll eat our left arm if we hear of anyone complaining about the room in the front or back seats of the Ridgeline. Loading three passengers in the rear may be pushing it a bit, but there’s actually kinds of room for four occupants in total.

Opting for the EX-L with Navi package will give you all sorts of extra features, from Bluetooth, to ambient lighting, to dual-zone climate control; but this is still all truck inside. Large grips surround the door handles, while knobs are big and easy to manipulate for the large-of-hand.

The rear seats, meanwhile, can easily be flipped up or put back down in a single motion with one hand, and the centre console can be configured in all sorts of ways to hold as much or as little as necessary depending on how busy your day is.

That’s not to mention the exterior, with its dual-action tailgate that flips down like a standard truck, but can also swing out like a door. The inbed trunk is great not just for keeping beverages cold during tailgating, but for stowing expensive items. Best of all, it can be locked and unlocked with the rest of the vehicle using the key fob (no need to fumble trying to get a key into a lock).

It would seem all too easy to ignore the young Ridgeline for more well-established models from General Motors, Toyota or Dodge, but there’s no denying that Honda’s pickup truck is a capable performer.

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Power for our Sienna SE (which features unique grille, smoked lamp bezels front and rear, sport gauge cluster, lower body cladding, 19-inch wheels, and sport calibrated suspension and steering) is supplied by a 266 hp, 3.5-litre V6 that performs up to all motoring needs – its economical in the city or on the highway, and had enough in the tank to quickly overtake a tandem transport.

The six-speed automatic is smooth of shift, and its controls are easily reached (sticking out of the dash, about where you’d expect a column stalk to reside). A 2.7-litre, four-cylinder engine is available in the base LE.

And befitting its Camry roots, the cabin is quiet and the ride is smooth. Handling is not usually a minivan forte, but Sienna had quite the sporty swagger to it. By that time, though, passengers are getting really nervous about your driving and that’s not the kind of thing you want in Sienna – one of the best family transportation packages available on the market.

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Sienna first came about in 1998, replacing Previa (1990-1997) which had replaced the Toyota Van (1984-1989) – the first modern minivan sold in North America (beating out the Chrysler Magic Wagons by weeks).

Built off the revered Toyota Camry, comfort is one of Sienna’s greatest attributes – there’s room for six in family room splendour, with the ability to squeeze in a couple more. Unlike many crossover or sport-utility vehicles, there’s plenty of legroom all around and access to the third row seats would make a Chevy Suburban blush. Most of the credit goes to a low cabin floor (which you don’t get in CUVs or SUVs).

Middle row passengers get individual seats separated by a floor console, attached to the driver’s side seat. Both seats are adjustable fore/aft and reclinable. The travel is long, and even basketball stars won’t suffer cramped knees. Pushing them all the way back does impinge on rear passengers, but smaller travelers won’t likely notice.

Of interest is a removable padded panel, with attached headrest, that can be fitted over the console to create another (temporary) seat. It’s not comfortable, so don’t get to thinking that you can take the entire hockey team for an out-of-province hockey tournament, but for short trips it does the trick. When not needed, it folds up and stows in a side panel at the rear of the cargo space.

The rear seats fold forward and pull back into the cargo area floor, but they don’t seem to sit flat, much as I tried. The middle seats accordion up against the front ones to expand cargo room for most needs. I don’t believe it will fit a 4×8 sheet of drywall, but most other building supplies will be easily handled.

The front seats are similar in support and comfort to the wrapping style to appear radical, while still retaining the typical Toyota functionality. Of note is a small display for the back-up camera – it sits atop larger-than-needed radio and compressed heating/ventilation controls. A larger display could likely replace the large radio (which could be integrated into a touchscreen).

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In the Luxury SUV segment, the year-old Land Rover Range Rover faced a fierce onslaught, with four entries that are additions to their makers’ lineups: the Lexus GX470, the Lincoln Aviator, the Volkswagen Touareg, and the Volvo XC90. We also took a look at the Cadillac Escalade ESV, the new extended version of the hot-selling “Slade.”

We love evaluating such competitive fields, but establishing the dividing line between the Large and Luxury SUVs was a real brain twister. Last year, the wall of separation came at the $40,000 threshold, applied to the lowest base price available in the model lineup.

Unfortunately, with this year’s field, that dividing line would have lumped an obviously upper-crust machine, the Lincoln Aviator, in with the more proletarian large models. Furthermore, at the time we conducted our 5Best evaluations, we lacked firm base prices on several of the vehicles, including the Lexus GX470 and Volkswagen Touareg.

Making matters worse, the only examples of a GX470, a Touareg, and a Volvo XC90 we were able to pry from their manufacturers were fully loaded, top-of-the-line models – luxury sport-utes in anyone’s eyes.

With no opportunity to evaluate the more spartan versions of these machines, we decided to change the dividing line between Large and Luxury SUVs to $39,000 and apply it to the base prices of the actual vehicles that were made available to us. The resulting split strikes us as eminently logical.

With these organizational details out of the way, we proceeded to the task of evaluating our fleet of 25 various and sundry trucks. Each of our 11 jurors drove them on a variety of urban, highway, and country roads surrounding our headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We evaluated their numerous seating positions, learning the necessary third-row-seat shuffle in a few cases.

And since these are trucks, we placed heavy emphasis on their versatility and hauling capacity – humans, cargo, and various combinations thereof. With Car and Driver readers in mind, however, we also paid due consideration to the behind-the-wheel satisfaction offered by these trucks.

After examining and experiencing all the nominees, each editor gave every vehicle a score from 1 to 100. Behold the 5Best Truck winners for 2003.

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The pick-up truck category was also short of new entries – the all-new Ford F-150 and full-size Nissan entries aren’t due until the 2004 model year. But we did see three usefully upgraded entries, along with the quirky Subaru Baja – it does have an open bed – to take on the excellent Chevy Silverado.

The Honda CR-V, which copped the Small Sport-Utility class trophy last year, didn’t face many new contenders, either, although the two that appeared were serious. Mitsubishi’s Outlander took dead aim at the heart of the segment, and Honda’s own Element rewrapped the CR-V mechanicals in adventurous and clever bodywork.

Large and Luxury Sport-Utility Vehicles, however, were a different matter.

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The E55 is a speed sled – a conveyance of staggering power capable of great pace. Attaining great speed is not just the E55′s forte; speed is its reason for being.

Some perspective is in order here. The E55 takes just 0.3 second longer to reach 60 mph that the 508-hp V-12 Ferrari 575M Maranello F1. The Merc comes with heated and ventilated seats and costs about $175,000 less than the Ferrari. In 23.1 seconds, the E55 reaches 150 mph – a speed only 5 mph below its governor-limited top speed. At that pace, the 469-hp E55 is still accumulating velocity more quickly than China accumulates new citizens. Hell, at 154 mph the E55 is still accelerating. Thanks to an almost incomprehensible 516 pound-feet of torque (Audi’s supersedan, the RS 6 makes a comparatively paltry 415) and a quick-acting five-speed automatic transmission, the E55 is a half-second quicker than the Ferrari from 50 to 70 mph.

But what does 155 mph feel like in the E55? Well, Huxley might be dissapointed because the E55 at that velocity feels a lot like the average new car doing 90 mph. So effortlessly and with such extraordinary stability does the E55 maintain pace that speed is a cerebral, rather than emotional, experience.

You’re aware of the speed because your brain tells you objects couldn’t possibly be thrown into your field of vision so quickly. Never have we experienced speed so divorced from the sensation thereof. There’s no wind noise, no lightness in the steering wheel, no unnerving shiver through the body. The E55 slips quietly through what seems an unusually thin atmosphere. It is simply exquisite.

German drivers, who can more frequently (and legally) exploit the potential of such a car, can have the top-speed limiter disabled at a dealership. No chance of that here in the United States of Litigiousness. Based on our experience with the car, would you really want to do that anyway? We were headed into the mountains north of Phoenix, lounging at 85 mph, when we saw a V-8 powered BMW X5. Its driver was in a racy mood. We squeezed the throttle to perhaps half its travel – normal for an expressway pass. The engine thrumming gently increased its volume and pitch. There’s a hint of supercharger whine in the high register. Even on a grade, the automatic doesn’t bother downshifting. By the time we glanced at the rearview mirror, the X5 was simply gone, vanished. “Damn,” we muttered aloud to no one, “how fast were we going? The Euro-spec speedometer said 230 km/h. Let’s see, if 100 km/h is 62 mph, then – whoa!

This is the kind of thing that 469 horsepower will do for you. AMG, Mercedes’ performance division, takes a standard issue 5.0-liter V-8 and increases its displacement to 5.4 liters, adds stronger internals, modifies the three-valve heads, and adds a new intake and exhaust. In the previous E55, this treatment was good for 349 horsepower. But with the 450-hp Audi RS 6 about to show up on American roads and the 394-hp BMW M5 already tearing them up, less than 350 would just not do. So the E55′s engine gets a Lysholm.

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