Is This the Perfect Car?

We're driving a 250-horsepower, twin-turbo autobahnstormer of a car. It's the Audi S4, the most driving-intensive model of their 4 series. This one has a 6 speed manual transmission, heated seats, big tires and wheels. And that power gets to the ground through Audi's excellent quattro system.

It handles like a dedicated sports car, but rides comfortably enough to keep you fresh after 10-hour stretches. And it gave us just under 30 mpg at more or less highway speeds.

PS - This one's a wagon, although you can't tell that from the driver's seat. From the outside, you could mistake it for an ordinary grocery-getter.

So in one car, you have four wheel drive, a luxurious interior, top-of-the-line German sports car handling, decent economy, and room to carry gear.

To ask any more would be just a little bit greedy.

What has 4 Wheels and Flies?

If you say a trash hauler, you're half right. Audi's S series cars can certainly haul.

S is a new designation for Audi's sport-tuned cars. It's a rival for the BMW M series, indicating something special under the sheet metal. Audi keeps the outward appearance of the S series quiet, but don't let that fool you.

We drove the S4, with rivers of power and an aggressive suspension. While the S4's handling doesn't have quite the edge of an equivalent M3, that makes it even more usable on regular streets for day-to-day purposes. And quattro all wheel drive gives the S4 an advantage when conditions are less than perfect.

Each model in Audi's range will have an S counterpart; in fact, the flagship S8 appeared at the Washington auto show. So whatever size car you want, Audi will have one that does serious truckin'.