Posted by Dave Sullivan on September 25, 2011 at 10:54 pm
The flagship sedan market today probably has the most competitive set of entries we’ve seen in years. The Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS460 and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class all are eager to showcase just what the brand is about today and where technology is going in the next few years. They all have their own unique way to navigate between iPod playlists and the nearest Chipotle on the navigation screen. Some are better than others. Some have better audio systems than others. Some have more powerful powerful engines or sportier suspension tunings. Some just make people drool more than others. Once you dig in and realize how well respected the S-Class is around the world and look at the 2011 S550, you begin to understand what the hype is all about.
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Posted by Ty Michael on August 16, 2011 at 6:00 am
The E-Class is the top ranked Premium Luxury Car in AutoPacific’s 2011 Ideal Vehicle Research. Its owners indicate that there is little they would change about their new car with a few notable exceptions. They would like for the E-Class to be easier to get into and out of and they would like more room inside. They definitely want more power and would not sacrifice power for better fuel economy. They most like seat comfort, the car’s responsive handling and its styling. The E-Class handily wins its class outscoring the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 5-Series that were tied for second.
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Posted by George Peterson on May 25, 2010 at 7:35 am
Cadillac’s owners’ cumulative scores for each Cadillac model in AutoPacific’s 2010 Vehicle Satisfaction research have given Cadillac a win in the race to be best brand overall. Cadillac outpoints Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln and Buick (top Popular Brand). This is Cadillac’s seventh win in the past eleven years. Winning so often is testament that Cadillac is selling to buyers who really appreciate their vehicles.
The Cadillac Escalade Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle is the only Cadillac winning its class outright, but the CTS, the STS, the DTS and the SRX scored well enough to move Cadillac into overall leadership.
For a complete list of winners and description of the Awards, click here.
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Posted by Ed Kim on July 14, 2009 at 8:52 am
Ask yourself this the next time you’re driving next to some high-zoot luxury or sports car: what kind of person is behind the wheel? Maybe a doctor or lawyer? Maybe a business executive of some sort? Now ask yourself this: who’s cooler, a doctor/lawyer/executive or a rock star? If you are like most people, you’d say it was the rock star.
I would then have to submit that a Sprinter is cooler than most luxury vehicles out there. Ok, I have truly gone off the deep end. Or have I?
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Posted by dbarrett on June 24, 2009 at 2:25 pm
If you read our F1 post from several days ago, the world known as Formula One was on the brink of becoming CART Wars, PART II. A majority of the teams who race in the international F1 Championship were prepared (so they said), to launch a breakaway series, due in large part to their dissatisfaction with the requirements set forth by the governing body and its president, Max Mosely.
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Posted by dbarrett on June 20, 2009 at 10:53 am
On May 13, 1950, the first ever (modern era) Formula One Championship Grand Prix was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo-dominated event in which the Italian manufacturer cruised to a 1-2-3 finish. Luigi Fagioli and British driver Reg Parnell filled the remaining podium positions. The circuit was a WWII bomber airfield called Silverstone. The circuit has been a part of Formula One since that time, although races have, on occasion been run at other Britich tracks. This weekend, Silverstone hosted its last Grand Prix, and in addition to the race, manufacturers and the governing body announced they are going their separate ways as well. And so, Silverstone may go down in history marking the beginning and in some respects, the end of an era in modern motorsport.
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Posted by Stephanie Brinley on August 9, 2008 at 11:27 am
On August 3, I finally returned to one of my favorite summer events, the annual Meadow Brook Concours d’ Elegance. Held the first weekend of August every year since 1979, this Concours is one of the premier events of its type. Not quite as prestigious as the Pebble Beach Concours happening the weekend of August 16 (yes, the same weekend as Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise), Meadow Brook has earned a strong reputation. For me, it’s simply a chance to wander among cars from storied brands of today and yesterday. Delahaye, Packard, Auburn, Duesenburg, Pierce-Arrow, Studebaker, Peugeot, Ferrari, Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler, Rolls-Royce, the list goes on and on.
As you enter the Concours d’Elegance, the show starts.
Meadow Brook is home to a mansion of the same name built by the widow of John Dodge, one of the two Dodge brothers that helped establish the automotive industry we know today. The home and its property now belongs to Oakland University. Aside from the sheer joy and pleasure of celebrating the automobile as an art from, the event’s purpose is to raise funds for upkeep of the 88,000-square-foot mansion and its grounds. Seems a fitting choice of fundraising event.
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Posted by Deborah Grieb on July 24, 2008 at 7:31 am
Each year AutoPacific identifies the Brand and individual vehicles that top all others in vehicle satisfaction: The Vehicle Satisfaction Awards. AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA) is an industry benchmark for objectively measuring how satisfied an owner is with their new passenger car or light truck. Owner satisfaction is measured across 46 specific areas related to a vehicle’s operation, comfort, safety and the overall purchase/lease experience. The 2008 ratings reflect input from 33,500 buyers and lessees of new vehicles acquired September through December 2007.
2008 Vehicle Satisfaction Award top brand honors went to Cadillac, while other luxury brands such as Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche also had strong showings. But what does it mean to have a top brand? Though calculations single out one brand as having the highest overall score, each individual attribute also has its own top scorer. Sometimes the detail underneath it all can have just as much, if not more, meaning than the final outcome.
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Posted by katrina on July 1, 2008 at 1:45 pm
For the second year in a row, owners in the Premium Luxury Car segment have crowned the Mercedes-Benz S-Class an Ideal Vehicle. The same S-Class that has become synonymous with safety, style, and performance won out over Audi, Lexus, and Infiniti, among others, by receiving higher ratings for exterior styling, interior lighting, passenger room, ride, handling, safety, ingress/egress, interior storage and an level of technology.
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Posted by katrina on June 30, 2008 at 9:56 am
Tustin, California, June 30, 2008 – An “ideal” is defined as an excellent or perfect example. In the annual Ideal Vehicle Awards (IVA), announced today by automotive research and consulting firm AutoPacific, owners rate their new 2008 model year cars and trucks by how close they come to their ideal, as measured by 15 key vehicle attributes. The cars or trucks that owners would change the least are the most ideal.
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