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(Enlarge photo)
This Dali-esque parking lot represents some of the finest automobiles ever created. Read on to find out which one we liked the best.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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Road Test: Comparison Test
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2001 Entry Level Luxury Sport Sedans Comparison Test
We're Going to the Mattresses
By
Liz Kim
Date posted: 07-03-2001
OK, class, who can tell me where "We're going to the mattresses" was uttered?
For the culturally bereft, it's from the original (and still the best) Godfather,
a phrase used to describe an all-out war between the five crime families in order
to gain control of the boroughs. Clemenza explains to a then-naive Michael Corleone
that a large-scale battle occurs every 10 years or so. "Helps get rid of bad blood,"
he says.
Well, it's only been two years since our last entry-level luxury sedan test, but
since then, the market has burgeoned with new and freshened products, and young
whippersnappers are chomping at the bit to catch up to, and perhaps surpass, the
Don Corleone of the class and winner of the last test, the BMW 3 Series.
It looked like a turf war was beginning to brew, so we gathered nine of the baddest
sedans from most of the luxury automakers. Our criteria were that they must have
at least 200 horsepower, have aspirations in both sporting and luxury aspects
and either be new to the field or significantly revised since our last test.
As such, we have our defending champion, the BMW 3 Series, going up against the
2002 Acura TL massaged with the Type-S treatment, the Infiniti I30t, the Mazda
Millenia S (which has never competed in one of our comparison tests before) and
the all-new Mercedes C320 and Volvo S60. We also invited two American luxury models
to play, the Cadillac Catera Sport and Lincoln's LS V8, since they, too, would
like a piece of the sport sedan pie. And, of course, we acquired the all-new Lexus
IS 300, which Lexus boasts as offering better handling than the 3 Series in various
advertisements. An obvious omission is the Audi A4, but since the 2002 model will
be completely redesigned, we decided to wait.
Our editors were drooling at the prospect of conducting this test. We consider
entry-level luxury sport sedans to represent the best of both worlds: Their costs
are not so prohibitive that you take inquiries as to "How much for your little
girl" seriously in order to afford one; our test cars ranged from $33,000 to $41,000.
More importantly, not only do they satisfy our bodily desires, they also feed
the soul though the best of driving dynamics. As such, our test cars, except for
the Mercedes C-Class, were the sport version or were equipped with the sport package,
but to temper things out, all had automatic transmissions.
We based our evaluations on both their ability to coddle the driver and passengers
as well as their sporting capabilities. We subjected each of them to a 70-mile
driving loop through the winding roads and hills of Ventura County, Calif., instrumented
performance testing, and a meticulous 20-point evaluation process. Seeing as how
they're sedans, they're meant to carry passengers in the back; as such, we not
only evaluated rear seat comfort, but judged how well baby seats fit into the
car. And just in case you want to join in the action, we've also got video coverage
of the brawl.
Let the bloodletting commence!
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