Automakers once again attempting to see if luxury-car buyers will go for 4-cylinder engines

Buick to offer base version of new 2010 LaCrosse upper-midsize sedan later this year w/ 4-cyl

Lexus HS 250h on sale next month focusing on fact it's a hybrid; still working w/ 4-cyl

Audi AG will push the envelope w/ new 4-cyl variant of 2010 A5 coupe

BMW probably will bring back 4-cyl engines

Numerous recent examples of uncomfortable marriage between luxo-vehicles and 4-cyl

Difference this time: more-sophisticated technology

And different socio-economic and environmental attitudes

New turbocharger designs and direct fuel injection can combine to pump up output

Technical ability to get expected levels of luxury-vehicle performance from 4-cyl a reality

"I think the days of counting up cylinders are over." -- Barb Samardzich, VP for global powertrain engineering, Ford Motor Company

"It doesn't matter whether you're a premium buyer. Everybody's concerned about fuel economy." -- Susan Docherty, VP for Buick-Pontiac-GMC, General Motors Company