Yeah but it only has 2 doors.
I was thinking 4 doors minimum.

Nonsense. If you know anything about the EVO and the STI you'll know that they are classic rivals over many years because they represent the same style of motoring. A 335xi couldn't be further from the STI / EVO raison d'etre if you tried.

The 335xi is a luxury sports saloon. It's powerful and its all-wheel drive system is tailored for markets with inclement weather conditions. It is so not intended as a road rally burner in the ilk of the STI or EVO.

I would never, ever consider an AWD BMW over an STI. What's the point? If I was buying a purer RWD Bimmer then that's a different prospect altogether. Subaru and Mitsubishi have made a name for themselves by applying the technology lessons learnt in WRC into road cars of very similar concept to their competition-spec siblings. This translates into a car that is designed to be the fastest in its stable from A - B. The BMW 335xi is not designed to be this. The M3 is.

If you haven't experienced the two cars back to back - I have on an airfield apron - you will simply assume that a 335xi is a logical, direct competitor to the EVO and STI. It isn't because the driving experience couldn't be further away. On paper, sure the 335xi looks like it's a contender but from a seat of the pants experience it's like cotton wool compared to the two Japanese cars. Oh, and that 0-60 mph time for the STI is a bit off. We've been getting sub 5 second times down here on our lousy fuel.

Audi S4 has four doors

My dear Martin, If I read CarGuy posts, this is my interpretion.
335xi is closer to STI moreso than C350 or A4 3.2 are to them. This poll would be more wrong if he compared C350 with these two. So the closest car to STI/EVO is the 335xi (If the other candidates are C350 and A4) even if its light-years in differences in driving.

(With that said , I'm not saying 335xi is a replacement for a STi or EVO X.)

True, but it can't be included in the poll because it hasn't been presented yet. (B8 S4 will debut in the Paris auto show.)

Ok - I concede that I may have mis-interpreted CarGuy's comments on the 335xi. Sorry.

So this comparison would make you happier if 335i was considered instead of 335xi? Or the M3? Let's consider M3 off limits due to the much higher price.
The point of this poll is, as I understand it, perhaps the person wants to have a fast, fun to drive car that he can also depend on when the weather gets nasty. Sure, the Subaru and Mitsu have a really different feel to them, but they are all fast and fun to drive. And in normal conditions you'd be hard pressed to notice the difference between 335i and 335xi. The steering feel is very similar, you can get the xDrive version to oversteer with little more effort and generally can't feel the added weight of the AWD. The only time you really notice it is if you feel like having fun in the rain. So if a person only wants/needs/can afford one car (and lives somewhere where it snows and rains), he should definitely consider getting the xDrive version. And although 335xi may not be as "hardcore" as the japanese in this comparison, it would definitely fare better on a track than A4 3.2 quattro or C350 4Matic.

Foxfire, I can't really disagree with you...

In concept and on paper, yes, a 335xi does certainly present itself as a logical alternative to the Jap specials. In much the same way as the car CAR magazine lists under "Or also try" heading: not a traditional rival but very much a potential choice out of left field. Would it make me "happier"? Nah...

Maybe I'm just too close to the whole Subaru thing but in my experience I liked driving a 335i for the BMW it is and I thought it was sublime. Luxurious, high performance conveyance that I feel is most aptly ordered (despite my strong preference for a stick shifter) with the Steptronic transmission. The BMW comes across as a civilised gentleman's machine that doesn't lend itself to hooning about in. No, that would be highly inappropriate - irrespective of its dynamic credentials.

In an STI, I'm forced to put on my hooligan face. Giving it a right royal thrashing is de riguer. Tyres a squealin', turbo a whooshing... the STI is a marvellously tactile driving experience still. Don't read too much into what journalists tell us about it going soft and all refined; compared to anything other than its main and only real rival, the STI still drives like nothing else on the planet. I've got about 6 hours road-time in the new car compared with over a hundred hours in previous generation STIs and I can safely say that this STI is nicer, more of an allrounder to own but still a classic STI drive in every sense of the word.

The sensation of driving this couldn't be farther from that of what you'd get in any German AWD car - 335xi included. Furthermore, the person in the showroom for an STI probably didn't give the 335xi a second thought - and vice versa.

Count me as the other vote for the Subaru.

erm HELLO ive already told you its the ALPINA B3 ALLRAD

lets stop arguing over a poll please