carcounsel.com |HID|

seen in Car and Driver Forums:

Q) Why doesn’t Lexus offer a manual transmission in the IS 350?  Any plans to do so?

A) The IS 250 is our core model, representing over 80 percent of sales. With this volume, we believe the IS 250 with manual transmission (M/T) will meet the needs for those consumers desiring a 6-speed manual and provides a very competitive value.  The volume of M/T sales within the segment the IS 350 will compete is very small, and we do not forecast enough demand to warrant production of a M/T choice for the IS 350.  If the market should change, we will, of course, consider a M/T for the IS 350.

Commentary: A driver who choses a manual is generally an enthusiast, so we’re surprised that the more powerful car comes as an auto only. That said, manual transmissions are a relative afterthought to Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. Proof: the foot activated parking brake makes it impossible to keep the car from rolling back when starting off on a hill in a manual…

(BMWs and Hondas tend to make better manuals, Benz and Toyota better autos).

UPDATE: AutoExpress has driven the manual IS250, and find it the weakest link in an otherwise compelling package…

...the engine’s tendency to hang on to the revs means making smooth progress requires concentration – and this isn’t helped by the clutch’s heavy action at the top of its travel, or the fact that the gearlever is angled, and takes some getting used to. Thanks to the auto’s closer gearing, the manual car is thirstier…

UPDATE 2:

you can opt for a manual IS. That said, you probably shouldn’t. Lexus’s command of super-smooth auto transmissions is unquestioned, but it doesn’t have a good manual. The shift lacks the positivity and involvement of the 3-Series, feels notchy and cheap and is set at a weird angle that, although arguably ergonomic, upsets the otherwise effective cabin symmetry. And this isn’t an option that does any favours to that fabled Lexus refinement… [buy] the manual and you end up with a hell of a lot less car. source: Top Gear

We wish, though, that the five-speed manual were more precise and that Subaru would offer stability control. source:automobile

Even on the beautifully surfaced Andalusian roads where I drove it, the ride quality was firm, almost to the point of discomfort…There’s something not quite right with the steering, either. The adoption of hydraulic power assistance has restored some real meat to the feel of helm, which is welcome after the peculiarly artificial feel of the standard Z4 - but if you’re expecting Porsche levels of communication, you’re going to be disappointed. Having that heavy engine over the front wheels has not just added to the Z4’s weight, it also appears to have injected a small but significant degree of numbness to the wheel…

but

the fact that the Boxster S is a demonstrably more capable car than the Z4M does not entirely undermine the BMW’s appeal. On the contrary: the Z4M may not be as technically accomplished as the Boxster, but this does not mean that, in the right environment, it is not capable of being a whole lot more fun… for those who like their driving pleasures rough and ready, rather than silky smooth, the Z4M has a mighty appeal. Most important of all, to me at least, it is a proper, unreconstructed M-car. In an era when BMW is using the M badge to ever less noble ends, that is hugely reassuring.

source: 4Car’s Andrew Frankel

(Sadly the M version is saddled with a cast-iron engine while the non-M version is marred by its run-flat tires and electric steering).

the Phaeton marked a return to form for German engineering. The barge’s windshield wiper blades rest on alternate sides to create even wear. The sunroof adjusts at speed to prevent drafts and harmonic distortion inside the cabin. The climate control system opens vents for rapid cooling, then closes them when the desired temperature arrives. At a time when even Mercedes had lost the plot, the Phaeton’s build and materials quality were beyond approach. I mean, reproach. For those of us who wondered if the Germans had lost their manufacturing mojo, the Phaeton kept the faith alive. – Robert Farago

It’s no coincidence that Audis make a good impression from the moment you open the door – just as a living room is more comfortable if filled with soft textures and lighting, so is a car’s interior. Click here for more.

(If they only they were as detail oriented when it comes to how the car feels in motion!)

carcounsel was founded on the principle that there is too much information for the consumer to process effectively. In an age of falso advertising, sales and marketing claims we’ve adopted a ‘less is more’ and ‘quality over quantity’ approach that resonates with each of our clients.

According to two pieces we came across recently, a similar approach is needed when it comes to road signs. First there’s this piece from What Car?.

motorists can only expect to cope with between three and seven pieces of information at a time, and instinctively recognise this because they turn down radios when they need to concentrate.

Next up is this piece from Wired

Hans Monderman is a traffic engineer who hates traffic signs. Oh, he can put up with the well-placed speed limit placard or a dangerous curve warning on a major highway, but Monderman considers most signs to be not only annoying but downright dangerous… The approach is radically counterintuitive: Build roads that seem dangerous, and they’ll be safer… The common thread in the new approach to traffic engineering is a recognition that the way you build a road affects far more than the movement of vehicles. It determines how drivers behave on it, whether pedestrians feel safe to walk alongside it, what kinds of businesses and housing spring up along it. “A wide road with a lot of signs is telling a story,” Monderman says. “It’s saying, go ahead, don’t worry, go as fast as you want, there’s no need to pay attention to your surroundings. And that’s a very dangerous message.”

Another sign that causes accidents? Believe it or not speed limit signs. You see studies have shown that it’s not speed itself that kills but speed differentials – if some cars are doing 60 and others 80 there are more lane changes and accidents. If everyone is doing 75 traffic flows more smoothly and safely from exit to exit. Proof: when the national limit of 55mph was dropped the death toll went down more sharply than ever before.

And that’s a fact.

Click here for a video of another great Brazilian invention.

somehow, the car still fails to make my mouth water. Perhaps I’m put off by the overly styled sheetmetal, which lacks the grace of its predecessor. I’m also not taken with the synthetic feel in the major driving controls and the electronics-heavy interior. Even in a luxury sedan, I’d like more driver involvement. source: Car and Driver

With all the criticism leveled against iDrive and other control interfaces, its a miracle all manufacturers haven’t gone the touch screen route pioneered by Buick with the Regatta.

After seeing this video, we couldn’t help but imagine how touchy-feely the car of the future’s cockpit might become.

Early airbags were criticised for – in some cases – causing deaths rather than preventing them. As this graph shows, the death toll was very real. And yet it pales in relation to the number of lives saved by airbags: about 18,913 to date.

And now more good news:

Death by airbag is nearly a thing of the past. No adults and two children died from airbag-induced injuries in the United States in 2005, according to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash statistics. source: Automotive News