this morning at the local newstand checking out car magazines. The car was Monaco Blue on Jet black, very classy and sexy in combination with the cars overall design, which is modern, pure classic BMW. So I asked him(as he was the only other person at the stand) if that was his car, he lit up and said "yes it is". We got to talking for some time about his car and "cars"; Previously he had a Cayman S that was a 1yr lease and swaped it for the 335, which really floored me, as the Porsche is said to be qutie a phenominal performer. He said he enjoyed the perfrmance and handling, but the ride was rough and the handling a little too sharp for everyday(limits are very high, so there's always the temptation to push it on the streets where its' not really safe to do so), for him the 335 has the handling and the perofrmance but in an overall more civilized package. He doesn't like the run flats, as he feels they compromise the ride. I told him about the S5 and he said, "well it's an Audi", basically as long as Audi is owned by VW and sharing parts and development with VW their cars are never going to achieve the same handling/perforamcne balance BMW has building cars as an autonomous company. I see the point, but you really never ever know what who can come up with in this day and age in this ever so competitive industry. One thing is for sure, the E90/1/2/ 335 is an icon and the appeal of the car itself in addition to the many "wow" factors of it's personality make it truly hard car to not only beat, but also to deny. Makes the cost cutting cons seem worth it, regardless of the added expense in the long run.

As a car enthusiast you should of informed him of the superior handling of the R8, I do believe it's top dog these days!

You know I picked up an issue of autocar(the latest) just after I got throuigh talking to the guy, where they pitted the R8 against a host of other performance cars for "best handling car of the year", they said the R8 has better steering than the M3. Obviously Audi has the potential to be on the same level as the BMW, but question is, do they want to? Time will tell, but I don't think you should have to cough up the money for Audi drive select to get the handling the cars should already have(the latter is not going to be a cheap option). This new "sport differential" should be a standard feature on all Torsen based Quattro Audi's, this is the only way they can truly be competitive with the others. Won't keep me from getting a B8 A4 without it, but still.