Motoring News

TOP SAFETY PICK+ earned by Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Its always nice to know which luxury cars are not only stylish and fast, but are also the best performing in the safety categories as well.

The 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a large luxury car, earns the IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, thanks to a good rating in the challenging small overlap front crash test and a standard front crash prevention system.

The E-Class also earns good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint evaluations.

Beginning with 2014 models manufactured after January, Mercedes strengthened the foot well area of the occupant compartment to improve protection in small overlap front crashes. These changes apply to the 4-door E-Class models.

In the small overlap test, the driver’s space was maintained well. Injury measures recorded on the driver dummy indicated that lower leg injuries would be possible in a real-world crash of this severity. The dummy’s head was reasonably controlled by the frontal airbag, but it rotated around and hit the vehicle’s A-pillar because the head and torso moved too far forward. The side curtain airbag deployed to protect the head from contact with other side structures. Despite the head contact, risk of significant injuries to the head and chest was low.

The Institute added the small overlap evaluation to its testing line-up in 2012. In the crash, 25 percent of a vehicle’s front end on the driver side strikes a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph. It replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle strikes another vehicle or object like a tree or a utility pole.

A standard forward collision warning system, called Collision Prevention Assist, earns the E-Class a basic rating for front crash prevention. When equipped with the optional Pre-Safe Brake system, the E-Class earns a superior rating for front crash prevention.

The E-Class is the fourth large luxury car to earn the Institute’s highest award for 2014. To qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+, a vehicle must earn a good or acceptable rating for small overlap protection, a good rating in the Institute’s other four tests, and a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.

Source http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/06/06/mercedes-benz-e-class-earns-top-safety-pick-a-514589.html#.U5cR-mdOV1s

 

Who will win the luxury car race BMW or Audi?

BMW held onto the lead in global luxury-car sales as demand for 5-Series sedans and X5 sport-utility vehicles helped edge out Audi AG.

BMW delivered about 1,000 more vehicles than Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s Audi in May as the race for the top spot tightened, according to figures from the carmakers. Through the first five months of 2014, Audi’s sales climbed 12 percent, outpacing BMW’s 11 percent gain. That helped the world’s second-largest maker of premium cars cut Munich-based BMW’s lead to about 8,200 autos from 11,000 a year ago.

Audi has been closing the gap to BMW in recent years with an expanded model line-up in a bid to become the best-selling luxury-auto brand by the end of the decade. In April, the VW unit rolled out a sedan version of the A3 in the U.S., helping sales there jump 26 percent last month. BMW responded with the 2-Series compact coupe, which went on sale in March.

“BMW is more geared into the second half and into 2015” in terms of model introductions, Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst at ISI Group in London, said by phone. “They report stronger growth right now than I would have thought, given the product outline.”

Deliveries last month of BMW autos rose 10 percent to 153,023 vehicles, as 5-Series sales gained 11 percent and X5 demand surged 63 percent. Including the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, sales rose 6.8 percent last month, with five-month demand increasing 7.4 percent to just under 826,900 deliveries.

Delivery Target

“The BMW group continued to achieve record sales in May, keeping us well on track to sell over 2 million vehicles in 2014,” Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing, said in a statement today.

Global sales by Ingolstadt, Germany-based Audi climbed 11 percent to 152,000 cars in May, lifted by a 43 percent surge for A3 models and a 21 percent gain in demand for the Q3 compact SUV. Daimler AG (DAI)’s Mercedes-Benz, which also has a target of overtaking BMW in sales by the end of this decade, increased deliveries 10 percent in May to 134,031, buoyed by demand for the C-Class sedan and GLA compact SUV.

BMW declined as much as 1.1 percent and was trading down 0.6 percent at 92.02 euros at 12:59 p.m. in Frankfurt. VW fell 0.3 percent, while Daimler rose 0.3 percent.

Chinese Push

Surging demand for premium models in China and the U.S., the world’s two largest auto markets, is propelling growth at the three German carmakers, which are all targeting record deliveries for 2014. The competition is heating up after Audi briefly passed the BMW brand in sales at the beginning of this year, while new compact models have generated gains at Mercedes.

The five-month sales lead by BMW over Mercedes was about 80,700 vehicles, narrowing from a year-earlier difference of 88,300 autos. BMW introduced the plug-in hybrid i8 last week, its first sports car in more than three decades. In addition to the 4-Series coupe and X4 SUV already on sale, BMW plans to introduce a variant of the 2-Series, the van-like Active Tourer, this year.

BMW is likely to remain ahead of Audi in deliveries through 2015, said Ellinghorst. Even so, a race among the luxury-car makers to maintain volume at the expense of pricing is undermining profitability and brand perception.

“All these guys are defining themselves by volume and not by price realization,” he said. “You can’t call yourself a premium brand if you give away your product with a 20 percent to 30 percent discount.”

Source http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-10/bmw-holds-off-audi-as-race-for-luxury-car-lead-tightens.html

New luxury car room to be opened in Cambodia by Rolls Royce

Some of the poorest countries in the world are attracting luxury car manufacturers to their cities. Rolls Royce will soon be marketing their cars in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced Monday that it has joined with a Cambodian business partner to open a showroom in the Cambodian capital next month.

Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific regional manager Paul Harris said his company signed a deal with HGB Group Co., Ltd. because it believed demand would grow along with Cambodia’s economy.

Cambodia’s average per capita annual income, according to the World Bank, is just over $1,000, a bit less than one-half of 1 percent of the cost of the cheapest Rolls-Royce.

However, a small but wealthy elite lives in the capital of the mostly rural nation, and it is not unusual to see various models of high-end Lexus automobiles passing by pedicabs in the city’s dusty streets.

Harris said five Rolls-Royces have been sold in Cambodia since 2005.

“Nobody would believe that such a luxury car would come to Cambodia,” said Minister for Industry and Handcrafts Cham Prasidh, who was present for the announcement.

Cheaper Japanese models still dominate the market, but the upgrading of roads – which had suffered from war and neglect – and the rise in people’s living standards mean other car manufacturers from various countries are now entering the Cambodian market, he said.

Source http://www.live5news.com/story/25726203/roll-royce-to-open-luxury-car-showroom-in-cambodia

Luxury car brands to target women

When it comes to fashion, style, luxury and spending money, no one does it better than the women of the world! It comes as no surprise that luxury car brands are standing up and taking note of the female client and what they want in a car.

Women are buying more than half of the new cars in the United States and influence up to 80 per cent of all car purchases, according to Women-Drivers.com and Forbes. With statistics like these, car manufacturers and their marketers have heard the lure and are finally starting to target women and their specific needs.

The trend guru Faith Popcorn, in her book EVEolution, says, “women don’t buy brands, they join them”. And in the luxury car industry, this seems to be just the case – it looks like women are changing and pervading the field from the inside out and the outside in.

Italian marque Lamborghini reports that “three out of four workers in their trim and colour assembly area on the Sant’Agata Bolognese production line are now women”. This team of 35 women works on industrial sewing machines, cutting and stitching the leather upholstery. And the brand’s production managers at the plant agree: “Women have a more critical eye for detail”.

But women aren’t limited to the production sector – Helen Emsley heads the team that designed the interior of the 2014 Corvette Stingray and was recently appointed executive director of Global GMC Design and User Experience. The designers of the BMW i Series user interface are two women, Sandy McGill and Monika Zych. And it was big news in the car world when General Motors named Mary Barra as its new CEO last December – the first woman to ever lead a major global carmaker.

Not only are the cars becoming more women-centric, but their many accessories and brand extensions are finding new owners as well. It all started with car accessories for Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche and Bugatti – first there were leather first-aid kits and luggage compartment mats, which quickly evolved to luggage and iPad cases that took on a more feminine aesthetic.

These so-called brand extensions are inherent in the luxury goods market. Haute couture has for the past century extended to accessories, jewellery and cosmetics. Chanel and Saint Laurent (then Yves Saint Laurent) set forth as haute couture brands and today are empires spanning everything from fashion to household goods.

In the car industry during the 1970s, collaborations with luxury brands, such as Cartier, Pierre Cardin and Oleg Cassini, were commonplace and consumers looked out for these elegant special editions. Today, it’s still rife with such models as the Gucci-designed Fiat and Victoria Beckham’s baby Range Rover Evoque.

And so Bugatti joined the ranks of Porsche and Ferrari at Milan Fashion Week in September last year by launching an exclusive apparel and accessories collection. Not to be missed is their crocodile skin handbag, sculpted to mimic the front grille of the Bugatti.

Last year, Bentley started selling handbags that retail for over US$5,500, while Porsche debuted its Maria Sharapova handbag. And Mercedes-Benz is not far behind with The House of Mercedes-Benz, a fashion boutique featuring exclusive items as a limited-edition collection of wooden eyewear inspired by the wood detailing in the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Brands are gearing up more than ever to expand their offerings. Before the Geneva Motor Show in March, Lamborghini and Bentley released statements declaring that they want to “expand their brands and specifically proffer to women”.

 

Bec Brideson, director of the marketing agency Hello I’m Venus in Australia, says: “Car dealers have improved their soft skills in the dealership – putting on events that appeal primarily to women, and making their showrooms more female-friendly.” But she believes car companies still stick to a “one-size-fits-all-genders approach, especially with product development”.

Donna Milgram writes on her Recruiting Women TechnoBlog: “There are fortunes to be made for the first of these luxury car brands who are brave and imaginative enough to commit to researching, designing and marketing vehicles that appeal specifically and exclusively to the new affluent, independent woman.”

Images of lipstick, stilettos and nail varnish populate past marketing efforts that were unsuccessful. In the book Oops, Martin Smith and Patrick Kiger give examples from the 1950s, when Ford developed “Motor Mates”, a line of handbags tied to certain Ford vehicles, which Chrysler responded to with the pink “Dodge La Femme” with matching handbag, raincoat and umbrella. The 1960s were even worse – competitions with Mustangs in lipstick colours as prizes, or Studebaker’s manual entitled “Going Steady with Studie” that patronised female buyers.

A step in the right direction, however, was Volvo’s YCC (“Your Concept Car”), presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2004. Volvo assembled a design team entirely made up of women, and looked extensively at ergonomics from the perspective of a female driver.

But since then the industry is looking for the next evolution, with brands such as Bugatti reporting that they want to “double their female customers within the next five years”.

And so this is only the beginning, as luxury car brands cater to women – mimicking the female form in terms of design and paying careful attention to attributes such as maneuverability, interior craftsmanship and user-friendly features. Women, meanwhile, are interested in a luxury car product that evokes emotion, provides total reassurance and at the same time maintains the authenticity they crave – and apparently they are not afraid to ask for exactly that.

Source http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/article/1520512/luxury-car-makers-turn-focus-women-drivers

Lexus GS450h perfectly combines luxury with hybrid

Can you have luxury in a hybrid car? We all want to do our part in helping the environment, but giving up style and luxury to do so is not as appealing to everyone. Let me introduce you to the Lexus GS450h and see what you think of this luxury hybrid.

hen hybrid cars started appearing on the market around the turn of this century, they were universally Spartan. Their one luxury was the readout on the dash that gave you electronic feedback about your driving habits. Fifteen years later, hybrids come in all shapes, sizes, and classes, including full-on luxury, like the Lexus GS450h. It offers good fuel economy, but when you’re driving a $60,000 car, is “economy” really what you’re after?

The hybrid drivetrain combines to make the Lexus GS450h the most powerful car in the GS line-up. The gas-powered, 24-valve, 3.5-liter V-6 is good for 286 hp, and the permanent electric motor can develop 200 hp. When they combine, the power rating is 338 hp, which bests any other GS by 32 hp.

Unlike GS350 rear-drive trims, the GS450h has a continuously variable transmission, as opposed to an 8-speed automatic. It features shift paddles so you can manually shift “gears,” but it’s not really something the car excels at. To really feel the promise of such a setup, you have to experience something like the twin-clutch, direct-shift gearbox on a Volkswagen, rather than a CVT whose manual mode just holds the engine at a higher RPM longer. Continuously variable transmissions do offer somewhat higher fuel mileage than a traditional automatic by keeping the engine at optimal RPM, but they simply sap all the fun out of driving something with a modern 7- or 8-speed automatic.

It puts a damper on the additional power in the GS450h and delivers a performance similar to the lesser GS trims. Lexus proclaims that the car is quicker by a tenth of a second than the rear-drive versions of the other GS trims, and is two-tenths of a second faster than the all-wheel-drive versions you’re likely to see in New England. But when Car and Driver evaluated this hybrid against its traditionally powered stablemates, it came in at as much as two-tenths of a second slower.

Part of the reason this car is only marginally quicker despite the power is weight. Adding an electric motor and a battery pack equals as much as 400 pounds, or about a 10 percent gain on the scale, and it’s something that became evident when I had to make an abrupt manoeuvre on the highway.

As I was merging into the middle lane, another driver quickly merged into the same space from the passing lane. I swerved a bit and got on the brakes and the GS450h wagged its tail a little more than I would’ve expected from something with performance aspirations. Keep in mind, I was driving the car in Normal mode, rather than the Sport or Sport + modes that boost suspension responsiveness. The GS450h also offers an EV mode that allows you to drive for short distances on battery power alone, which is a usable feature in the traffic in and around Boston.

Fuel economy for such a big car isn’t bad at an observed 26 miles per gallon average. The EPA suggests that you can see as much as 34 miles per gallon on the highway. It gives the GS450h a not insignificant 10 miles per gallon average advantage over the GS350 AWD. But it also comes at a price. An all-wheel-drive GS350 starts at $49,950. The GS450h starts at $60,430. Our tested version climbed past the $62,000 mark. That’s a lot of gas.

The price and the handling in Normal mode are my two biggest reservations. On the plus side of the ledger, the GS450h features a passenger cabin that easily rivals competitors from Europe. Stepping into the GS450h, the first thing you’ll notice is how much brighter it is than lesser trims in the GS line.

Our tested version featured the optional Luxury Package with light grey perforated leather interior, made even brighter by the light-coloured bamboo trim on the console, dash, and steering wheel. This, along with the sunroof, makes the GS450h seem much bigger inside than it really is.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m really tired of seats that try to be Recaro racing buckets. There’s a place for those kind of seats, and it’s not in the cabin of a luxury car. According to my backside, the GS450h has the most comfortable, luxurious seats of any luxury car on the market today. They’re supportive, but in a way that recalls the buckets of the old Saab 9000 Aero, which are the benchmark for comfortable automobile seats.

One of the first things I do when I get in any new car is pair my phone. On some cars, it can be a maddeningly frustrating process, but in the GS450h—and all of the Lexus cars I’ve sampled—it’s simple to figure out how the pairing process works. Take this tip, auto manufacturers: If your customer selects “BLUETOOTH” under the media menu and a phone or media player isn’t found, begin the pairing process automatically with an option to cancel out, instead of having to initiate the process manually.

The cabin can be complemented with an available Mark Levinson audio system. With 17 speakers located all over the place, the system cranks out 835 watts of power. This ain’t your daddy’s Sparkomatic. It rocks. Lexus pretty well integrates all of the infotainment technology by means of the console-mounted joystick, but also keeps intuitive knobs and buttons for the radio and heat controls, which is a welcome departure from the era when manufacturers decided to bury all of those controls under sub-menus.

But with the exception of the bamboo trim and the hybrid drivetrain, you can get everything on the GS450h in any other GS trim, at a significantly reduced price. You could buy 2,500 gallons of gasoline with the price difference, enough to get you 50,000 miles, even at the GS350’s least optimistic fuel economy estimate. With that in mind, the question remains: Why spend the extra dough?

Source http://www.boston.com/cars/news-and-reviews/2014/05/31/lexus-defines-hybrid-luxury-with/OILsyWldxrnldgUu7DDBSO/story.html

Bentley and Rolls-Royce in record profits

Luxury car manufacturers are reporting high profits for last year and this year already. With Bentley and Rolls Royce up there too, it’s nice to see some British car royalty sharing a large piece of the pie.

Britain’s leading luxury car manufacturers Bentley and Rolls-Royce both achieved record profits last year as demand for classic car marques continues to grow.

 

Bentley, which accounts for one in every four luxury cars sold around the world, saw sales jump a fifth to £1.4 billion to the year ending December 31, 2013. Profits rocketed from £108 million to £181 million as it sold a record 10,120 cars.

 

It is a remarkable performance for the company, which recorded a pre-tax loss of £293 million on a £591 million turnover just three years ago.

 

Since buying Bentley in 1998, owner Volkswagen has invested more than £1 billion in improving production at its manufacturing plant in Crewe, Cheshire.

 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, owned by Germany’s BMW, sold a record 3,630 cars last year, all handmade to order at Goodwood, West Sussex. A spokesman said: ‘There is an appetite around the world for quality, luxury and Britishness.’

Source http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2644739/Luxury-car-manufacturers-Bentley-Rolls-Royce-rev-record-profits.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

Aston Martin creates 250 jobs in South Warwickshire

Most of our blogs have recently talked about the growth we are seeing in the luxury car market. Nothing cements this more than the reports we are seeing of luxury car manufacturers investing money and creating jobs for new developments and proposed expansion. The latest news comes from the south Warwickshire-based luxury car-maker Aston Martin who is investing £20 million in new developments, with the creation of 250 jobs.

The 10,000 square metre extension will be the firm’s biggest development at its headquarters in Gaydon in recent history as it looks ahead to projects on creating new sports cars.

The new jobs – to be recruited for over the next few months – will be in a number of areas, including engineering, manufacturing and commerce.

Keith Stanton, Aston Martin’s manufacturing operations director, said: “I am very happy to be able to execute another part of our manufacturing strategy by extending our already highly-efficient facility.

“The improvements at Gaydon are a big step forward and the development will enable us to streamline and finesse our manufacturing processes which, in turn, will allow us to be leaner and even more competitive.”

He added: “We have the vision of being the best producer in the luxury sports car sector and a new facility, along with the support of our flexible, highly-efficient workforce, will enable us to achieve our goal.”

Meanwhile, more than 500 applications have been submitted for the 12 places available in the latest round of the firm’s apprenticeship scheme and 14 graduates will be taken on as employees this year.

Chief financial officer Hanno Kirner said: “We have confirmed that the coming years will see Aston Martin implementing the biggest investment programme in the 101-year history of the brand, with a plan to inject over £500 million into the company’s next generation of high performance sports cars.”

This first round of developments, expected to be complete next year, will include a new chassis and pilot build facility, new offices and an extension of the parts and logistics storage area.

Source http://www.kenilworthweeklynews.co.uk/news/local-news/south-warwickshire-luxury-car-brand-to-create-250-new-jobs-1-6087342

Teenagers steal luxury cars in a ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ type raid

Like something out of a Hollywood block buster, a gang of teenagers have pled guilty to stealing luxury cars from the home of a millionaire.

Liam Smith, George Cowie and Blair Thomson, all 17, took off with sports cars from outside oil tycoon Sean Dreelan’s mansion in July.

Two of the teenagers – Cowie and Thomson – broke into the Banchory Devenick property and stole car keys – despite being too young to drive at the time.

The trio then drove away with the motors in the middle of the night.

Renovation work was being carried out on the grounds of Drumduan House as part of a major refurbishment programme at the time.

The secluded house was once protected by extensive security with intercom-operated large iron double gates at the bottom of the drive and CCTV cameras.

However, the driveway was opened last summer to let heavy machinery in to carry out landscaping work.

Family photographs shared on social media showed several super cars parked on the driveway – including a red Ferrari 599 GTO – before the thefts.

All the stolen vehicles were recovered and police eventually tracked down the car crime gang, who all lived in Aberdeen.

Yesterday Smith was told by the sheriff to expect a jail term for his part in the thefts when the case called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said: “You shouldn’t hold out much hope for anything other than a custodial sentence.”

Smith admitted stealing the Dreelan family’s white 2010 Porsche 911 GT2 RS coupe and grey Toyota Land Cruiser from outside Drumduan House, between 22 and 23 July, last year.

Donald Stewart
Sean Dreelan

 

 

The teenage thief also admitted stealing two other vehicles in separate incidents in the weeks leading up to the Dreelan family theft.

He pled guilty to nicking a grey 2006 BMW M sport touring estate from Lintmill Place, Aberdeen, on May 25, 2013.

The teen also admitted careless driving by crashing a red Triumph motorcycle he stole from the city’s Taransay Crescent on June 20.

Cowie previously pleaded guilty to breaking into Mr Dreelan’s home between July 22 and 23 and stealing car keys before making off with a grey 2010 Audi S5 V8 Quattro coupe.

Thomson was also part of the gang that broke into Mr Dreelan’s house to steal car keys.

He made off from the grounds of the mansion with a silver 2011 Aston Martin Rapide V12 as well as the same Toyota Land Cruiser as Smith.

Sheriff Napier called for reports on all three teenagers yesterday and deferred sentencing until next month.

Property owner Sean Dreelan made his fortune in the oil and energy industry in Aberdeen.

He and his three brothers – Tommy, Mike and Ciaran – founded a fast-growing oil service firm in 2001.

The oil services company was sold to Norwegian group Aker Solutions earning the brothers a share of nearly 100million pounds in 2008.

The Dreelan brothers continued in their roles with Qserv as it expanded worldwide, despite the change of ownership.

The sale of Qserv was the second big-money deal involving the Dreelans.

PSL was sold by Tommy, Sean and Mike for 45.5million pounds in 1998.

Source http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/crime/gone-60-seconds-teenage-car-3617496

 

Bookings have commenced for Mercedes India on upcoming models

We like to keep up to date on the luxury car market across the globe, especially India and China where they take luxury very seriously! Mercedes are making big waves in India at the minute and it doesn’t seem to be relenting any time soon.

Mercedes Benz India has commenced bookings for two of its upcoming models – the new GLA compact luxury SUV as well as the diesel version of the S-class, the S 350 sedan.

The Mercedes GLA compact luxury SUV is based on the front-wheel-drive MFA-platform that also underpins the A- and B-class. The SUV is comparable in size to the Audi Q3 and is expected to go on sale in India around the festive season. Mercedes dealers are currently taking orders for only one variant of the GLA, the GLA 220 CDI diesel. Mercedes Benz had showcased the GLA SUV at the Auto Expo 2014 earlier this year.

The Mercedes GLA 220 CDI is expected to come with a 2143cc diesel motor good for 167bhp. This is the same motor that does duty on the Mercedes A-class hatchback where it is detuned to put out 107bhp. The booking amount for the GLA 220 CDI is Rs 50,000 with deliveries being promised around September-October 2014.

Mercedes Benz has also started taking bookings for the diesel-powered S-class sedan. The S 350 CDI will be manufactured locally and will officially launch on June 5, 2014.

The Mercedes-Benz S 350 CDI will have similar equipment levels as the locally-made S 500, although it will skimp on certain features available on the range-topping version. The Burmester sound system will come without 3D surround system and there’ll be plain leather upholstery instead of nappa. The rear seat will be a bench instead of two individual seats. The S 350 CDI won’t have centre-armrest mounted tables for the rear passengers, nor chilling and heating cupholders. It will get a normal reversing camera instead of the 360-degree unit on the S 500. The Mercedes night-vision package also won’t be on offer on the S 350 CDI.

Mercedes is expected to price the S 350 CDI at around Rs 1.25 crore (estimated, ex-showroom). The Merc S 350 is a fair bit more expensive than direct rivals like the A8 L 3.0 TDI (Rs 1.12 crore), BMW 730Ld (Rs 1.02 crore) and the recently launched, locally assembled Jaguar XJ 3.0 TDI (Rs 92.1 lakh). The premium Mercedes is asking for over rivals can be put down to the fact that the S 350 is a whole generation ahead in terms of tech on offer. The booking amount for the S 350 CDI is Rs 5 lakh with deliveries being promised by end-June or early July.
Source http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-news/mercedes-s-350-cdi-gla-suv-bookings-commence-386483.aspx

Could the Rolls-Royce Phantom be the best car on the planet?

How much does true luxury cost these days? Well for nearly half a million dollars, you can buy yourself a truly luxurious car that can offer you the best speed, interiors and latest digital technology, but which of these will give you true luxury?
What do I mean “true luxury?” Well, let me break it down for you. A large luxury sedan is something like the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class or Audi A8. Getting behind the wheel will have you pampered and feature the latest and greatest technology. BUT, the interiors aren’t entirely sumptuous and when you hit some bumps you will feel them.

True luxury vehicles are cars that are conceived on what seems like another planet. Everything is, simply, the best and the vehicle reflects that in every measurable metric.

Though other marques may be social media mavens or produce the most memorable Super Bowl commercials, there’s only one that can sit atop the throne and have brand equity that places it number one in the luxury domain. Think: What other brand has attained the status of being top-notch and can be applied to any other inanimate object? How many times have you heard about another product that it’s “the Rolls-Royce of…’x’?”

This neatly brings us to our subject, the Rolls-Royce Phantom — in this instance, the Series II.

The Phantom is the flagship nameplate, which now features a standard wheelbase sedan, a long wheelbase sedan, a convertible and the rarely seen coupe. It was the first new Rolls vehicle produced under BMW ownership and was launched in the early 2000s.

When you’re confronted with the properly massive sedan you truly understand the gargantuan nature of this automobile. It’s the size of most luxury sport-utility vehicles; however, it is relatively narrow which is good for navigating busy urban centres.

Up front you’ll find the large, trademark grille that bestows a Roller. Of course, the Flying Lady does her pop up trick upon unlocking the car and it hides when the vehicle is off. From the façade back you’ll note strong lines that embody elegance and presence.

If you didn’t realize what you were getting into before, when you pull the handle of a Phantom you’ll definitely know this is not your ordinary luxury vehicle. The door weighs a lot and requires effort to open it. The good news is if you’re a rear seat passenger you have a button to press and hold to close the suicide door. I hope you didn’t think all of that wood, leather and metal amounted to nothing.

Plopping down behind the enormous and thin steering wheel, you’ll note that the bottom of the wheel — not the top, like in sportier vehicles — have thumb grips. Clearly this is a clear message that the Phantom is to be ridden in. Getting more comfortable, you’ll also realize that the seats are simple. There’s not a ridiculous number of adjustments and there’s good reason for this: they’re comfortable as is.

Probably the element that gains the most attention is the plush carpeting. I have been in many sumptuously appointed homes but nothing has ever had a carpet like this. Bentley and Jaguar have nothing on this. It’s thick and soft to the touch. It feels almost criminal to be placing your feet on the carpets but c’est la vie.

If you have the joy of going for a cruise in the back seat you’ll soon appreciate how the thickness of the carpet makes your ride that much better and comfortable.

Looking at the switchgear, it’s all bespoke and quirky as you’d expect in any British automobile. Things aren’t located where one would expect. The seat controls are hidden in the armrest and the Park Distance Control (PDC) and Boot — trunk — switches are found in the ceiling’s control pod.

The infotainment unit is BMW’s iDrive just the graphical user interface (GUI) has been “reskinned.” It’s sort of funny because the rest of the cabin is simple and elegant, yet BMW‘s iDrive can be complex and confusing to some. Personally, I have grown to like it over the years and I find it logical. There’s just a two week learning curve for novice users.

I could go on for another 1,000 words about the high quality leather and remarkable wood veneers that Rolls-Royce uses in the Phantom, but frankly, I don’t want to bore you with my car geekiness. Let’s move on to the driving experience.

There’s no other way around it, though I’ve driven just about everything under the Sun, nothing compares to the Phantom. Everything about the Phantom is so far removed from even the best large luxury sedans that it makes you feel as though it was intended to be a real car and everything else is simply a go-kart.

The 6.75-liter V12 motor that produces 453 horsepower and 531 lb.-ft. of torque is eerily quiet and will never even come close to interrupting an in-cabin conversation. If you inspect the glass you’ll note it’s double-pane and it helps make wind noise virtually non-existent.

Though the Phantom weighs in at over 5,800 pounds, it has more than enough power. Zero to 60 comes in 5.7 seconds, which is quick for any automobile. On the freeway, surprisingly, it doesn’t do as bad as one would suspect lugging around all that weight as the torque easily gets you past any slow pokes. One thing I found interesting is that when you really push the “go” pedal, the vehicle doesn’t lurch forward with rude manners, it elegantly wafts along.

During my time with the Phantom, it chalked up 13 mpg. Though cliché, I am pretty doubtful anyone in-market will care.

My specific tester was equipped with the Dynamic Package, which provides extra strengthening to the Phantom’s chassis, stiffens the suspension and recalibrates the transmission. By pressing the Sport button, you’ll feel all of these things take effect as the steering gets a bit more weight to it, the eight-speed automatic transmission gets more aggressive and, overall, the car hunkers down for speedier travel. It’s not intrusive to passengers but it provides the driver with much-needed confidence to move the luxury-tuned barge at speed.

Its ride quality is most accurately described as feeling akin to a floating carpet. You can tell that it must be one of the company’s highest priorities in research and development, and that nothing is allowed to compromise it. Even over railroad tracks there is no perceptible feeling of bumps though you hear the vehicle travel over them. You simply forget they’re there.

While I typically look forward for a drive from my northern New Jersey home into my Manhattan or Jersey City office, I have to admit it can be bumpy and pain inducing at times — especially after this year’s rough winter. That wasn’t the case in the Roller. When I first picked up the Phantom I trekked down to the office at 8:00 a.m., which is the WORST time to travel in the New York tri-state region. Though I sat through two hours of traffic, I arrived at my destination completely relaxed and carefree. Following that, I had a great day of productivity. This is why a car of this calibre makes sense. Never have I ever experienced such a carefree experience. Not in a Bentley, an S-Class or any other high-end luxury auto.

To sum up the experience, it can be crystalized as a traveling living room. Except it’s probably built better and is more comfortable than any living room you’ve been in. Now I “get it.”

While Rolls-Royce is a company that has expanded into a variety of new models, and offers more sporty and tech-enabled vehicles, it remains true to its heritage of building the best luxury auto produced. There’s a reason why those interlocked R’s are recognized across the globe: the company earned it.

The Good:

– The ride quality is unlike any other vehicle I’ve travelled in — it’s easily the most comfortable, isolated ride
– The V12 powerplant is an engineering marvel as it can power a near three-ton auto with ease and grace all the while being remarkably quiet
– Nothing says presence and class like a Rolls-Royce

The Bad:

– I did hear a very slight rattle from the passenger side of the auto that became annoying
– When you arrive in a Rolls-Royce, it is an event — if you don’t like attention, this isn’t the vehicle for you
– It’s price isn’t for the faint of heart, if you have to ask you cannot afford it — for the curious, its base price is set at $402,940.

The Lowdown:

Though some like to make the argument that you can acquire a large luxury sedan for a fraction of the price and get the same satisfaction, they’re wrong. Dead wrong. That’s called settling. Simply put, this is a vehicle that’s built to be the best for the best. If that’s how you set a benchmark, you need not look any further as this vehicle is completely extraordinary compared to all else.

Source http://www.autospies.com/news/REVIEW-Is-A-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-REALLY-The-BEST-Automobile-On-The-Planet-Only-ONE-Way-To-Find-Out-81458/