![]() ![]() Do your part to "Save the Manuals!" by ordering your CTS-V with a stick shift. But the clincher is every V's honking 556-hp, supercharged and intercooled V-8. The handling is forgiving, the ride is supple, and the high-speed stability makes it the unlikely king of the autobahn. This Caddy's magnetorheological shocks work so well that Audi and Ferrari use versions of them. During our most recent Lightning Lap extravaganza, we pronounced a CTS-V coupe track-ready in no small part due to its Nordschleife-proven Brembo brakes and near-Porsche-grade steering. Except for that one fault, the V trio-coupe, sedan, and wagon-is blessed with more than its share of virtue. ![]() The chain-mail grilles, shark-fin taillamps, 19-inch chariot wheels, and center-exit tailpipes (coupe only) make these cars conspicuously easy for the most witless eyewitness to rat out. Because although they have the ability to expeditiously achieve escape velocity-of the six we've tested, the slowest clocked 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds-all burn indelible retinal images. If you plan to knock off a liquor store, we strongly recommend choosing something other than one of these superheroes as your ride. Let's get the CTS-V's achilles' heel out of the way first: It's useless as a getaway car. Here's to hoping BMW doesn't screw up the best one. An increased focus on gizmology has robbed a couple of recently introduced BMWs of the athletic, connected feeling that made the old Ultimate Driving Machine tag line ring so true. ![]() The biggest threat to its dominance is not from another carmaker but from BMW itself. In other words, even as the entire current 3-series lineup is on the way out the door, it still roasts the competition. The 3-series sedan is on hiatus until a new model drops in February. And how has no other automaker matched the silkiness of BMW's inline-six engines? Don't forget the M3, either, which remains magnificent in the twilight of a celebrated life, thanks largely to that lusty 414-hp, 8300-rpm V-8. You don't notice the seats, the steering, the suspension, or the brakes because everything feels natural. After 21 consecutive years on the 10Best list, BMW continues to evolve the 3-series toward some platonic ideal of sportiness. It's not for lack of trying: Every so often, another carmaker will pitch a worthy competitor into the mix, but none has been able to knock the 3-series from its pedestal or even maintain its consistent brilliance. The competition should have figured out a way to beat the BMW 3-series by now. And both offer so much passionate bang for the buck that it's fair to label them as practical purchases. Both of these Ingolstadt invaders engross their pilots in a peaceful, cushy, clubroom cockpit. The A7 is so good that it has already trumped, in a comparo, the V-8–wielding Mercedes-Benz CLS550. What the A7 lacks-one fewer seat abaft-it spectacularly counters with slick slant-back styling, 0.93 g of grip, and a power hatchback that envelops 25 cubic feet of storage space. Audi scores a two-fer here because the A7 "four-door coupe"-$9350 dearer-is a mechanical clone that also shares the A6's cabin furnishings. At its heart still beats a supercharged 3.0-liter V-6, making 310 horsepower, now paired with a rapid-fire ZF eight-speed automatic. This is a car that waltzes in the hills because it's so forgiving, so informative, so easy to drive to its limits. For 2012, the A6 enjoys its seventh remake, with all of its most lovable traits-right-now power, gratifying steering, unyielding structure-present and accounted for. But our passion for the Audi A6-a two-time comparison-test winner in its previous guise-has now burgeoned into the sort of fiery affair that would have prompted Humbert to jam a ring onto each of Lolita's 10 delicate digits. It's easy for love affairs to wilt as life's odometer ticks off the years. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |