Are you a yuppie or buppie in the making? Maybe you're a successful business owner and don't want your clients to think you’re raking in too much, or you're feeling the bite of the recession and need to downsize your wheels. You could even be a comfortable retiree who'd rather play it safe with the annuity.

Either way, you have aspirations. You want a car that's stylish and prestigious, comfortable and well crafted, yet good to drive. Only problem is, you're not prepared to spend much more that R300 000. Your fine taste will no doubt lead you in the direction of the traditional three German compact execs, with the smallest engine choices available.

With Audi's new A4 having just hit our streets, what better time to compare them? OK, BMW couldn't get us a 320i, but it didn't take us long to snap up two other new rivals. Jaguar's X-Type has recently been refreshed and deserves another shot in the fighting ring, while Honda's Accord is by no means a traditional player in this market, but its credentials are so impressive that it's hard to leave it out of this fight.

Looks ready to devour

At least three of these cars will look perfectly at home parked outside that larney lodge you're dashing off to for the weekend. Chances are you'll find the Audi most pleasing to stare at. The entire test team agreed that the Audi is the best looking machine here, with its neat profile and aggressive front, with jagged LED daytime lights and macho single-frame grille ensuring it looks ready to devour.

The Merc has very little aggression in its styling, but its shapely contours make it undeniably elegant and pleasing to most eyes. The Jag, urrr… If you have a secret crush on the queen and dream of whisking her away in a 1967 XJ6, it probably is your cup of tea or plate of scones. Traditional it may be, but it's still rather classy and distinctive and now has a racier edge following that facelift.

Nobody here found much appeal in the new Honda Accord's styling. Its lines are just too fussy and inharmonious, though the back end is pretty neat. Its aura is still quite brutal, if you like the bull-dog look.

Power war

The Honda sure appears to be the fiercest contender in the power war. It'd probably win hands down at the coast, but at highveld altitudes it didn't run away from the pack, which it should have considering its power advantage and that it was the only test unit with a manual gearbox. It was beaten by the Audi off the mark and had the Merc been fitted with a manual gearbox, we feel it would have run the Honda pretty close. You see, the two Germans might have smaller 1.8-litre engines, but they are force-fed, supercharged in the Merc's case and turboed in the Audi's. In typical V-TEC fashion, the Honda’s engine revs high but lacks torque. It also falls behind the Germans in economy.

The Audi's motor is ultra-modern and even has direct fuel injection, resulting in the best claimed fuel consumption figure in this pack. On the downside, it has too much lag for our liking, but once on the boil it really punches above its weight, but the ultra-responsive throttle takes some getting used to. The Merc's 1800 is not as modern and proved somewhat slower, yet is almost as efficient and delivers its power more smoothly. Only downside is that the autobox is slow to down-shift when you want to power out of a corner. The Jaguar's engine is its weakest link. Being a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre V6, it falls behind in performance terms and it's by far the thirstiest here. Go for the diesel rather.

Road holding might not be your prime consideration in this league, but you'll be pleased to know that all of these cars are well sorted in that area. But while the Jaguar gets a tick next to the 'very good' block, the others are better slotted into the 'excellent' category.

» Who's the winner? See page 2...