Comparo Test: 2007-2008 Sport Luxury Sedans

[cd!]

Hmmm... the Euros are really having a hard time against the Jap Imports huh.

Here's a part of the article from Edmunds:

Tough Crowd
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Road Test Editor
Date posted: 11-04-2007
STORY TOOLS

BMW's 335i has dominated our recent comparison tests like Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell would dominate Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens in a face-punching contest. Its reign over counterparts from Infiniti, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz is as well documented on this site as the Iceman's rage-fueled rise to fame was on pay-per-view.

But every great performance must come to an end.

This is exactly why we gathered this group of sport sedans. That is, to find out if the 2008 Cadillac CTS, 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport, 2008 Lexus IS 350 or 2008 Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport can topple the Bavarian champ — the 2007 BMW 335i. In the spirit of the segment, each car in the test is outfitted with sport package hardware — usually a stiffer suspension and bigger wheels and tires — and an automatic transmission.

Still, each car has its own personality, as each manufacturer's interpretation of sport, luxury and utility varies widely. So, too, does each car's as-tested price. However, the $11,000 spread that covers the field does so in almost direct proportion to each contender's feature and luxury content.

We've weighted scoring according to the priorities of the sport sedan buyer, giving equal measure to price and performance, followed by feature content and our 31-point evaluation.

5th Place: 2008 Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport

4th Place: 2008 Lexus IS 350

3rd Place: 2008 Cadillac CTS

2nd Place: 2007 BMW 335i

1st Place: 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport

The Verdict
With few exceptions, the performance of these five sport sedans is covered by mere tenths of a second or a few miles per hour. The BMW's acceleration, as usual, is striking, while the Cadillac lags behind considerably. Handling numbers, however, are a virtual wash among all the contenders.

This leaves the decision-making to more subjective means and personal taste, which is ultimately what most buyers rely upon in any case. The fact is, all five of these sedans are excellent cars. And it's not hard to find reasons to buy any of them.

We simply find the Infiniti's combination of engaging driving character, high feature content and low cost to be the most appealing. Plus, all great performances must come to an end sometime. Just ask The Iceman.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.


*see complete article *...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=123235

[RED XIII]

He he... actually the Japs are indeed beating the Euros on the spot light nowadays. Euro made cars are expensive but the quality can sometimes be lesser than that of the Japanese. That's the current feedback I've been receiving form the U.S.

Go Infinit and Lexus!!!

* infact in the states, the Big 3 Jap imports (Toyota, Nissan, Honda) are also beating the Big 3 U.S (GM, Ford, Chrysler) domestics!

[Ben Musong]

koreans are coming

[Jun aka Pekto]

Edmunds strikes me as not the type to test the cars to their performance extremes. Car & Driver does and did a comparison of the G37 (replacement for the G35) and 335i. For pure driving experience and refinement, the 335i came out on top even though it was the more expensive and slower of the two.

In any case, my wife's cousin is delighted with her AWD G35 which replaced her 2000 Nissan Maxima V6.

[IGNITED]

Actually different groups of GOOD judges different results... but minimal only.
Just like when you dyno your car, my car would have 250hp on autoplus but 260hp on creativespeed. Bottomline, the BMW 335i and the Infiniti G35 Sport are usually the 2 suspects claiming the no.1 and no.2 positions on auto critics / testers in their category.

And yep the koreans are becoming popular in the west also!! not like here (as usual) where majority of critics treat them as underachievers.

[Jun aka Pekto]

One direct comparison I can make based on my trip is actually a minor shock....

I saw more Japanese in Japan driving German luxury sedans than Germans in Germany (or in those other European countries I visited) driving Japanese luxury sedans. It's strictly an informal and non-scientific assessment based on me counting luxury sedans on the road (to while away the boredom).

It was a minor shock to me because I've always considered the Japanese to be very nationalistic. But going out on the main freeways of Japan, not a minute went without a high-model German vehicle passing by. That's in stark contrast to what I saw on the German autobahn. It took considerably longer to pick out high-end Japanese vehicles. Actually, it took longer to pick out any Japanese makes. Very surprising........

[Camgen6]

One direct comparison I can make based on my trip is actually a minor shock....

I saw more Japanese in Japan driving German luxury sedans than Germans in Germany (or in those other European countries I visited) driving Japanese luxury sedans. It's strictly an informal and non-scientific assessment based on me counting luxury sedans on the road (to while away the boredom).

It was a minor shock to me because I've always considered the Japanese to be very nationalistic. But going out on the main freeways of Japan, not a minute went without a high-model German vehicle passing by. That's in stark contrast to what I saw on the German autobahn. It took considerably longer to pick out high-end Japanese vehicles. Actually, it took longer to pick out any Japanese makes. Very surprising........

One popular foreign brand in Japan is the Mini Cooper. Pero I think 1% lang yata ang mga imports sa Japan, still very very low. On the other hand sa Germany ay mas maraming import but not from Japan but from Italy and France.

[Jun aka Pekto]

One popular foreign brand in Japan is the Mini Cooper. Pero I think 1% lang yata ang mga imports sa Japan, still very very low. On the other hand sa Germany ay mas maraming import but not from Japan but from Italy and France.

I saw a lot of Peugeot cars in Germany. In fact, my rental was a Peugeot hatchback. The Ford Mondeo is also popular (as it historically has been as far as I can remember from previous trips). Of course, both cars are considered mainstream and not premium.

[niky]

Ford's operations in Europe are based in Germany and the UK... and it's the inputs from these groups that made the Focus and Contour/Mondeo such good driving cars.

[IGNITED]

Yep... the Japanese can be at par if not better than the euros if they wanted to. In fact Europe's veteran automobile critics, TopGear has chosen a Japanese as their choice of the Supercar of the Year, no other than the new Nissan GT-R.