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High End Luxury Cars

24723 messages,  Last post on Jan 28, 2013 at 6:55 PM

You are in the Sedans Forum.

What is this discussion about? Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ-Series, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Volkswagen Phaeton, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, Sedan



Let's try to define this forum as being limited to luxury performance vehicles where the mainstream version in a typical configuration has an MSRP of at least $60k.

A luxury vehicle with a base price of $59k qualifies because it would typically be bought with some additional equipment, bringing the MSRP over $60k.

Vehicles like the E, 5, A6, M, or GS, even if available in certain versions over $60k, don't qualify because they are cars from companies that have higher end cars in their lineups.

Messages Page 781 of 2473

#7798 of 24723 Re: reversing the spin [denaliinpa] by brightness04

Feb 20, 2005 (10:34 am)

Replying to: denaliinpa (Feb 19, 2005 8:31 am)
It's funny how you accused bais when I provided a link that listed a table of hard data comparing aluminum vs. steel tensile strength, then cite a link that has no hard data at all just promotional fluff . . . "talking to you is like a martian trying to have a discussion with a fungo"{Bull Durham). Do you dispute those tensile strength data are inccorrect? or you just have no clue what tensile strength is.
  
only the Audi has taken it to the advanced technical level of a completely all aluminum vehicle. whether you like Audi or not what they accomplished is very advanced.
 
Or simply part of a technical trial and error process like BMW's i-Drive. In any case, Aluminum-intensive construction (not all-aluminum, btw) only accounts for 3% of total Audis sold in 2004. That hardly defines the marquee as you stated.

#7799 of 24723 Re: A8 vs. LS [rl81] by michael_mattox

Feb 20, 2005 (10:38 am)

Replying to: rl81 (Feb 19, 2005 6:17 pm)
It seems to me that a CAR has no experience at all it is what it is...If it is faster and corners as well and has equal or better acceleration...and what ever it takes to beat the other car...It's esperience means little. We have been discussin Audi and LS..So I have limited my comments to those two cars.
 
The frame of the LS is very solid..Mine is an 01 and is just as solid as it was when I bought it..Many here with LS 400s will say the same about their cars that are as much as 10 or 12 years old.

#7800 of 24723 Re: Lexus...brand vs reality [rl81] by brightness04

Feb 20, 2005 (10:41 am)

Replying to: rl81 (Feb 19, 2005 10:33 am)
I can tell you that much: the alloy spaceframe is considerably harder to manufacture. It takes a lot more people to put together a spaceframe than a convantional frame, which is manufactured mostly by robots.
 
All the more reason to stay away from aluminum spaceframe: product non-uniformity. Do I really want my family exposed to extra risk because some schmuck had a bad day and did not weld a particular point up to spec? It's not like they can crash test every individual car before selling

#7801 of 24723 Re: 0-60 times [denaliinpa] by brightness04

Feb 20, 2005 (10:50 am)

Replying to: denaliinpa (Feb 19, 2005 12:49 pm)
keep in mind that the A8 in either long or short wheelbase is AWD and I'm sure that will affect the quickness of the vehicle.
 
For the same engine and same vehicle weight, AWD should be slightly quicker, especially for cars that have enough power to spin rear wheels.
 
as for which automobile is safer i am sure they are both equally safe in accidents regardless of the steel vs aluminum nonsense that has been filling this thread.
 
How can you be sure?? Based on what?? There are all sorts of accidents, most of which do not involve composite barriers and most are not at 40mph. They may both score similarly in crash tests; there is much more to safety than crash tests. One thing we do know for sure is that, in a fender bender, aluminum bodies are much much more expensive to repair. Another set of facts that we do know for sure is that: aluminum has lower melting and flaming points, so in case of severe accidents with fire . . .; no simiulated standard crash tests ever involve fire. Tensile strength difference is another fact we do know for sure.

#7802 of 24723 Re: Lexus...brand vs reality [brightness04] by rl81

Feb 20, 2005 (12:08 pm)

Replying to: brightness04 (Feb 20, 2005 10:41 am)
Do I really want my family exposed to extra risk because some schmuck had a bad day and did not weld a particular point up to spec?
 
Like that can't happen with any car. Of course Lexus would N E V E R make a mistake, since they are perfect, right? If you want to give me the robot excuse, there is still a possibility for errors.

#7803 of 24723 Response to rl81 by michael_mattox

Feb 20, 2005 (12:14 pm)

rl81:
 
You can never say never, not even Lexus is perfect, but they are closer to perfect then the Germans,it is therefore much LESS likely that Lexus would make a mistake then the German Manfactures would.

#7804 of 24723 Re: Response to rl81 [michael_mattox] by rl81

Feb 20, 2005 (12:30 pm)

Replying to: michael_mattox (Feb 20, 2005 12:14 pm)
If there is a msitake with and Audi it's most likely that it's something with the electronics of the car. I refuse to believe someone in the production of their top-of-the-line would not make sure everything is perfect.
 
And besides, I have not ever heard that an A8 fell apart in an accident due to a production error, have you? That would be a good case for a law suit...

#7805 of 24723 Maserati Quattroporte by rl81

Feb 20, 2005 (12:35 pm)

A couple of pictures of the Maserati Quattroporte:




 
I think it should be included in this 'club'
 
Simply a beautiful, greatly engineered car. With the engine out of the Ferrari Modena, F1 gearbox, the rear entertainment system seems pretty cool too!

#7806 of 24723 Crash performance by sv7887

Feb 20, 2005 (12:47 pm)

Hi All,
 I agree with rl81. It's unlikely Audi would produce a car with a glaring defect that would result in fatalities. German cars are known for their solid build. There is no doubt that they are safe in accidents. That's not to say a LS isn't just as safe. I took a 30 MPH impact on the left front quarter panel..The car barely moved and all I heard was a faint "Thump" It did have over $6500 in damages though..(Alot of this was Lexus labor in repairing the mechanical damage)
 
I think just the sheer size and weight of these cars means that we'd all fare well in an accident regardless of the make we're driving..Being High End Lux marques, all of these cars are going to have the latest and greatest safety features.
 
Which brings up an interesting point..Has anyone been in accident with their high end car? How well did it hold up?
 
SV

#7807 of 24723 Stereo Question by jvcn

Feb 20, 2005 (1:35 pm)

Now for something rather different:
 
I've watched the arguing over which car is better, and it's clear the factions will never converge.
 
But I've always wondered: Why do none of the European luxury cars go to a real audiophile company to design a stereo like the Mark Levinson in the LS?
 
In the view of this audiophile, only the ML system for the LS430 (other ML/Lexus combos are clearly worse) counts as audiophile of any stock system in any car I've sat in or heard of.
 
To imagine that Bose or Alpine would care about sound like ML is as unimaginable as thinking that
Bose could design a home CD player that would match a Mark Levinson.
 
Perhaps some of this is taste. Car guys tend to like boomy, in-your-face sound. But I would think that SOME of the luxury buyers that the S class or equivalent caters to would appreciate the option of a genuinely high end system that has clean highs, real imaging, and accurate, unexaggerated bass. Even the ML system seems to have a mild suckout that requires a midrange boost.
 
There are so many fine, European stereo companies at the high end that it should be easy to get one to design an appropriate system. Perhaps Linn or Naim could be approached?
 
People with Goldmund turntables, Naim CD players, and JM Labs Utopias or Quad electrostatics, should have something better to listen to than stereo designed by mass market players?

Messages Page 781 of 2473

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