The “ultimate sipping machine” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Yet that’s the more fuel-efficient direction BMW is taking with the next-generation 3 Series, a vehicle that has literally defined what it is to be a sport sedan, while becoming almost the default entry-level luxury car for ambitious executives and law school graduates.

Making up about a third of all BMW sales, both in Canada and around the world, “there would be no BMW without the 3-Series,” one BMW exec admitted at the international launch of the new 3-Series, scheduled to hit the North American and European markets in February.

Its wide-ranging success means that the 3-Series will need to appeal to a wide swath of upscale buyers to be successful. And after experiencing the new 328i sedan in the shadow of Mont Serrat’s spiky peaks – with sharply cambered roads to match – as well as the area’s Catalunya race circuit, the driving experience suggests that saving fuel has trumped comfort and now challenges performance in the list of 3-Series priorities, at least for this volume model 3, but with due diligence still to both key areas.

The evidence starts under the 328i’s wider and more sculpted hood, where a turbocharged four-cylinder engine now resides instead of the silky smooth naturally aspirated inline-six. BMW has offered fours before in the 3-Series, and does well with them in Europe, but it has been 14 years since the 3-Series was offered with a four in North America.

This one does a credible job impersonating a sporty six: 240 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque (this peak available at an incredibly low 1,250 rpm) are notably healthier power figures than the outgoing 328i’s ouput numbers (230 hp/200 lb-ft). All 3-Series models will receive Stop/Start technology, which turns off the engine when idling to save fuel, after the engine has warmed up.

These numbers result in a 0-96 km/h acceleration time of 5.7 seconds, a very respectably fleet figure for what will start as the base model 3-Series in February, before a meeker 320i arrives with a detuned four in the spring.

But what really makes these numbers wow the informed onlooker is that the 328i will post Canadian fuel economy figures of 9.0 litres/100 km city and 5.6 highway for the manual six-speed, or an even stingier 8.0 city/5.3 highway for the eight-speed automatic, which will put it out well in front of the entry-luxe, non-hybrid class in fuel sipping stinginess. Plus there’s still some fun to be had with the thriftier automatic, offered with reasonably quick paddle shifters that help bring a little engagement into automatic driving.

This is wallet-pleasingly less thirsty than the previous 328i’s fuel economy numbers, and even lower than the current BMW 335d diesel. And perhaps most importantly, below that of any current Mercedes-Benz C-Class, its most natural competitor. By the fall, the 335-hp ActiveHybrid 3 will also become available, becoming the first gas-electric hybrid engine to be fitted to a 3-Series.

Behind the wheel on the track, the 328i acquits itself very confidently. The steering is impressively linear yet light, without the artificial heaviness of the X1 small crossover, which shares this engine.

Handling is this car’s strong suit, with the Sport and the Sport+ settings of the adjustable suspension providing the extra wheel slip so helpful when powering out of a corner apex. The four is not as smooth as the prior six at high revs, but it tends to run out of steam north of 5,000 rpm regardless, so there’s not much incentive to play up there for long.