I am actually currently in the process of buying a new car, so have test drove quite a few in this class. FTR I currently own a 2010 Audi S4 6MT, and having a 6MT is a huge preference. That being said the lack of manual transmission cars on dealer lots makes test driving cars with a manual transmission almost impossible (nearest 2 BMW dealers did not have a single manual transmission car on their lot).
Anyway, I test drove the following cars recently:
2016 Cadillac ATS 3.6 AWD - Loved the 3.6L V6. Even though my last 3 cars have all been forced induction motors I cannot deny that normally aspirated engines are so much smoother and more responsive. If Cadillac would offer the ATS with a 3.6L engine and a 6MT that is probably the car I would be buying. I considered dropping down to the 2.0T engine to get the manual transmission but after driven some later cars decided to go in a different directions. The ATS is extremely well balanced and very nimble. Although its absolute handling limits are likely lower than my current car (S4), it was actually more fun to drive because it was so much eager to turn. The combination of being a bit smaller and being significantly lighter is a huge handling advantage for the ATS. The Alpha chassis is generally considered one of the best chassis on the market today and after driving one I totally understood why it has gotten so much praise.
2016 Audi S3 - This car offers no manual period, but wanted to test drive it anyway. Loved the DSG transmission for what it is (a super fast shifting automatic with dual clutches instead of a traditional torque converter) and from a pure mix of driving fun and interior refinement this was probably the best car I drove. I very nearly ordered one, but 2016 are out of production and 2017's were not yet available (and there was literally no car on the East Coast that matched what I wanted as far as colors and options). In a way I am glad I was forced to wait, but will explain why later.
2016 BMW 228i - Drove an automatic at the local (well, as local as I could find, which is still a ~35-45 minute drive) dealer. It was a fun little car, but even though it is more balanced than the S3 I preferred the S3. The AWD in the S3 is very rudimentary (Haldex AWD rather than true Torsen style AWD that I have in my S4) but in normal driving situations you cannot tell. The interior was much nicer in the S3. I was kind of surprised by how downmarket the interior looked. Of all the cars I test drove the interior in this car was the least refined (which will probably surprise some). As far practicality is concerned the 2-series was already a bit of a stretch...I prefer 4 doors as I do take people out to lunch/dinner occasionally and like to have a useful back seat. The backseat in the 2-series wasn't necessarily too small (although it is certainly a tight fit), but getting back there wasn't easy. I don't personally have any physical infirmities (39 years old and no health issues to speak of and in reasonably good shape) but anyone who is older and not nimble would not be able to use this back seat I don't think. If you are someone that simply wants the car that is the most fun to drive and you don't need a back seat however I would certainly recommend checking this car out. It was very fun to drive with the automatic and I suspect would be even more fun with a manual transmission. Note that it is also available with a >300HP turbocharged I6 and, if you are willing to wait in line and/or pay over MSRP you can also get an M2.
2016 BMW 328xi - I drove this car after the 228i. Generally speaking I prefer AWD and this car is technically smaller and lighter than my current car, so I wanted to give it a shot. The interior was, not surprisingly, nicer than the 228i but IMHO it was not as nice as the S3. The S3 was almost significantly more fun to drive (mainly because it is significantly smaller). Additionally, despite the lower weight this car was not any more fun to drive than my current car. So while I don't consider it a bad car it was not really in contention as a replacement.
2014 BMW 335xi (CPO) - Drove this car mainly out of curiosity. It has the M-sport package and was definitely more fun to drive than the 328i, but IMHO was not as nice as my S4 and definitely not as fun to drive as the S3. I feel like the engine was easily the equal of my car, FWIW. It is only rated at 300 HP (my car is rated at 333 HP), but this is probably very conservative.
2016 Chevrolet SS - This is actually the car that started me on the path of looking at new cars. Early in July Chevy had a 20% off sale that surprisingly applied even to this relatively limited edition car (they only make/sell a few hundred of them per month). For those that are not family with the car it is build on the Omega platform which is similar to the old Sigma Platform used by the Cadillac CTS. It is a lower cost version so it used more steel in place of aluminum and doesn't have the same levels of sound deadening as a Cadillac. What it does have, however, is a 415 HP small block V8 (6.2L engine). Its an old school engine that makes power the good old fashion way...displacement. For those that are not familiar with engine technology, the small block Chevy uses an old school OHV set up. This means it can only have two valves per cylinder and by their nature having the valves positioned the way they are the engines themselves have trouble revving as high as (dual or single) OHC engines. The upside, however, is that OHV engines are also "cam in block" engines...which means the overall packaging of the engine is much more compact. If you ever see a small block Chevy V8 (which have displacements as high as 7.0 liters) physically sitting next to a DOHC V6 or V8 you would be astonished...the OHV engines as so much small on the outside even though the engine displacement is much higher. ANYWAY! I could only drive this car with an automatic at the time (no local dealers had a manual version in stock). I tried to work with a local dealer to obtain a manual version via dealer trade but since I only found out about the sale after the July 4th holiday it seemed like most manual cars had already been sold (car enthusiasts across the country jumped all over this sale when they found out). By July 8th GM instituted a "stop sale" on the Chevy SS due to a pending recall which meant dealers were no longer allowed to sell them. Unfortunately this stop sale is still in effect today and rumors are it will be October before a fix to the recall will be available. I was still considering ordering a new 2017 model even without the 20%, but of the cars I was seriously consider that would make it the most expensive, albeit not by a lot.
After driving all of the above I took some time off test driving. In my mind I was down to either ordering the Chevy SS or waiting to order the Audi S3. On another forum I post in someone suggested I try out a different car - the Volkswagen Golf R. For those not familiar, this Golf R is essentially the same car as the Audi S3 but simply with a different interior and exterior shell. FWIW, the car I owned prior to purchasing my current car was a VW GTI, so I am not really against VW, there just are not many dealers around my area. Anyway I took it under consideration but since dealers are so sparce in the area the nearest one I could find was a good hour and 45 minutes away (VW Princeton, FWIW). They had a fully loaded 6MT one on the lot. I took a half day last week to go test drive it in the afternoon and...I loved it. Now granted the interior is not a nice or refined as the S3 but it is just as, if not more, fun to drive. To me the trade off of being able to get a 6MT was worth losing some of the features the S3 offered versus the Golf R (sunroof, magnetic shocks, virtual instrument cluster). After thinking about it over the weekend I went ahead and put my deposit down (over the phone since it is too long of a drive) this past Monday. I am planning to drive up and take delivery tomorrow (Friday).
