Does the sea of crossovers have you yearning to break the mold and buy a sports car?
If your answer is YES, there are more questions to answer. Is it the look or the performance you’re after? Do you want both luxury and sport? What’s the budget? We recently drove and compared the sports variants of three distinctly different vehicles classified as compact executive cars.
When you’re comparing vehicles that start in the mid $40s range, a BMW 3 Series sedan might be in the mix, but if the budget allows it and you’re daring enough to go for a coupe or convertible, despite having fewer doors, the 2021 BMW 4 Series is also considered a compact executive car. It’s a bit longer and larger overall compared to the 3 Series with similar interior space and with four seats. The exciting M440i convertible is a blend of head-turning good looks, luxury appointments and performance that was once limited only to BMW’s highest end vehicles. The option of a drop-top convertible, BMW’s first soft top in the segment since 2006, is compelling and boasts an interior sound rating that’s quieter than the last folding-hard-top 4-series that BMW made. You’ll want to put the top down to appreciate the sounds of the engine it shares with the Toyota Supra—the turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six. Spitting out 382 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque sent through an eight-speed automatic transmission, the M440i sprints to 60 in 4.1 seconds with a top speed electronically limited to 155 mph. Our test car had an MSRP of $64,000, and loaded up with Dynamic Handling Package, Parking Assist Package and Executive Package, its final sticker price was $74,670.
