German accents at a car contest

ONE carmaker after another is proposing an answer to a question: how do you show off lavish wheels without looking like, well, a show-off?

For many middle-aged buyers, crisis-averting red sports cars are out. Instead, the runaway trend is the “four-door coupe,” a description that seemed to be less of an oxymoron after the success of the 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. Seemingly within weeks, companies began to imitate the CLS’s eye-catching hillock of a roof, first with the more mainstream Volkswagen CC.

The movement has recently produced some unexpected offshoots like the Aston Martin Rapide and the Porsche Panamera. Even a family sedan, the Hyundai Sonata, should remember to thank Mercedes for its curvy style.

Now two new models are going head to pretty head in a battle for luxury buyers: the Audi A7, with a supercharged V-6 and hidden-hatchback layout, and a redesigned CLS550, formidably powered by a new twin-turbo V-8.

It’s not always wise to choose a car for its seductive looks, but here you can’t go wrong: both cars are fine performers beneath their handsome skins. And since these are personal-reward cars, if one or the other fulfills your dreams, and you have the cash to burn, I’d say go for it. Yet I’d still urge any infatuated shopper to test-drive both cars: their on-road impressions may surprise you.

Second Place: Audi A7

For the reliably fabulous Audi brand, a looks-first luxury car might seem an easy assignment. And the company hasn’t messed it up.

The A7 crystallizes everything that has Audi on a roll with customers and critics. The exterior combines Germanic strength with litheness and painterly detail. The interior is a sensory and technological feast, with its impossibly thin pop-up navigation screen, a magnificent optional 15-speaker, 1,300-watt Bang & Olufsen audio system and a choice of striking trim that includes a “natural brown ash” with exposed grain that recalls hand-hewn furniture.

The full name — A7 3.0 TFSI Quattro — is cumbersome. But the car is delightfully smooth, composed and quick, despite a “mere” 310 horsepower from its supercharged 3-liter V-6.

The A7 scores four advantages over the Benz: A lower base price ($60,125 versus $72,175 for the CLS) that includes the latest Quattro all-wheel-drive system, a more versatile hatchback layout, easier-to-manage controls and slightly better fuel economy.

Both cars carve out ample space for two adults in back, bisected by consoles that disallow a third person. But their falling rooflines — the key to their coupelike profiles — make for smallish side windows back there. Tall rear-seat riders find just enough headroom but they also end up staring at the headliner when they peer out; it’s a bit like being stuck inside a hair dryer at the salon.

But specifically for cargo, the Audi makes fewer sacrifices to style. Based on the new A6 sedan, the A7 disguises its utility with a seamlessly integrated hatch. The power liftgate yawns elegantly, revealing a roomy cargo hold — though not close, in practical terms, to the 24.5 cubic feet in the specifications. That is the theoretical space when the cargo cover is removed and items are stuffed to the top of the hatch glass.

Audi’s European specifications put the figure at a more realistic 18.9 cubic feet. In practice, the Audi can swallow one more suitcase than the Benz.

Dropping the second-row seats expands the space to 49.1 cubic feet, roughly on par with a Ford Focus or other compact hatchback.

The A7’s versatility may provide cover for a splurge, allowing owners to imagine productive weekends at the garden center. Yet this is still a me-first car, or at least me-and-you: Audi expects the vast majority of buyers to be empty nesters.

Those fortunate couples can enjoy the ride or the optional electronic gadgets, many accessed through Audi’s well-integrated Multi Media Interface. For an extra $25 to $30 a month (the first six months are free), the new Audi Connect offers an industry-first Google Earth-enabled navigation system, whose Web database is vaster than onboard DVD-based navigators, and is constantly updated. Just as significant, the system’s wireless connection makes the car a mobile hotspot for up to eight devices.

Call up a Google destination, like a restaurant, and the Audi displays exterior photos, reviews and other data, including a phone number to dial.

Even the Audi’s excellent, basic onboard navigation system integrates the drawing touchpad from the A8 sedan, which reads your finger scrawls to call up destinations or phone contacts.

En route to the latest Latin-Finnish hot spot, the A7 provides its own transporting fusion of luxury and seamless service. Car and Driver cites an eye-opening 5.1-second trip from a standstill to 60 miles per hour, aided by the excellent ZF 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift functions. The ride is serene and the tires grip like a politician in Iowa, though steering feedback is scarce.

The other performance demerit is the V-6’s lack of any aural character; the A6 sedan makes the same smothered hum.

Yet Audi loyalists are likely to toast the company’s choice of an overachieving direct-injection V-6, which achieves a class-best rating of 18 m.p.g. in town and 28 m.p.g. on the highway. And by eschewing a V-8, Audi can undercut the Benz’s price, at least for now: Mercedes plans to offer a more affordable CLS V-6 next year.

Affordability is relative, of course. My modestly equipped A7 test car had a price of $68,630. At the Audi Forum showroom on Park Avenue, a nearly loaded A7 ran to $80,130 — a lot for a 6-cylinder car, no matter how good.

From design to performance, the A7 is as much car as anyone might want. But in this price realm, there’s still a difference between enough and more than enough. It is a difference that the Mercedes exploits.

First Place: Mercedes CLS550

Trying to outrun the copycats, perhaps, Mercedes has redrawn the CLS’s trend-setting design.

At first I wasn’t thrilled that Mercedes had jettisoned the original CLS’s symmetrical arch along the body sides. But after two weeks with the car — including a week of wind sprints with a 550-horsepower version, the CLS63 AMG — I began to warm to the look. Demure rear-wheel arches and scalloped sides accentuate the car’s suggestive size and power. The snout juts with money-inhaling arrogance, though its three-pointed star — large enough to top the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree — straddles the line of good taste.

Full-LED adaptive headlamps, an industry first, perform every imaginable trick: bending to illuminate around curves and toggling high- and low-beams on and off to avoid dazzling approaching traffic.

Inside, the Mercedes demonstrates why it is the more expensive car. There is richer leather, great slabs of walnut or ash wood and sumptuous chairs that would be at home in the flagship S-Class.

A few glitches intrude: drinks in the cup holders block the climate controls. And while the single-knob Comand control system has steadily improved, it is still not as intuitive as Audi’s M.M.I. interface.

While the Audi’s hatch is more versatile, newly available split-folding rear seats let you expand the cargo space.

Mercedes has also cut the 2012 model’s base price by $2,700, enough for buyers in snowy regions to add the newly available 4Matic all-wheel-drive (a $2,500 option) and still come out ahead.

Mercedes cites a dozen safety systems, including Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control, which incorporates the Pre-Safe collision mitigation system along with blind-spot and lane-keeper assistants in a $2,950 package. Yet when the last scrap of leather and gee-whiz gadget is tallied, one question remains: how do these cars drive?

Audi might say it’s not a fair fight. But if the A7’s V-6 is the estate’s unobtrusive butler, the Mercedes V-8 is the playboy heir. With two turbochargers stuffing eight cylinders, the 402 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque dwarf the Audi’s output. Sound is also no contest: the Benz emits a big-money burble that only a primo V-8 can deliver.

The CLS550 surged from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in an epic 4.2 seconds in Car and Driver’s testing, nearly a full second quicker than the Audi.

The new Biturbo engine, mated to a silky 7-speed automatic transmission, also gets 20 percent better mileage than the 2011 version, an estimated 17 m.p.g. in town and 26 on the highway (17/25 with 4Matic all-wheel drive). During relaxed drives, I averaged 22 m.p.g. in the Audi and 21 in the Mercedes, a virtual wash.

But the Mercedes doesn’t just outmuscle the Audi. The CLS’s engine, steering and Airmatic suspension combine to deliver a more persuasive luxury experience. With every mellow roar of the engine and every pothole dispensed with, the Benz reassures you that your splurge was worth it. One notable edge is the terrific feel of the CLS’s electric-assisted steering; it is the first such system in a Mercedes, and automakers usually aren’t so successful on the first try.

The biggest surprise is that the CLS handles with more verve than the Audi, with more driver feedback and more eagerness to flirt with fast turns.

Yes, the CLS costs much more. My test car checked out at $83,095. Yet in this class, many well-heeled shoppers could surely stretch to the Mercedes without losing sleep.

Either way, buyers are in for a treat. The Audi delivers tasteful pleasures for less money. But for maximum indulgence in a four-door coupe, the CLS remains the richer choice.