Battle of Entry Level Luxury cars, part 3.

Continued from the last part. We are starting to get a theme here on these cars, most of them get the luxury part right with the big, heavy cars that rides very smooth but somewhat boring demeanor make them have a disconnected feel while driving. So far only Infiniti gets it right but good thing we save the best for last.

-Bundesrepublik Deutschland

1. Bavarian Motor Works

There is a reason that year after year BMW 3 series has been considered as the best car in the world, and there is a reason that the famed 3 series is used as the benchmark for all other entry luxury cars in this segment. The latest 3 series has done it again, while all other cars in this segment has gotten bigger, and heavier to promote the luxury feel the 3 series has retained its nimbleness and thrill on the road. The current 3 series has gotten bigger over the years as well just like all other cars but it is the smallest in this class, all others we have looked at are bigger than 185 inches weighing over 3500 lbs making them perfect mid size family sedans. The 3 series however is only 178 inches making it slightly longer than compact cars out there, and this way it really has that sports car handling. The Bavaria's best also has some other thing up its sleeves in making this the best driving machine on the road. Under the hood is the award winning inline 6 engine that has been in BMWs cars for decades, it has superior power deliver compare to regular V6 engines and its also a lot smoother than V6. However it is much more expensive to produce than V6 but you pay for the best. BMW engineers also utilizes the ingenious 50/50 weight distribution. Most cars with engine in the front are usually heavier in the front, this is common sense. Therefore most cars you see on the road are 60% weight in the front and 40% weight in the back, this makes front engine cars nose heavy and harder to handle than mid engine cars such as most European sports cars. All BMWs have the perfect 50/50 weight distribution despite being a front engine car, and no there is no extra weight being added in the back to off set the weight in the front, because a 328i weights less than an Acura TSX. Back to the 3.0L I6 found in 328i, it produces 230 hp and 200 ft/lb of torque. It may not sound like a lot but for this small of a car its plenty, and you get most of it at the lower rpm. The superior German engineering is not a myth and it is on full display with the BMW 3 series. The entry level 328i is not the fastest car in this class but it does have similar 0-60 number as the Cadillac CTS which has a much bigger engine, and it is a much refined car in all aspects than the CTS. It is definitely one of the best on the road in every category except for the G37 but that car compares better to the more expensive 335i rather than the entry level 328i.



2. Mercedes-Benz

In the luxury world there is no name bigger than Mercedes. All rich people drive it and all poor people want it. It doesn't matter what era you are looking at, Mercedes has always been the best at producing luxury cars and that begs the question, can they change and compete with BMW to produce the best sport sedan at the entry level? There is no question the flag ship S class from Mercedes is the best you can find anywhere, but not everyone has 150000 dollars for cars and not everyone that want to drive a boat that makes you feel like that you are sitting in first class of a airplane. In coming the new C class from Mercedes, its only 182 inches long, weights only slightly over 3500 lbs and suspiciously it has a V6 that makes around 230 hp. This all sound very much like the BMW 3 series but all the racing history from Mercedes can not save them from this one. It drives very much like all other Mercedes, which is smooth ride, smooth acceleration, smooth steering...everything is so disengaging that it can put you to sleep. Its definitely luxury at its best but that is the exact problem I had when I started this blog, the market is changing and younger people don't drive boring cars like that.



Mercedes is still the ultimate symbol for wealth however and no one can take away that from them. So if you are buying a car to show off on the road, then Mercedes Benz is the right choice.

3. Audi

Audi has been overlooked a lot in the discussions of which auto maker from Germany makes best cars. Truth to be told that once a while that Audi makes better cars than both BMW and Mercedes but they are just not consistent enough to over come the name brand of those two much larger companies. Inconsistency is the key word here, its like Audi can never make up its mind on what it wants to do. Whether it wants to produce a more luxury driving experience like Mercedes or make a very sporty to beat the 3 series, its always moving back and forth. And the end result of that is its stuck in between. In coming the new Audi A4, recently scrapping the bigger V6 engine from its engine of choices and sticking to only the small I4 engine. Its like completely opposite of what Acura is doing with the TSX. Audi knows that the V6 model starting way too expensive to compete with 328i or c300 and it also got close to their own A5 so it had to be scrapped. However that left us with a turbo charged 2.0L I4 that makes 210 HP similar to what you get in a VW GTI, except there is just one small problem, or large one rather. The A4 is one of the bigger car in this class at 185 inches and 3700 lbs its is a whopping 20 inches longer than the GTI and 600 lbs heavier. Its still a pretty fast car since you get a lot of the power early due to the turbo but there is definitely a difference in driving a truck and a mustang even if they might have a similar engine. Also with the car being this big you can be sure the driving dynamics will not be as good as the 3 series. You will have to go to the next trim in the A4 platform which is the S4 to find any type of trill but with an S4 costing 5000 dollars more to start than the 335i but its not as good as the M3, basically stuck in the middle again.



-Conclusion

There are a lot of competitions in this segment and each ones of them is a very good car, but you can not deny that they are all very different cars trying to achieve the real sports sedan crown that BMW 3 series has held for so long.

Performance wise out of the pack the Infiniti G37 is definitely the best with its 328 HP V6 that travels from 0-60 in 5.4 seconds. Now you may say there are other non-luxury 4 door sports car on the market with the same performance, so why do you want to pay 34 grand for a luxury car pretending to be a sports car? Well take another look, both non-luxury sports cars such as the Subaru WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer EVO costs the same or even more than the G37.

If you are that old person looking for a boring, steady luxury car than you might want to look at Lexus or Acura, they carry the quality assurance that comes associated with Honda and Toyota but if you just think about it, Why spend up to 10 grand more for a re-badged Honda Accord or Toyota Camry when you can...well buy an Accord and Camry? The Acura TSX is a straight re-badge of Accord while the Lexus IS 250 is not but its so boring and disconnected it might as well be a Camry.

In the end if you want to have an all around car is does everything well but nothing best out of this group then you have to go back to the roots and take look at the BMW 328i. Its not the fastest, doesn't have the most comfortable ride, nor does it have all the latest tech gadgets but it would scored 8/10 on every category. It's the most engaging car to drive on the road, maybe even more so than the G37, its got the most smooth power delivering engine and a very smooth ride, very close to that of a Mercedes C300. Quality wise German auto makers has always been known for electrical problems, but with Lexus and others adding more and more electronic gadgets can you truly say they will be better in the foreseeable future?