Comparison Test: 1989 Budget-Friendly Sports Sedans

Car and Driver

03-08-2025

From the March 1989 issue of Car and Driver.
You've finally hit your stride. Your ca­reer is in overdrive, you're making a few bucks, you've established a family, and you're well on your way to becoming a pillar of society. Congratulations. But now you need a new car that reflects your newfound status and needs. Your paren­tal standing suggests something practi­cal—say, a four-door sedan. But there's just one problem: you still love to drive, and you'd rather have a road-burning speedster than a boring family hauler.
You need a sports sedan: a car with four doors, a spacious body to provide shuttle service for the family, and plenty of speed and handling for you.
Fortunately, today's market is loaded with sports sedans. In fact, there are so many available that picking the right one can be a daunting task. And that's where we come in. We've assembled six of the best speedy sedans available for an offi­cial C/D comparison test. Read on and you'll see that being practical and sensi­ble certainly doesn't rule out having fun behind the wheel.
Our distillation process complete, we were left with a six-pack of hot-blooded sedans, several of which are newcomers this year.
The rules for our competition speci­fied that each car had to have at least four doors, good test-track numbers, and a sticker price no higher than the mid ­$20,000 range. (We know you're on your way up, but we don't expect you to be in the Forbes 400 yet.)
We originally nominated fourteen cars, and we drove them back-to-back be­fore paring the list down to six finalists. The first to go were the Pontiac Bonne­ville SE, the Toyota Cressida, the Mazda 929, the Acura Legend, and the Merkur Scorpio. All five of these cars are com­mendably comfortable and eminently well mannered, but we found that each of them lacked either the performance or the handling prowess we expect of a first­-rate sports sedan. We also ruled out the Alfa Romeo Milano, the Volvo 740 Tur­bo, and the Audi 90 because—though they are fine cars—they didn't display the well-rounded arsenal of talents shown by the top entries.
Our distillation process complete, we were left with a six-pack of hot-blooded sedans, several of which are newcomers this year. The most obvious choice was Ford's new Taurus SHO, the deservedly popular Taurus sedan bolstered with a spanking-new 220-hp Yamaha V-6, an upgraded chassis, and a full complement of luxury features. Its reasonable sticker price makes the Taurus SHO the most exciting sports sedan to come to market in several years.
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Car and Driver
Another newcomer among the final­ists is Nissan's redesigned Maxima. The old Maxima was a solid and sensible car with a healthy engine, but its styling­—both inside and out—was so clunky that no enthusiast would give it a second look. That's all history now. The new Maxima is a sleek piece of automotive sculpture with plenty of appeal. And inside, Nissan has adopted a clean, simple interior with a control layout that encourages serious driving. A few more ponies and an up­graded chassis complete the Maxima's transformation into one of the most at­tractive sedans in the class of 1989.
One car that hasn't changed much re­cently is the BMW 325i. BMW was large­ly responsible for inventing the sports se­dan twenty years ago when it introduced the 2002, and it followed up that famous effort with the six-cylinder Bavaria. These days, BMW continues to produce some of the world's finest sports sedans. Unfortunately, you need to be well up the corporate ladder before you can af­ford most of them. The 325i is the wel­come exception. It gives up a few luxury touches in exchange for a base price of $25,450, but it retains the solid feel, the secure handling, and the magic powertrain that the bigger Bimmers are famous for.
Another Bavarian entry is the Audi 80 Quattro. Despite its greater weight, we chose the four-wheel-drive 80 Quattro over the similarly priced front-drive 90 because it handled and steered better than its higher-numbered sibling. The 80 Quattro combines modern design with super-sleek, aerodynamically effi­cient bodywork. And, like the 325i, the 80 is solid, well finished, and a bit on the expensive side.
The Sterling 827S is an interesting mix of Japanese and English engineering and design that combines some of the best characteristics from each. The mechani­cal twin of the Acura Legend, the 827S borrows its sophisticated chassis, ultra-smooth 24-valve V-6, and slick-shift­ing gearbox from Honda. But its interior and exterior styling and its overall char­acter are English. In fact, it was the supe­rior handling of the English-tuned Honda suspension that motivated us to select the Sterling over the Legend for this test.
To wring out our six sporting four­-doors, we mailed six Car and Driver edi­tors to Pasadena, California, for a two-­day, 500-mile drive through some of the best winding roads in the country.
The Peugeot 405Mi16 rounds out our sedan sextet. You might not immediately think of Peugeot when the conversation rolls around to sports sedans, but Peugeot is a major player in Europe and the new 405 line is its brightest star. In Mi16 form, the 405 is endowed with a high-revving 1.9-liter four rated at 150 horsepower, a beefed-up suspension, and sticky rubber. And, like all 405s, the Mi16 of­fers a roomy, well-designed body. At $21,145, the 405Mi16 is the least expensive European entry in our test.
To wring out our six sporting four­-doors, we mailed six Car and Driver edi­tors to Pasadena, California, for a two-­day, 500-mile drive through some of the best winding roads in the country.
We began our back-to-back compari­son drives on the Angeles Crest and An­geles Forest highways, where we spent half a day plying the same sinewy stretch of road. We then proceeded toward Palmdale, home of the Stealth bomber, and made our way west on straight and empty Route 138 toward Gorman, Frazier Park, and the winding blacktop that runs through the Los Padres Nation­al Forest.
Darkness fell long before we reached our evening destination in Santa Barbara, providing us with a fine opportunity to assess each car's poise and mettle as we hustled over the dark, unfamiliar mountain roads.
The next day we repeated this same basic route, ending up in Rosamond, be­tween Edwards Air Force Base and Wil­low Springs Raceway, where the techni­cal department performed its full battery of instrumented tests.
With test results and notes in hand, we then retired to our respective chambers to ponder the merits of our six competi­tors. We rated each car in ten individual categories to provide a detailed indica­tion of its various strengths and weak­nesses. A separate overall-rating catego­ry provided the final finishing order, which we present below:
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Car and Driver
6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16
The Peugeot was unquestionably the raciest car in our group. It cut into cor­ners with a razor-sharp quickness that made it feel more like a Formula car than a four-door sedan. And when pushed to its 0.83-g cornering limit, the Mi16 re­mained wonderfully neutral—its tail oozed out gradually, and it was easy to hold in a controlled drift.
The Mi16's twin-cam four-cylinder en­gine matched the chassis's track-car man­ners by screaming like an F1 engine whenever we wound it into the heart of its power band. Unfortunately, the sound wasn't pleasant: the engine sounded harsh from about 5500 rpm all the way to the rev limiter—which cut in a few hun­dred revs short of the 7000-rpm redline. Rich Ceppos wrote that the screaming four was "loud enough to scare Alain Prost." William Jeanes noted that "the engine makes more noise than the other five put together."
Nor did the thrust produced by the en­gine match the volume of the racket. The Mi16 needed 9.5 seconds to reach 60 mph and nearly 17 seconds to cover the standing quarter-mile. That just isn't enough performance for spirit­ed mountain driving. All in all, the engine did a better job of turning gasoline into noise than into speed.
On the highway, with the engine turn­ing only moderate revs, the Peugeot was much better. The cabin remained reasonably quiet, and the ride was smooth and resilient.
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Several drivers had trouble finding a comfortable driving position, noting that their legs banged against the dash when they moved close to the wheel. And, though everyone liked the Mi16's leather upholstery, a few logbook entries criti­cized the quality of some of the other cabin fixtures. Several staffers also ex­pressed minor concerns about the quali­ty of the Peugeot's overall fit and finish.
The $21,145 Peugeot was one of the least expensive entries in the group, but that only partially offset the car's disad­vantages. A noisy and weak four-cylinder engine simply doesn't cut it when the sticker price rises above twenty grand. The 405Mi16 would be our choice as the best autocross car in the group, but as an all-around sports sedan, it falls to the back of this talented pack.
1989 Peugeot 405Mi16
Base/as-tested price: $20,700/$21,145
DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head
Power: 150 bhp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 128 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
Curb weight: 2700 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.5 sec
1/4 mile: 16.9 sec @ 84 mph
100 mph: 28.3 sec
Top speed: 125 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 187 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.83 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 21 mpg
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Car and Driver
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro
At $27,110, the Audi 80 Quattro was the most expensive car in the test. As a result, we expected a lot from it—and it only partially delivered. For starters, the Audi's 130-hp five-cylinder was the least powerful engine in the test. And, not sur­prisingly, the Audi was the slowest car in the group. The engine was willing and felt suitably refined, but it was too weak to endow the Audi's hefty 3000 pounds with any liveliness.
This weakness was particularly obvi­ous because the handling of the Quattro chassis was so secure and predictable. As Nicholas Bissoon-Dath put it, "Audi has done a terrific job of making this car be­nign. You've really got to provoke it to make it do anything even remotely strange." With the capable and confi­dence-inspiring chassis always ready for more speed, we were constantly aware of the engine's lack of power.
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In a more workaday role, the Audi dis­played no such shortcomings. Everyone liked our test car's rich-looking blue­-cloth interior, and there were praises all around for the solid feel of the controls and the fine driving position. There were a few complaints about the Audi's high waistline, its tight rear seat, and its tiny trunk, but overall, we found the 80 a comfortable and pleasant car to drive.
In our minds, the Audi's biggest prob­lem is its price. We'd like it a lot more if it were priced under twenty grand. Grant­ed, the 80 Quattro's healthy sticker in­cludes a sophisticated four-wheel-drive system—something a buyer who lives in a snowy and mountainous region might be willing to pay extra for. But for most sports-sedan shoppers, the $27,110 Audi represents a poor value.
1989 Audi 80 Quattro
Base/as-tested price: $23,380/$27,110
SOHC inline-5, iron block and aluminum head
Power: 130 bhp @ 5700 rpm
Torque: 140 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Curb weight: 3000 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 10.3 sec
1/4 mile: 17.2 sec @ 81 mph
100 mph: 32.6 sec
Top speed: 119 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 190 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.78 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 19 mpg
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Car and Driver
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE
The new Nissan finished a strong fourth, just one point back of third place and two points out of second. And it earned that fine placing thanks to its well­-rounded goodness. That goodness starts with a high level of visual quality, both inside and out. Jeanes noted that "a great amount of attention has been lavished on interior detail; ergonomics, fit and finish, and design are well ahead of the pack." And the Maxima looks every bit as care­fully designed and crafted on the outside. It's a car that immediately attracts enthusiasts.
Another Maxima strength is its powertrain. The 160-hp 3.0-liter six is quiet, smooth, responsive, and strong at any rpm. It collaborates with a slick-shift­ing five-speed gearbox to feed power ef­fortlessly to the front wheels.
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Unfortunately, the Maxima's chassis isn't as capable as its drivetrain. The big­gest drawback is a shortage of grip. Our Maxima, fitted with 205/65HR-15 Toyo T tires, could do no better than 0.76 g on the skidpad, a mediocre performance for a modern sports sedan. Moreover, the Maxima's suspension is on the soft side, requiring a gentle touch at the wheel to keep the car from bobbing around. For­tunately, the Maxima's linear steering made smooth driving easy. And even with the soft suspension and low grip, the Maxima was easy to drive and secure at the limit.
Of course, the soft suspension provid­ed a comfortable ride during the cruising sections of our test. And the Maxima's cabin offers plenty of room and comfort­able seating for its passengers.
With an as-tested price of just under $20,000—including anti-lock brakes­—the Maxima SE represents a tremendous value. It's an excellent all-around car.
1989 Nissan Maxima SE
Base/as-tested price: $17,999/$19,699
SOHC V-6, iron block and aluminum heads
Power: 160 bhp @ 5200 rpm
Torque: 181 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Curb weight: 3160 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 8.8 sec
1/4 mile: 16.5 sec @ 84 mph
100 mph: 28.1 sec
Top speed: 123 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 195 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.78 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 18 mpg
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3rd Place: BMW 325i
The BMW 325i nailed down its high finish due in no small part to the good­ness of its powertrain. Bill Visnic opined, "If this were an engine- or gearbox- or drivetrain-only comparo, this car would win hands down." And the rest of us agreed. Nothing feels quite like a Bimmer underfoot.
Not only is the classic 168-hp BMW straight-six strong enough to give the 325i the second-best performance of the group, but its sound and feel were magic to our enthusiast ears, hands, and feet. Wound up through its rev range, the but­tery-smooth engine delivered plenty of thrust and the most delicious mechanical noises in the industry.
The 325i's transmission proved to be a worthy partner to its magnificent engine. It snicked in and out of gear beautifully, and its ratios were perfect for keeping the engine at full boil.
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The chassis did its part in supporting the delightful powertrain. The 325i dis­played plenty of grip and stability, and did it with a distinctly sporting flavor. As the only rear-drive car in the group, the BMW was almost as easy to steer with the throttle as with the steering wheel. The Bimmer's steering felt fine during cor­nering, but we found it to be somewhat light and lifeless on-center. Despite that shortcoming, the 325i tracked well on all the road surfaces we encountered.
The BMW's biggest drawback is its size. It is too small to qualify for serious sedan missions. To give rear-seat passen­gers enough legroom, the front passen­gers must move their seats up to the point where they're uncomfortable. And the interior finish is a bit stark, though its quality is top-notch.
Overall, the 325i is long on sport and short on sedan. It has an immensely satis­fying engine and traditional rear-drive handling, and it is constructed with typical German solidity. If you can live with its small size, the 325i—at about $26,000—is definitely worth considering.
1989 BMW 325i
Base/as-tested price: $25,450/$26,280
SOHC inline-6, iron block and aluminum head
Power: 168 bhp @ 5800 rpm
Torque: 164 lb-ft @ 4300 rpm
Curb weight: 2840 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.5 sec
1/4 mile: 15.5 sec @ 89 mph
100 mph: 22.7 sec
Top speed: 128 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 179 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.79 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 19 mpg
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2nd Place: Sterling 827S
The Sterling 827S was the well-round­ed, do-anything nice guy of the test. Whatever we asked it to do, it did willingly and well. Just what you'd expect from its Anglo-Japanese upbringing.
Its powertrain, for example, was one of the best in the group. Its engine, the same 2.7-liter 24-valve six used in the Acura Legend, was both powerful and uncannily smooth. Some drivers felt that it was even smoother than the BMW in­line six, although the Sterling engine couldn't quite match the Bimmer's stir­ring personality. And we rated the Ster­ling's transmission equal to the Bimmer's; the shifter was light and won­derfully precise.
The Sterling's chassis was equally ca­pable. Although the 827S continues to use a strut rear suspension instead of the multilink layout now being used on new Legends, our test car handled with excel­lent balance and stability. The Sterling's neutral cornering behavior and smooth, sharp steering response inspired immediate confidence.
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For the most part, the Sterling's ride was acceptably comfortable, but when the bumps got large, the car tended to pogo a bit.
Most of us liked the Sterling's interior styling. We found its old-world mixture of wood trim and leather particularly at­tractive. Few of us, however, were satis­fied with the driving position. The major­ity of the complaints centered around the driver's seat, which didn't lower far enough, and the steering wheel, which was hard to reach.
But those were minor quibbles. The Sterling 827S has everything you'd ex­pect of a top-notch sports sedan: power, handling, room, and luxury. For $25,525, it's a hell of a deal.
1989 Sterling 827S
Base/as-tested price: $22,400/$25,525 (est)
SOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and aluminum heads
Power: 160 bhp @ 5900 rpm
Torque: 162 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Curb weight: 3160 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 8.2 sec
1/4 mile: 16.1 sec @ 87 mph
100 mph: 25.1 sec
Top speed: 127 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 181 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.79 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 17 mpg
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1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO
In a sports-sedan test, you'd expect the winner to be the fastest and most utilitar­ian car in the group. And that's just what the Ford Taurus SHO turned out to be.
A 220-hp, DOHC 24-valve V-6—de­signed and built by Yamaha—is the root of the SHO's speed. This engine makes the SHO by far the quickest and fastest car in the group. On the test track, it scorched from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds and topped out at 137 mph.
Despite its high output, the engine is wonderfully refined. Responsive and well-behaved at low rpm, the V-6 seems to get stronger and stronger as you rev it toward its 7000-rpm redline. And it re­mains smooth throughout its broad rev range. The SHO V-6 is also quiet: we noted only a faraway hum at cruising speeds, which gradually changed to a de­termined growl when we wound the en­gine out.
The five-speed gearbox—the only transmission choice with the SHO en­gine—is not of the same star quality. Its action was precise enough to avoid missed shifts, but the shifter had a sticky feel that demanded excessive effort and didn't clearly signal when we had snicked into or out of gear.
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For a front-driver with 220 hp, the SHO did an impressive job of putting its power to the ground. We noted little torque steer—except in tight, low-gear corners. A few staffers felt that the steer­ing effort was too light; others com­plained that its feedback was poor. But we all felt confident driving the SHO hard. Our test car displayed plenty of grip and excellent balance. Ceppos de­scribed the car's cornering behavior as "flat, stable, and sure-footed. There al­ways seems to be extra grip available."
The SHO's heavily bolstered, highly adjustable driver's seat was not on our list of favorite features. Some drivers found the bottom cushion too short, oth­ers felt that the seat couldn't be inclined enough, and others were bothered by the lack of lower lateral support to match the pronounced upper side bolsters.
Several other interior details bothered us. The instrument panel looked unin­spired and even a little cheap. And the fit and finish of the cabin seemed subpar for a car in this class.
Those complaints aside, the Taurus SHO is a winner. On the sedan side, the SHO offers all the virtues of the regular Taurus—which means enough room to haul a large family and all its luggage with ease and comfort. And on the sports side, well, the SHO's test-track numbers speak for themselves. Best of all, the SHO's heady combination of performance and utility is available at a bargain price: $21,768. Speed doesn't get any more sensible than that.
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Our sextet of sports-sedan finalists proves that practicality need not rule out excitement behind the wheel. All six cars offer enough performance and versatility to please car buffs and sensible-transpor­tation seekers alike. Any one of the top four finishers could satisfy even the most demanding enthusiast. And our winner, the Taurus SHO, could hold its own against many all-out sports cars.
So when the time comes to get that sensible car you've always dreaded, now you know what to do. Lift your chin, smile a big enthusiast's grin, and say ''I'd like to look at something in a sports se­dan, please."
1989 Ford Taurus SHO
Base/as-tested price: $19,739/$21,768
DOHC 24-valve V-6, iron block and aluminum heads
Power: 220 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 200 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm
Curb weight: 3380 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 6.9 sec
1/4 mile: 15.3 sec @ 93 mph
100 mph: 19.4 sec
Top speed: 137 mph
Braking, 70­-0 mph: 206 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.82 g
C/D 500-mile trip: 17 mpg
Reviewed by
Csaba Csere
Contributing Editor
Csaba Csere joined Car and Driver in 1980 and never really left. After serving as Technical Editor and Director, he was Editor-in-Chief from 1993 until his retirement from active duty in 2008. He continues to dabble in automotive journalism and WRL racing, as well as ministering to his 1965 Jaguar E-type, 2017 Porsche 911, 2009 Mercedes SL550, 2013 Porsche Cayenne S, and four motorcycles—when not skiing or hiking near his home in Colorado.