Treat yourself to Luxury

Bentley Mulsanne

     Many luxury car brands exist these days but there are only a hand full that could be considered the upper "crust" of the luxury car brands. Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Maybach are the top three for the "to-be-driven" luxury brands. Now there are many "every day" luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and Lexus but I am speaking of the exclusive brands. Those that require a great deal of disposable income to attain. These vehicles are not just status symbols but they do separate the rich from the truly rich. There is a big difference between having the income to buy an S Class Mercedes in cash and the funds required to buy a Rolls Phantom in the same manner. (around a $200,000 difference)
     The question is, are these brands really worth the extra cost required for "membership" into the uber-expensive car club? My opinion is yes, they are worth every penny. Why? First, anyone buying a new Maybach is not worried about "saving money on their car insurance". This buyer has reached the pinnacle of capital acquisition. Dig it? So, why not reward yourself with those things that are of the upper Crust? We could get into the philosophy of spending that much money on a car as a mega capitalist while there are people starving in the world but I am under the assumption that these car buyers are philanthropic to the highest degree. For me, Karma would suggest it. If not, you or I will be able to get their car used, later in it's life.
     "You get what you pay for" is an aged cliche but is it true? It has been in my experience. I am curious as to if it will hold true for these vehicles. It is said that Porsche has stayed in the top 5 for reliability since its inception and very few other auto makers can make this claim. I would like to know if the upper three are the same? I, for one, would be upset if that were not the case. Some say, they service these cars so often there is not an opportunity for break down. Maybe, but these dealerships will come to your house to pick up the car and leave you a loaner while they service it. I bet the Chevy dealer won't do that.

Drophead Coupe

Maybach interior

     Have you ever seen a commercial for one of these cars? The answer is no, because they know who they are advertising to and it is not the general public. It is the top 2% of world earners and the %10 below them who will buy to try to look like the top 2% of world earners. You will never see commercials for these cars. Their clientelle is the same and sales stay in the family. The rich, stay rich for the most part so they can be contacted directly. Those neo-rich will meet the connections to get into a dealership for purchase.
     When you a wrapped in luxury the car is quiet and comfortable as well as amenity rich. Just like any other luxury item, you expect the best for your money.
     I wrote earlier about the need or non-need for luxury and opulence. I am now of the opinion that you should get what brings you happiness as long as it doesn't hurt you and your ability do the basics. You don't want to "stretch yourself out" just to have a nice car. But when you get there this type of purchase shouldn't vex you in the least.

   

What is in a name?

Koenigsegg

     There are many cars out there with names that are difficult for me to pronounce, but do you think that stops my desire to drive one. You would be wrong if you said yes. My midwestern American accent is difficult to wrap around the likes of a Koenigsegg, but WOW they make remarkable vehicles. Founded in 1994, this Swedish auto maker really concentrated on looks and performace. With zero to sixty times well under four seconds these cars are amazing. In 2010 they released a five liter twin turbo, 910 bhp v8 model with a seven speed gear box. Carbon fiber is the material of choice and it is expensive. That cost, of course, is passed on to the consumer. "You gotta pay to play" With sticker prices skirting the 300 thousand US dollar range, they should prove to be a wonderful drive if the "You-get-what-you-pay-for" adage is correct.
     Even "funkier" is the Pagani Huayra, I really liked the Pagani Zonda when it was released but this is "another level" of vehicle. If you are fortunate enough to drive or, pause for gasp, own one of these consider yourself one of the lucky few. With a 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed around 225mph this is a race car for the streets. But highly refined, it employs the use of a seven speed sequential gear box and a dual disk clutch. Mercedes AMG division provides the engine for the Huayra, 5980cc twin turbo V12. Dry sump lubrication keeps it lubricated well.

Huayra

     Weather I can say their names or not, they are wonderful.

The F is for Flop not Fast

Speaks to Style

     As an automotive enthusiast, I was looking forward to what was going to come out of Lexus' F division. The LFA was a teaser that brought about ideas of great iconic sport touring machines. When the ISF was released with upwards of 400bhp, I was gleefully motivated to look for their new offerings along this line. When the word came of the new GSF Sport, I though this car would be an "M5 eater" and would display the mechanical genius within the Toyota brand. I know the company that brought us the last generation Supra could produce an amazing, monster powered, four door as good or better than that of BMW or Mercedes.

Stands for Power!

     BMW has produced the M line for many years and their purpose is to upgrade the power plant in every model they touch. They simply, make the car better in every way, beginning with the power output and briskly moving to the interior features in addition to changing the exterior to set it apart from the other basic models. When the automotive world hears the M moniker attached to the BMW brand, we all immediately think of power. The M3 is, and has been, produced with class leading power. The M5 has been the way to have sports car performance while retaining the ability to cart the family around town at the speed limit. The team out of Bavaria has been on their job. If they have not built the ultimate driving machine then they certainly have made many people believe it. Most importantly those who test drive these vehicles.

     Unfortunately the F Sport badge is only speaking to styling cues. Yes the interior is beautifully done with the double stitching in the leather and the ergonomics are great but power is unchanged. Exterior titanium grey wheels are nice but the handling remains the same. If this was the original goal then I would think of the F badge in the same way I thought of their coach edition released in the nineties the same as Fords Eddie Bauer edition, strictly style improvements. But Lexus is tricking the public with their original offerings and now saving money by charging a premium for very little over all change and none under the hood.

LFA

AMG63

     Mercedes has kept younger buyers excited by their brand, year after year by keeping the AMG division working. Let's face it, many luxury amenities offered in these autos lend themselves to the aging public. If left without spice, any brand could become the "Lincoln Town Car" of the automotive world, aged and earmarked for the elderly. You have to keep it fresh and sportiness does this for a brand, articles about track times and Nuremberg Ring jaunts inspire interest. Power is attractive to young people and young people are attractive to older people. Face facts, stay fresh and increase the power plants. I believe Lexus may be aware of this because of the LFA. An incredible car, but too expensive for the "every day" man at nearly $400,000. They built one "beast" of an automobile but they should have spread that design dollar out amongst the entire brand instead of dumping it into one vehicle. It is said that the LFA is a great advertising tool but it barely turns a profit due to the high production costs, that happens when you build a car from carbon fiber. You could have had customers driving around in your advertisements while making a profit. I am hoping, with the emergence of the FRS from Scion and the rumored resurgence of the Supra from Toyota they will take the initiative to "massage" the luxury brand to become the premium brand the can be. The performance teams from AMG and the M brand of BMW have laid a template that can easily be improved upon by a company that has the "lion's share" of the market. Go from flop to F brand, and have the F inspire excitement.

GSF Sport 350 

The Bull

     The new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is as every Lambo should be, a poster-worthy amazing feat of engineering prowess. These cars have always been the "stuff that dreams are made of", and this Lambo is no different. 

Miles Davis and his Miura 

     From the beginning of the Lamborghini saga, with the Lamborghini P400 GT Miura, they have defined super cars. They have, since then, been the perfect model for poster and dream material. If you have never dreamed of owning or driving a Lamborghini then you need to put a mirror in front of your face, you might not be alive. 

Countach

Diablo

Murcielago

     Since 1966 this super car maker has kept raising the bar of what you might think a car should or could be. The Countach, Diablo and Murcielago were the predecessors of the Aventador and each model added to the next. True evolution has been in operation with these vehicles. These cars are amazingly fast and not very practical for every day use but, WOW. The Aventador is the next installment in this line of greats and it is marked but the guillotine doors, all wheel drive and the ridiculous power. Seven hundred break horsepower and over 500 pound-feet of torque in the Aventador. This is a beast in every sense of the word, save the interior, it is supple as you would expect a three and three quarter million dollar car would be, while the ride is said to be the most compliant of any Lambo to date. A major part of this vehicle is made from carbon fiber and this greatly reduces weight while improving over all performance. Zero to sixty times under three seconds! With a top speed over 210-mph, this is one "super" car. 
     I much prefer the interior of this Lambo to previous but I believe that is, in large part, due to the design influences coming from Audi. We must have some luxury in a $400,000 car. But there is not an Audi model to match this one, unlike the Gallardo which is just a body switch with the A8. The A8 seems to have much greater luxury and finish. Having the choice, my recommendation is to go for the Aventador. If not, make it the Audi A8, because it's a better all around small super car then the Gallardo. 

Aventador

    Bottom line, Aventador is a marvelous feat of Italian invention. But no one expects any less from Lamborghini, everyone will always expect the best. That will justify the premium price.






 "If you have the means....I highly recommend picking on up. The ride is so choice." Ferris Bueller

BMW's Badger

1 Series M Coupe

     The New 1 Series M coupe is a fabulous looking vehicle. It is powered by a twin turbo inline six and has numbers which suggest spirited track times. This car is great because BMW performance has been put out of reach for many buyers and this gives the "average" driver a chance to own an M car. With pricing in the low to mid forties, it's not cheap yet it is a 340 horsepower six speed "pocket rocket" and this kind of performance is never cheap. Yet compare performance numbers and engine output, you will find this car to be a bargain. The engineers at BMW have been using a twin scroll turbo set up and this all but eliminates turbo lag. Translation, Power, lots and lots of sumptuous, continuous power. The staggered wheel set up, 245/35 19's on the front and 265/35 19's on the rear, make for superb handling characteristics and really make this car look mean coming down the road. Small and mean, like a badger. Quick, agile and vicious, with zero to sixty times well under five-seconds, this thing should be a heap of fun to drive. I also like the three and five door offerings of the 1 series. These configurations are more highly regarded in the european nations because they are much more utilitarian, read...…sensible, they like fun and utility. Practicality should, but not always is, a factor in car buying . If you are just looking for pure fun? This M car or perhaps the 128i convertible would be my suggestion. They look like fun just sitting still. FYI, don't confuse the Series 1 M with the M1 concept car, visually impossible but easily confused in writing.

M1 Concept

      Speaking of concept vehicles, the latest offering from BMW is simply amazing.
The i8 hybrid, it has a 3 liter six cylinder gas motor mated to an electric motor that produces a combined 349 horsepower and about 400 lb-ft of torque. A top speed well over 150-mph and zero to sixty times under 5 second are great. Magnificent when you consider the 78mpg this car also will provide. Ground breaking usage of carbon fiber in its design make this the car the one to look for in the future.
The Ultimate Driving Machine now sounds like the Ultimate Understatement. 

BMW I8 Hybrid

Do you "need" a nice car?

Do you “need” a fine automobile? If you are a daily commuter then the answer, in your mind, may be no. But I challenge you to think about the ramifications of driving a boring vehicle even if you are only driving to work daily.
Consider this, today you drive to work and it takes 30 to 50 minuets to arrive. You drive a 93 Toyota Corolla and it is a thrifty and fugal car to drive. Nothing is wrong with seeking gas mileage and reliability as a driving force for purchasing a vehicle. You are thinking, it only has to get me back and forth to work and this is true. But try the same commute in the luxury of a Jaguar XJ or with your foot on the accelerator peddle in a Corvette Grand Sport. Things change in your commute, not just the rate at which you arrive but the way your mind works changes. You have “feelings” when you get into your car and you work through those feelings on the way in to work. Personally, I get exited about a great driving car and every time I ride a motorcycle I feel great when I get off. Years ago I had the opportunity to drive a NASCAR on the track and the only thing I could think when I got out was, “I can’t believe they pay people to do that!”. Millions of dollars, no less. I would gladly do it for free. I think the old saying, “it’s the journey and not the destination that counts, is true. Apply the same thought process to life. Your destination is not what you are looking forward too. Is it? Journey is all we really have. Push forward towards your journey. The daily commute may be metaphorical for your life’s journey. I could be reading too much into it but the principle still “holds water”.

Look towards having a better life going back and forth to work. Some days, that may be your only release and or fun. Seek out those pleasures, when you can.
You may say, you would love to drive a great car but you can’t afford it. The Corolla is the best you can do. Not so, if you are willing to search pre owned cars and or rent on occasion.
The excitement of driving is a great stress reliever even while doing the speed limit. All of the latest automatic breaking and adaptive controls worry me. I think there is a demographic that is looking towards a “Minority Report” style existence where we just get in our cars and tell them where we want to go and that is it. No more shifting gears or steering for that matter. Boring.
I don’t even like paddle shifting because I am a traditionalist who enjoys the feel of  depressing  a clutch and shifting a stick . Old fashioned, I know but I am talking about hitting the twisties on North Carolina back roads, not the track. Agreed, the paddles are faster shifting but not nearly as fun. If you are going to use paddles I believe they should just come up with a quicker shifting CVT smooth shifting system like Nissan’s. Skip shifting altogether…………which brings us closer to the driver less state stated previously , IE Minority Report, and that is what I would rather avoid in my lifetime. Call me old fashioned but I want to enjoy the ride. Tell me which interior you would enjoy more on a daily basis? Corolla on the left, Jag on the right. No Brainer.  Dig it?

Follow the Bounce

US Recall News Reports:

Ba Da Bing! Volt crash test

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has formally opened a safety defect investigation into the Chevy Volt after several crash tests revealed a fire risk involving the electric cars’ batteries.

Although, as of the date of this article, they have not yet received any confirmed “real-world” reports of this problem resulting in a fire, the NHTSA is concerned because a Chevrolet Volt caught fire in the parking lot three weeks after a side-impact crash test.

Chevy Volt

         I believe that in their haste to bring a "green" vehicle to market, the technology was not fully tested. Granted, there are many electric vehicle behaviors that we will not recognize until they have been in service for some time. We have not used them in place of regular gas motors yet, so there is bound to be a learning curve. Face facts, the power delivery system should have been gone through with a "fine toothed" comb. If for no other reason than the technology's longevity had not been tested. But come on! Three weeks worth of testing should have been done by the battery manufacturer to catch this defect. Now this creates a blemish on the face of the vehicle that was supposed to save and grow GM, like the K car to Chrysler. No worries though, GM will bounce back quickly if the marketing team puts a positive spin on it and the design team fixes the problem permanently and quickly. If you remember the Ford and Firestone fiasco from 2000, you know a car company can come back from anything, As quoted by CNN Money in September of 2000:

 Federal safety officials say up to 88 deaths in the United States may have been caused by tread separation on some versions of the Firestone Wilderness tires, as well as its ATX and ATX II models. Most of the 6.5 million tires involved in an Aug. 9 recall are on Ford Motor Co. light trucks and sport/utility vehicles, such as its best-selling Explorer. Officials in Venezuela are also investigating whether the tires led to 46 deaths there.

If Ford can come back from that to become the number one selling car brand 

and to develop a car like the GT40, then GM can do the same.

Lest we forget that Toyota just went through the stuck accelerator debacle and they are back to selling cars hand over fist, in a recession. Also, you may not remember, but Audi had problems with unexpected acceleration, too, in the 80's.

• In Canton, Ohio, a mother shifted the automatic transmission in her 1985 Audi 5000 from park to drive while waiting for her 6-year-old son to open the garage door. The car unexpectedly accelerated. The mother hit the brakes but was unable to stop the rapid acceleration. The car sped into her son, dragging him through the garage and fatally crushing him against the back wall.
• A Swedish woman in a 1983 Audi shifted from park to drive and the car suddenly accelerated into nearby pedestrians. Before the car could be stopped it had killed one person and injured another.

In 1989, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued their report on Audi’s “sudden unintended acceleration problem.” NHTA’s findings fully exonerated Audi and some other implicated foreign makers.”

The report concluded that the Audi’s pedal placement was different enough from American cars’ normal set-up (closer to each other) to cause some drivers to mistakenly press the gas instead of the brake. 

 Audi and many other manufacturers quickly added an automatic transmission interlock, making it impossible to shift into drive or reverse without a foot on the brake. This changed the industry standard and now all automatic vehicles sold in the US have this feature.

A flood of lawsuits and bad publicity were already consuming the German automaker.

Lexus GSf interior

Audi Quattro Concept

 Audi sales collapsed, from 74k units in 1984 to 12k by 1991.  Sales fell during the same years that Lexus arrived to battle for the hearts and wallets of America’s upscale consumers. Lexus quickly became the hot and new symbol of prestige.

But, look at Audi now, quickly moving back into a controlling position in the luxury car market. 

So, can Chevy bounce back? They most certainly can and will. Car makers have bounced back from far worse. Nobody has been killed by this defect. Dig?