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Sedans Ultimate AWD Sports Sedans
828 messages, Last post on Oct 03, 2009 at 9:40 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I saw the road & track in question (as well as consumer reports, but reciting that is noe unnecessary). BMW, it seems, has made a conscious decision to not "sport up" its AWD cars, apparently assuming that the owners are already not placing a priority on sporty driving, as RWD is already available at a lower price. Additionally, they don't seem to have the steering feel worked out in the case of AWD either. This may be a "profitable" decision but the relatively poor placing in tests may translate to a poorer impression of its non-awd cars, their bread & butter. If i was focused on AWD, i probably wouldn't consider a 3-series. My interest in AWD extends to cars that are very nice but would otherwise be "saddled" with FWD. For example, the s60R wouldn't make it as a FWD. Well, this is threatening to get off-topic. 
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First, thanks to all who responed to my earlier question (re: advice). The info was quite helpful. I was curious if anyone had advance word on what Audi might be doing for next year's model, which I assume arrives late summer this year. With the redesigned 3-series and Lexus IS already on the streets, and with the A4 full redesign still years away, I was thinking Audi might try sweetening the pot with their 07 A4 to maintain competitiveness. The others seem to offer quite a bit for the money.
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Replying to: dhanley (Feb 07, 2006 12:01 pm) Actually, this isn't a direct quote, but the article blatantly stated that the 3 had, "spot-on steering," as usual. |
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 06, 2006 9:31 am) Granted, it's not that big a catastrophe that the Lexus had more options. There's nothing to grudge against if you're a BMW fan in this article.
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Replying to: esf (Feb 08, 2006 6:43 pm) Any comparison should use the same transmission, so the 330i should have been an automatic. If they wanted to test manuals, it should have been 325i vs. IS250. Apples to apples. Otherwise we can simply conclude that Autoweek prefers manual transmissions (not necessarily the car). -juice
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 09, 2006 7:41 am) Why should BMW be punished for Toyota's failure to properly equip their car? Really, who's fault is that? The folks in Munich didn't do anything to prevent Toyota from dropping a manual in the IS350. This isn't bowling. Handicapping BMW isn't going to make the IS any better a car. "Apples to apples." So if one apple has a worm in it, you have to put a worm in the other apple? Heck, even M-B offers a manual in their C-Class even though they sell very few of them. P.S.: M-B's manual is better than both Toyota's and BMW's. |
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If that was so important, then test the IS250 and 325i, which I already suggested. Most people buy automatics, 93% in this market, even though I'm not in that group, I still think they'd be doing a bigger service to the public to test models that are similarly equipped. They basically handicapped Lexus by not choosing similar models that offer manual transmissions. More comparable, basically. You say Lexus handicapped themselves, OK, fair enough, but... Your worm analogy is flawed. The Lexus was quicker and lot more fuel efficient, a massive difference of +6mpg. If anything the BMW apple had the worm. Or maybe the Lexus apple was candy-coated.  -juice
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 10, 2006 7:52 am) Where did I say which one had the worm?
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Replying to: potemkin (Feb 10, 2006 9:30 am) You said they'd have to handicap the BMW, as if an auto transmission were a disease.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of manuals, all 3 of the cars in our fleet are equipped as such. -juice
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 10, 2006 10:05 am) For the record, I happen to like the IS, but I do consider their decision to produce the IS350 without an available manual to be a blunder on their part. I probably would be driving an IS300 right now had the Lexus dealer not questioned my sanity when I inquired as to the availability of a stick shift. I wouldn't call it a disease, just a defect. And the sloptronic is a handicap. |
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