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Luxury brands’ bean counters have severely stretched their products’ DNA. Merc’s bank vault gestalt took an enormous hit over the last twenty years. Bimmer’s SMG gearbox, iDrive multi-media controller, run-flat tires, SUV and dumbed down steering are a worrying divergence from their Ultimate Driving machine ethos. The aforementioned Lexus IS’ harsh driving dynamics bear scant resemblance to their magic carpet LS flagship. Only Audi creates a range of automobiles with brand-faithful consistency. – TTAC

I’m seriously impressed by what the GT-R accomplishes, and it serves out ferocious performance for the money. I get it. But I just can’t love it… The GT-R is too heavy and too computer controlled for my taste. Editor MacKenzie recently blogged about a similar drive in the new BMW M3 coupe and preferred it to Nissanzilla. I drove the same BMW the day before and arrived—independently—at the same conclusion. I’ll take its sonorous, high-winding V-8, its live, lithe feel, even more useable interior and trunk, and elegant look. The M3 gives up a smidgen of performance edge to the GT-R, but it’s a far more harmonious package and better satisfies my urges as a driver. - Matt Stone, Motor Trend

You’ve heard by now of the many changes (e.g. direct injection, dual clutch sequential manual gearbox, a revised suspension and rear track…) made to the 911 (no doubt to counter the astonishing R8). What you probably hadn’t heard is this…

DFI isn’t the only new system incorporated into the classic flat-six layout. In fact, not one component is carried over from the previous boxer, and, amazingly, the new sixes are built with 40-percent-fewer parts, which reduces overall weight by 12 lb and rotational mass by 7 percent. Other advantages of the new design are a 50mm shorter height and mounting points lower in the chassis for a ground-hugging center of gravity. – Motor Trend

I’m slackjawed…

Unique among the current BMW line-up is the sublimely effortless, torque-rich delivery of its all-new, direct-injection 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, which develops 400bhp from 5500 to 6400rpm and 442lb ft of torque between 1750 and 4500rpm, wafting the 50i to 62mph in a claimed 5.4sec. There’s no M Power-flavoured lust for revs here. [The X6’s] eight-speed auto with the option of changing gear via steering-wheel paddles might seem like a recipe for a conspicuous work-rate, but the delivery is almost Bentley-like in its laid-back lack of drama. – evo

When buying an amplifier for your home theatre, people in the know take into account the weight of the thing; more being better.

With cars, more weight is a sign of lazy engineering, and only the most advanced companies manage to retain strength while keeping weight down.

I applaud GM for making their cars have integrity at last, but like the last generation Hyundais the attempts are dragged down by the avoirdupois.

As products from GM’s friendly brand see tremendous progress, weight reduction appears to be the final frontier. Interiors are improving, Opel is making Saturn beautiful, and ride and handling are matching or surpassing the competition. All Saturn has to do to make the Vue a worldbeater is pare a measly 500 pounds. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much. But cut some fat, and the Vue—already a very good miniature ute—will take another key step toward excellence. – Car and Driver

That said I prefer the current GM approach to the current everyone else approach – i.e. make it so light and tinny that it feels disposable (even if it isn’t).

I’m referring of course to the Motor Trend long-term update that has a lot of people talking…

Now granted, automotive journalists are an agressive bunch, but I can’t see how a company known for products that don’t require much in the way of care and feeding can spec brakes and tires that wilt so easily… Not that soft tires and brakes are a bad thing – they usually bring with them better handling, stopping and feel from the driver’s seat. It’s just that in the LS’ case it has no excuse – no one’s every penned a flattering word on the car’s handling or braking; it’s not the car’s M.O…

it’s no longer enough to launch a family vehicle with six billion storage cubbies and three rows of seats standard (with a two-seat second-row option for that limo feel). Such vehicles need at least a half-dozen innovative features for the required amount of bragging rights, if only for the few months it takes for the rest of the market to adopt them, too. – Car and Driver

I’m fairly critical of cars that manufacturers cobble together in a hurry and charge more for whether they be body on frame SUVs, sedan-based coupes, hardtop based convertibles, or the new strain of ‘four door coupes’ (e.g. MB CLS, BMW X6, VW Passat CC) if only because the consumer seems to be getting a raw deal when paying a premium for what is in many ways an inferior, more compromised car.

But as this quote reminds us, in some cases such cars are a second chance for a carmaker to make right a previous attempt. And if I take off my cynic’s cap for a moment, you have to applaud anything that leads to more choice for the consumer and fewer dull, ‘me-too’ cars on the road.

The whole idea seems an extravagant folly, a marketing indulgence of almost Phaeton-like magnitude. But then the regular Passat, while a competent car, is hardly an object of desire. The CC offers a chance of one-upmanship sufficient, maybe, to secure a purchase instead of passing the Passat by. [The resulting car offers] Mercedes indulgence at a sensible price – evo

(As an aside, note a comment that applies to the standard Passat and most front drive sedans in general):

Best version? Not the V6 3.6 4Motion, which feels too heavy and clunky. It’s the entry-level 1.8 TSI with 158bhp, a crisp, punchy engine powering an agile, comfortable car. Less is more here, too.

today’s engineers understand they are designing cars that have to be appreciated at different levels, that the straightforward goal of pure performance is no longer practical in an era when cars can easily be designed that are faster than you can reasonably drive them on the road. We see the focus of design shifting to the experience of performance… Even Ferrari tunes its exhaust to sound racy — at the expense of power. – Sam Posey, Road & Track

The C30 feels busy over small bumps, and the big tyres on those handsome 18in rims feed a surprising level of noise into the cockpit on anything less than very smooth asphalt, which is a shame. I’d happily trade a little of the handling’s edge for smoother progress, especially as the soft throttle action and long gearing (over 100mph in third) give the C30 a leisurely gait. A car that looks so different – inside and out – to the fast-hatch herd should have the confidence to follow its own dynamic agenda too. – evo