And random thought of the day. Good thing I didn't move to Texas, because I don't know what it's all about. Apparently it's the home of players and pimps.
sick beats though.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Texas and Pussy
Why spend money on these cat houses when you can use an ordinary plastic bag? 
And random thought of the day. Good thing I didn't move to Texas, because I don't know what it's all about. Apparently it's the home of players and pimps.
sick beats though.
And random thought of the day. Good thing I didn't move to Texas, because I don't know what it's all about. Apparently it's the home of players and pimps.
sick beats though.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Purple Drank
It's purple purp purple purp purple and swallow it down
with the yurple yip yurple yip yurples
It's going down!
with the yurple yip yurple yip yurples
It's going down!
Monday, July 5, 2010
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?
-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?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Battle of the Entry Level Luxury cars, part 2.
As we can see that American Auto Makers are largely unwilling to change their products in order to fit the current needs of this segment, but at the mean time the Japanese are doing everything they can do dominate every segment out there.
-Land of the Rising Sun
1. Acura
Honda has been in the US market as long as we can remember, and they have always dominated in one particular segment, the cheap family sedan segment. But this once racing bike manufacturer is still known more overseas for its high performing, high revving VTEC engine. The engine is said to be the father of all modern day variable timing engines, and the architecture has remained same for few decades. Honda's brand image in the US was cheap, reliable but what people didn't know was they were selling a lot more expensive track cars with the VTEC engine. Therefore they had to do something about all their high performance cars segment since everyone that was buying a Civic in the US wasn't about to dish out double premium for a different Honda. In coming the Acura name tag that is specially created for the North American market. This was a absolute genius move at the time as Honda pretty much moved all of their high performance cars like the Integra and others that were slightly better built than the Civic and Accord. Over the years they have enjoyed the success Acura has brought them in North America, but you can hardly call Acura a substantially different brand than Honda. The Integra was built much like its brother the Civic, in another word a tin can. The only luxury option you could find on it was leather seats and that was on the higher trim. As time went on Honda realized that they need to improve differentiating Acura from its core Honda cars in order to face changes in the luxury car segment. Long story short, Acura took in the features that made German auto makers great in the modern era. In coming the entry level Acura TSX as Acura was phasing out all of their boy racer "tin can" cars such as the Integra and the RSX. The TSX is built like a hybrid of an American and German car. It is big and heavy, like a real luxury car but there lies the underlying problem. The VTEC engine traditionally is a small 4 cylinder engine, and it works well on Honda cars because they are built like a real track car, small, extremely light, so when you revving it up to 8000 RPM for 170 HP the car is very fun to drive. But not when you are powering a 3500 lb beast. As a entry level luxury car the TSX is much larger than the BMW 3 series and even the Mercedes C class, its not quite as big as the Cadillac CTS but its close. But the CTS is powered by a large 300 HP V6 not a small 200 HP I4. So when you drive the TSX it has lost all the fun factors that made the Integra great, its not nimble, its not fast, and it definitely feels like you have to work way too hard to get the car going, all killer no nos for a luxury car. Good thing Honda is not an American brand, they quickly changed that by putting a large V6 engine as an option on the TSX, but this had 2 implications. One is that with the V6 the TSX starts at 35000 dollars which is at least 1000 dollars more than the BMW 328i and Mercedes C300. Two it is now about the same price as the Acura TL which is much larger car filled with much more luxury options. Over all it feels that Acura has lost its soul in this car, even with the V6 it drives like a big family sedan rather than a nimble sport sedan that everyone strives to be at this entry segment, it drives too much like the Honda Accord if you will and coincidentally the TSX for North America is no more than a re-badged Honda Accord in other countries.
that guy is obviously an Acura fanboy, the car is 20 inches longer and more than 1000 lbs heavier than the Integra with the SAME engine, you do the math.
2. Lexus
Like Honda, Toyota followed its lead in differentiating some of their more expensive cars for American market, and thus the Lexus brand was born. Unlike Honda, Lexus came much later than Acura and Toyota kept some of its high performance and luxury cars under the Toyota name brand even after Lexus was well established. Toyota had the ultra high performance and expensive Supra under its name as well was the highly expensive luxury cars such as the Avalon and Land Cruiser. Lexus however, Toyota wanted it to make completely different cars not just for the US but internationally instead of re-badging everything and leave the Toyota name on there outside of America like what Honda is doing. The Lexus IS, on the surface it looks closer to a German sport sedan than your good old boring Toyota but is that really the case? Many critics have said over the years that Lexus is just as boring to drive as a Toyota even though they may look sportier, and yes there are high performance cars like the Lexus LFA, which is a grossly overpriced Supra but that's different story. However the core cars are no where near say a BMW 328i which is a entry level car but still very fun to drive even to a car enthusiast. In another word, a fancy looking old people's car. Oh well at least they didn't just re-badge like Honda did, or did they?
3. Infiniti
The dark horse out of these three picks. Infiniti was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years back but now they are back and with a brand new attitude toward the entry luxury car segment. Instead of trying to be both luxury and sport and fail miserably at both like Honda and Toyota, Nissan decided to go for one thing at a time and do that one thing extremely well. Infiniti G37 comes standard with a 3.7L V6 that makes a whopping 328 HP which is 100 HP for than the BMW 328i and easily the front of the pack, and did I mention its the same price as the 328i? Infiniti knows that it can't not win the luxury crown from even Lexus or Acura so they decided to win as a sport sedan, and to be honest I have to agree with them on this approach. There just way too many luxury cars with their high techs or luxury options, but none of them will drive like a G37, at least not at this price range.
The Infiniti G37 is definitely my winner out of the three, not just because the engine but because what you get with your money. Out of all three, none of them look particularly good compare to German sedans but obviously better over the American competitions. Both Acura and Lexus can not compete with the German cars at the lowest entry point since both lack any real power to be exciting to drive the heavier cars, both need to be moved up to the much more expensive trim and bigger engine to compete so in a way they are not cheaper when compared apples to apples. The Infiniti however offers class leading power and enough luxury appeal to really compete with the best, if its not already the best.
-Land of the Rising Sun
1. Acura
Honda has been in the US market as long as we can remember, and they have always dominated in one particular segment, the cheap family sedan segment. But this once racing bike manufacturer is still known more overseas for its high performing, high revving VTEC engine. The engine is said to be the father of all modern day variable timing engines, and the architecture has remained same for few decades. Honda's brand image in the US was cheap, reliable but what people didn't know was they were selling a lot more expensive track cars with the VTEC engine. Therefore they had to do something about all their high performance cars segment since everyone that was buying a Civic in the US wasn't about to dish out double premium for a different Honda. In coming the Acura name tag that is specially created for the North American market. This was a absolute genius move at the time as Honda pretty much moved all of their high performance cars like the Integra and others that were slightly better built than the Civic and Accord. Over the years they have enjoyed the success Acura has brought them in North America, but you can hardly call Acura a substantially different brand than Honda. The Integra was built much like its brother the Civic, in another word a tin can. The only luxury option you could find on it was leather seats and that was on the higher trim. As time went on Honda realized that they need to improve differentiating Acura from its core Honda cars in order to face changes in the luxury car segment. Long story short, Acura took in the features that made German auto makers great in the modern era. In coming the entry level Acura TSX as Acura was phasing out all of their boy racer "tin can" cars such as the Integra and the RSX. The TSX is built like a hybrid of an American and German car. It is big and heavy, like a real luxury car but there lies the underlying problem. The VTEC engine traditionally is a small 4 cylinder engine, and it works well on Honda cars because they are built like a real track car, small, extremely light, so when you revving it up to 8000 RPM for 170 HP the car is very fun to drive. But not when you are powering a 3500 lb beast. As a entry level luxury car the TSX is much larger than the BMW 3 series and even the Mercedes C class, its not quite as big as the Cadillac CTS but its close. But the CTS is powered by a large 300 HP V6 not a small 200 HP I4. So when you drive the TSX it has lost all the fun factors that made the Integra great, its not nimble, its not fast, and it definitely feels like you have to work way too hard to get the car going, all killer no nos for a luxury car. Good thing Honda is not an American brand, they quickly changed that by putting a large V6 engine as an option on the TSX, but this had 2 implications. One is that with the V6 the TSX starts at 35000 dollars which is at least 1000 dollars more than the BMW 328i and Mercedes C300. Two it is now about the same price as the Acura TL which is much larger car filled with much more luxury options. Over all it feels that Acura has lost its soul in this car, even with the V6 it drives like a big family sedan rather than a nimble sport sedan that everyone strives to be at this entry segment, it drives too much like the Honda Accord if you will and coincidentally the TSX for North America is no more than a re-badged Honda Accord in other countries.
that guy is obviously an Acura fanboy, the car is 20 inches longer and more than 1000 lbs heavier than the Integra with the SAME engine, you do the math.
2. Lexus
Like Honda, Toyota followed its lead in differentiating some of their more expensive cars for American market, and thus the Lexus brand was born. Unlike Honda, Lexus came much later than Acura and Toyota kept some of its high performance and luxury cars under the Toyota name brand even after Lexus was well established. Toyota had the ultra high performance and expensive Supra under its name as well was the highly expensive luxury cars such as the Avalon and Land Cruiser. Lexus however, Toyota wanted it to make completely different cars not just for the US but internationally instead of re-badging everything and leave the Toyota name on there outside of America like what Honda is doing. The Lexus IS, on the surface it looks closer to a German sport sedan than your good old boring Toyota but is that really the case? Many critics have said over the years that Lexus is just as boring to drive as a Toyota even though they may look sportier, and yes there are high performance cars like the Lexus LFA, which is a grossly overpriced Supra but that's different story. However the core cars are no where near say a BMW 328i which is a entry level car but still very fun to drive even to a car enthusiast. In another word, a fancy looking old people's car. Oh well at least they didn't just re-badge like Honda did, or did they?
3. Infiniti
The dark horse out of these three picks. Infiniti was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years back but now they are back and with a brand new attitude toward the entry luxury car segment. Instead of trying to be both luxury and sport and fail miserably at both like Honda and Toyota, Nissan decided to go for one thing at a time and do that one thing extremely well. Infiniti G37 comes standard with a 3.7L V6 that makes a whopping 328 HP which is 100 HP for than the BMW 328i and easily the front of the pack, and did I mention its the same price as the 328i? Infiniti knows that it can't not win the luxury crown from even Lexus or Acura so they decided to win as a sport sedan, and to be honest I have to agree with them on this approach. There just way too many luxury cars with their high techs or luxury options, but none of them will drive like a G37, at least not at this price range.
The Infiniti G37 is definitely my winner out of the three, not just because the engine but because what you get with your money. Out of all three, none of them look particularly good compare to German sedans but obviously better over the American competitions. Both Acura and Lexus can not compete with the German cars at the lowest entry point since both lack any real power to be exciting to drive the heavier cars, both need to be moved up to the much more expensive trim and bigger engine to compete so in a way they are not cheaper when compared apples to apples. The Infiniti however offers class leading power and enough luxury appeal to really compete with the best, if its not already the best.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Battle of Entry level Luxury cars, part 1.
The entry level luxury car market has gotten bigger and bigger over the years in America, and it no longer is a "luxury" to those that makes millions but to anyone that has a decent job and makes good living. Some of the normal cars today fully loaded approaches or even exceeds the price tag of these entry luxury cars and sometimes they are even less drivable. Because of these reasons the market has become more and more popular as we Americans start to share the views of the Europeans, that a car is not just a means of transportation.
Out of all the luxury cars the entry level cars are the most popular not just because one can show off their status on the road for the cheapest price but because sometime even if you can afford one you don't want to be too flashy or broadcast the fact that you are driving a 200,000 dollar Mercedes. It's segment for the average Joe, the corporate executive, or a successful businessman. It is a segment where the world leading luxury car producer BMW, sells most of its cars. So without further delay lets examine a few of these so called entry level luxury cars.
-Part 1. Home Grown.
It is only appropriate to start in a country that only has the biggest auto industry in the world. No matter how you perceive American cars, American auto makers are no stranger to the luxury brands. GMC, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick have all been with us for a long long time. But one thing that American brands don't share with foreign auto is how a car should be built, and I am not talking about quality either. There was a time that US luxury cars were viewed only as...well luxury cruisers. They are big, heavy, unresponsive boat like machines that often have the biggest V8 engine you can find but accelerates slower than a diesel truck today. So yes they are perfect highway cruisers for older people and back in the day only older folks were the ones that could afford these types of cars, that or rich and famous people who has a chauffeur. Either way those types of people want to have a boat like car because they are either old or sitting in the backseat disconnected from the driving experience. But like I said the times have changed, younger people that have good jobs or their parents fortune are starting to buy these kind of car, and they do not want a boat. What they want is a sporty car that is engaging to drive yet retains that luxury feel. European Brands like BMW and Mercedes started doing this a long time ago partly because they were once race car makers but everyone in Europe drives them everyday anyways, there was no luxury or normal car. I fault the downfall of American Autos on their inability to recognize that the market is change rather than their failing in making quality cars. In the last few years they have finally realized that they can no longer only target the older segment, and started to endorse the sporty, young, and hip images of these American luxury brands, but is it too late? And its not as easy as it sounds, Luxury cars were big and heavy for the reason of ride quality, like Cadillac and Mercedes, and sports cars are usually light and nimble with rough ride quality, like Porsche and Lotus, so if you combine the two something has to give. After all can Americans truly compete with Europeans on something they have been doing for decades? We shall see.
-Cadillac
There is no name synonymous with American luxury than Cadillac, But there is also no other that display the image of boat like than it either. Cadillac Escalade, the original reason others hate us for the display of wastefulness before Hummer came along. All the movies you see, all the Cadillac you see on the road, there is just no other cruisers like it. But now it is changing its brand images with the youger crowd, and in comes the entry level Cadillac CTS. At the starting price of over $36,000 it is by far the most expensive car in this segment. This is one myth I will destroy in the blog, people always do a double take when they see the current price of entry level BMW and Mercedes thus creating the lie that German cars are much more expensive than others. That might be true for their flag ship cars but next time check out the price on an American car too, you would be surprised. Anyways this is by far the smallest and sportiest Cadillac we have seen so far, it sports a reasonable sized V6 engine that produces 270-304 hp, which puts it at the front of the pack but I have learned long ago to not just rely on numbers on a piece of paper. The CTS is smaller than other Caddys but at the price range it is probably one of the largest entry level luxury car standing at 192 inches and over 3800 lbs. So its got all the right numbers on paper but just well does this car drive compare to others?
Ok so three things, exterior, interior, and the engine. These so called reviews might say how they love the exterior but any car enthusiasts can tell that its still got the same big, bulky in your face look of a traditional Caddy. There is no way you can say side by side that it looks better than a BMW 3 series or a Mercedes C class. On to the interior now the CTS interior looks much better and more modern than the older Caddys as it is an obvious attempt to get more younger crowd. I am not big on interior design or have a strong opinion on this subject so I will give CTS the thumbs up for attempted modernized interior. Lastly the engine, on paper it rivals the BMW 335i and as it stands today, the 335i cost 4000 dollars more to start. But does it really drive as well as the 335i? Cadillac never released any official times but it has been said that the CTS accelerates from 0-60 miles in around 6.6 seconds, and if that's the case than its no where near the 5.4 seconds on the 335i. That is actually closer to the cheaper 328i but the 328i has whopping 70 less hp and 70 less ft-lb of torque than the CTS, and I am not even going into the technical aspect of why even so the 328i is still better the CTS because you get power on the 328i at much lower RPM. Okay so the CTS is much bigger and heavier car than the 3 series therefor slower is to be expected, but looking at it this way even though no review would say how well it handles I am certain because of the size factor CTS also handles no where near as well as the 3 series.
Last Impression of the CTS is good, it is a nice attempt for Cadillac to finally join the rest of us in the 21st century but it still has a long way to go if it ever wants to truly compete with the best.
-Lincoln, Buick
I'm not even going to bother with the new Lincoln MKZ and whatever Buick as to offer knowing they are both built on the much cheaper Ford fusion platform and perhaps even with the same engine too. It seems to me they have either given up hope in selling any more cars or just contempt in selling to the older generation which is slowly dying off. Or maybe they are just too lazy for change, that always is the right answer when it comes to American Auto Industry.
Out of all the luxury cars the entry level cars are the most popular not just because one can show off their status on the road for the cheapest price but because sometime even if you can afford one you don't want to be too flashy or broadcast the fact that you are driving a 200,000 dollar Mercedes. It's segment for the average Joe, the corporate executive, or a successful businessman. It is a segment where the world leading luxury car producer BMW, sells most of its cars. So without further delay lets examine a few of these so called entry level luxury cars.
-Part 1. Home Grown.
It is only appropriate to start in a country that only has the biggest auto industry in the world. No matter how you perceive American cars, American auto makers are no stranger to the luxury brands. GMC, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick have all been with us for a long long time. But one thing that American brands don't share with foreign auto is how a car should be built, and I am not talking about quality either. There was a time that US luxury cars were viewed only as...well luxury cruisers. They are big, heavy, unresponsive boat like machines that often have the biggest V8 engine you can find but accelerates slower than a diesel truck today. So yes they are perfect highway cruisers for older people and back in the day only older folks were the ones that could afford these types of cars, that or rich and famous people who has a chauffeur. Either way those types of people want to have a boat like car because they are either old or sitting in the backseat disconnected from the driving experience. But like I said the times have changed, younger people that have good jobs or their parents fortune are starting to buy these kind of car, and they do not want a boat. What they want is a sporty car that is engaging to drive yet retains that luxury feel. European Brands like BMW and Mercedes started doing this a long time ago partly because they were once race car makers but everyone in Europe drives them everyday anyways, there was no luxury or normal car. I fault the downfall of American Autos on their inability to recognize that the market is change rather than their failing in making quality cars. In the last few years they have finally realized that they can no longer only target the older segment, and started to endorse the sporty, young, and hip images of these American luxury brands, but is it too late? And its not as easy as it sounds, Luxury cars were big and heavy for the reason of ride quality, like Cadillac and Mercedes, and sports cars are usually light and nimble with rough ride quality, like Porsche and Lotus, so if you combine the two something has to give. After all can Americans truly compete with Europeans on something they have been doing for decades? We shall see.
-Cadillac
There is no name synonymous with American luxury than Cadillac, But there is also no other that display the image of boat like than it either. Cadillac Escalade, the original reason others hate us for the display of wastefulness before Hummer came along. All the movies you see, all the Cadillac you see on the road, there is just no other cruisers like it. But now it is changing its brand images with the youger crowd, and in comes the entry level Cadillac CTS. At the starting price of over $36,000 it is by far the most expensive car in this segment. This is one myth I will destroy in the blog, people always do a double take when they see the current price of entry level BMW and Mercedes thus creating the lie that German cars are much more expensive than others. That might be true for their flag ship cars but next time check out the price on an American car too, you would be surprised. Anyways this is by far the smallest and sportiest Cadillac we have seen so far, it sports a reasonable sized V6 engine that produces 270-304 hp, which puts it at the front of the pack but I have learned long ago to not just rely on numbers on a piece of paper. The CTS is smaller than other Caddys but at the price range it is probably one of the largest entry level luxury car standing at 192 inches and over 3800 lbs. So its got all the right numbers on paper but just well does this car drive compare to others?
Ok so three things, exterior, interior, and the engine. These so called reviews might say how they love the exterior but any car enthusiasts can tell that its still got the same big, bulky in your face look of a traditional Caddy. There is no way you can say side by side that it looks better than a BMW 3 series or a Mercedes C class. On to the interior now the CTS interior looks much better and more modern than the older Caddys as it is an obvious attempt to get more younger crowd. I am not big on interior design or have a strong opinion on this subject so I will give CTS the thumbs up for attempted modernized interior. Lastly the engine, on paper it rivals the BMW 335i and as it stands today, the 335i cost 4000 dollars more to start. But does it really drive as well as the 335i? Cadillac never released any official times but it has been said that the CTS accelerates from 0-60 miles in around 6.6 seconds, and if that's the case than its no where near the 5.4 seconds on the 335i. That is actually closer to the cheaper 328i but the 328i has whopping 70 less hp and 70 less ft-lb of torque than the CTS, and I am not even going into the technical aspect of why even so the 328i is still better the CTS because you get power on the 328i at much lower RPM. Okay so the CTS is much bigger and heavier car than the 3 series therefor slower is to be expected, but looking at it this way even though no review would say how well it handles I am certain because of the size factor CTS also handles no where near as well as the 3 series.
Last Impression of the CTS is good, it is a nice attempt for Cadillac to finally join the rest of us in the 21st century but it still has a long way to go if it ever wants to truly compete with the best.
-Lincoln, Buick
I'm not even going to bother with the new Lincoln MKZ and whatever Buick as to offer knowing they are both built on the much cheaper Ford fusion platform and perhaps even with the same engine too. It seems to me they have either given up hope in selling any more cars or just contempt in selling to the older generation which is slowly dying off. Or maybe they are just too lazy for change, that always is the right answer when it comes to American Auto Industry.
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