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Luxury Performance Sedans

10007 messages,  Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 7:40 AM

You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens

What is this discussion about? Lexus GS 430, Acura RL, BMW 5 Series, Volvo S80, Audi A6, Infiniti M35, Infiniti M45, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Cadillac STS, Sedan

#2007 of 10007 Re: Anyone have April sales figures? Update +Audi [pat] by liy May 04, 2005 (12:49 pm)
Replying to: pat (May 04, 2005 12:03 pm) Here is the source for those Audi sales numbers:   Audi Sales Numbers   LIY
#2008 of 10007 A6 4.2 vs M45 vs M35x by mikestevens May 04, 2005 (1:20 pm)
These are the three I'm down to and I am having a heckuva time making up my mind. I just got back from test driving the M45 Sport and I was very impressed. It's got neck snapping speed, a lot more grunt and much more responsive sterring than my current ride (GS430). I was just really hoping for AWD. I put on some long commutes in the dead of winter, and it's not just the snow that gets you, but the ice patches as well. As to the M35x, it's got fully adequate acceleration--what I did not like was the engine noise- the V6 was a little more intrusive than I'd like. Finally, though I prefer the looks of the A6 it lacks some of the cool technology of the M series (rear-view camera, lane departure warning, front load CD stack). Perhaps the deciding factor should be reliability. I really wonder how much more time I'd be spending at the Audi dealership vs Infiniti.... Replies to this message: markcincinnati (May 04, 2005 1:39 pm)
#2009 of 10007 Re: A6 4.2 vs M45 vs M35x [mikestevens] by markcincinnati May 04, 2005 (1:39 pm)
Replying to: mikestevens (May 04, 2005 1:20 pm) Money being no object, I'd take the A6 4.2 if it had the sport package or S-Line in a heartbeat.   It gets me what I would want most -- V8, AWD, Sport, nice looks.   My choices were more, pedestrian, if a $50K+ car can ever be thought to be thus -- the A6 3.2 vs the M35X -- plus money was an object. I went with the Infiniti M35X -- if your pocketbook permits the purchase of an A6 4.2 -- don't even worry about the reliability. My recent Audis have been easy to live with.
#2010 of 10007 Re: Anyone have April sales figures? Update +Audi [markcincinnati] by nebraskaguy May 04, 2005 (1:59 pm)
Replying to: markcincinnati (May 04, 2005 11:03 am) >>Several of my friends abandoned their BMW's for FWD, SUV or "pickuptruck" cars because they "were useless" in the moderate winters that we have here in SW Ohio.   A coworker had a 5 series that he got rid of after the first winter here in DC. He only had one way out of his development and it was up a slight hill. If we got even 1/2" of snow, he couldn't drive it. He says he'll never buy another RWD car until he retires to Phoenix. Replies to this message: ksoman (May 05, 2005 7:26 am) markcincinnati (May 05, 2005 9:46 am) ksoman (May 05, 2005 1:21 pm) and 3 more... nebraskaguy (May 05, 2005 3:53 pm)
#2011 of 10007 nebraskaguy by lexusguy May 04, 2005 (3:52 pm)
Sheez, RWD is not THAT bad. I wont take my LS out in a snow storm, but with a set of Blizzaks and VSC, it does fine in mild to moderately snowy conditions. If you're trying to drive with the 18 or 19" Z rated rubber bands that many RWD cars come with, then yeah, RWD is worthless. Replies to this message: kdshapiro (May 04, 2005 4:50 pm) kyfdx (May 04, 2005 7:28 pm) markcincinnati (May 04, 2005 7:34 pm) kyfdx (May 04, 2005 7:38 pm) rich545 (May 05, 2005 5:19 am) pearl (May 05, 2005 5:04 pm)
#2012 of 10007 Re: nebraskaguy [lexusguy] by kdshapiro May 04, 2005 (4:50 pm)
Replying to: lexusguy (May 04, 2005 3:52 pm) My 3 series did fine with the last couple of brutal winters here in the metropolitan area. The car came with low profile all seasons that did fine. Having said that though, I wish I had AWD. Replies to this message: kyfdx (May 04, 2005 7:28 pm)
#2013 of 10007 Re: nebraskaguy [kdshapiro] by kyfdx HOST May 04, 2005 (7:28 pm)
Replying to: kdshapiro (May 04, 2005 4:50 pm) With winter tires, my RWD will out-do almost any FWD...   That said, the BMWs of the '90s (and '80s and '70s) gave them their well-deserved reputation.. My first BMW driving experience was my girlfriend's '79 320i.. A very nice car, but you might as well leave it in the garage if it snowed...   The current RWD BMWs with traction control and winter tires make for good transportation, even in snowy, hilly areas.... The biggest problem is with ground clearance in heavy snow..   regards, kyfdx
#2014 of 10007 Re: nebraskaguy [lexusguy] by markcincinnati May 04, 2005 (7:34 pm)
Replying to: lexusguy (May 04, 2005 3:52 pm) Most folks for whatever reason anymore do not even consider seasonal tires. If the car comes with 255 x 40 x 17" tires, summer only -- well, then they use these year round.   Winter tires plus traction control would do fine here in Cincinnati, most of the time.   AWD with All Seasons will do well virtually all of the time.   I'm often wrong (but never uncertain), but I do believe AWD will in part prosper for the same reason auto trans is the chosen transmission.   Arguing the relative merits of RWD, FWD and AWD can be done and there certainly are circumstances where 2 driven wheels are mostly fine.   However, 4 driven wheels is, I think, destined to become (if it has not already) one of the fastest growth "engines" for cars of all classes.   There is a forum "AWD the next big thing" or something like that -- Dr. Piech some 25 years ago said AWD for safety, traction and performance. It seems there is sufficient evidence (when BMW and Mercedes BOTH are growing the AWD offering) that this was an accurate prediction. Replies to this message: kyfdx (May 04, 2005 7:38 pm) rich545 (May 05, 2005 5:19 am) pearl (May 05, 2005 5:04 pm)
#2015 of 10007 Re: nebraskaguy [markcincinnati] by kyfdx HOST May 04, 2005 (7:38 pm)
Replying to: markcincinnati (May 04, 2005 7:34 pm) You are right about the tires... Less than 1% of people get winter tires.. Most people would pay $2K extra for AWD, add 200 lbs. of extra weight, get worse fuel mileage and impair the handling of their vehicle, just to save two trips to the tire store per year and to keep those four extra tires out of their basement/garage..   Just tweaking you a little... My other car is AWD, as were the three before this one.... But, there is a grain of truth there...   regards, kyfdx
#2016 of 10007 markcincinnati, kyfdx by lexusguy May 04, 2005 (9:03 pm)
I definitely wouldn't mind if Lexus offered an AWD version of the LS. In fact, I would probably buy it over a RWD version. Its just not enough of a benefit for me to get an A8 over an LS430 though, especially since I have my wife's AWD RX300 if I need it. Its unfortunate that most people dont consider winter tires. I've tried the Artic Alpins and Blizzaks. The Michelins arent bad, but the Bridgestones, at least in my experience and with my car, do an outstanding job.   I believe that there will continue to be a market for "pure" RWD cars for quite some time, but I think AWD will replace FWD on a large scale. Cars like the Nissan Maxima, Acura TL, and the increasingly large number of other models putting 260hp or more to the front wheels NEED AWD. Replies to this message: merc1 (May 04, 2005 9:40 pm) markcincinnati (May 05, 2005 9:44 am)

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