Road and Track and writer Jason Cammisa wanted to see just how good the new F30 328i 3 Series was. So they pitted it against the best four door sports sedan they could find – the previous E90 3 Series. The winner may surprise you. Or not.

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>Our old 328i’s base seat and steering wheel aren’t as comfortable as this new car’s sport-package setup, but all of its interior materials feel a full class more expensive than the new car’s. And that’s everywhere, from the switchgear to the center console to the glove box. In back, the difference is more pronounced, where the new car feels rental-car grade. Its trunk space is bigger on paper but no more usable.

>The new car’s electrically assisted power steering is quite good (and, thanks to software updates, will likely get better), but it’s not great, and when it occasionally communicates what the chassis is doing, it tells you what just happened. The E90’s hydraulic steering, by contrast, tells you what’s about to happen. That’s an important distinction as you’re approaching the limits of a car’s suspension: “Dude, you’re sideways” is a different thing from “Don’t feed in any more throttle, because your rear tires are about to break traction.”

Read on for the full opinion. And when you’re done come back and give us yours. Does the E90 really stand up to the high-tech F30?

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