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Wonder what this list looks like in two years when Mercedes et. al. bring luxury diesels to town.
Wonder what this list looks like in two years when Mercedes et. al. bring luxury diesels to town.
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I am just happy that Toyota/Lexus didn't win the top spot with their bullshit \"h\"YBRID crap.
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The owner of my company has the Lexus LS Hybrid; at $108,000 I'm pretty sure gas mileage was not on his list of concerns.
Porsche Boxster/Cayman!!!!
I wish I had a hippie wife this list would be a great excuse to buy one...
LOL...2.0,2.0,2.0,2.4. Are you sure this isn't a list of the least exciting cars to drive?
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Looks like the Bugatti Veyron (8mpg) didn't make the list...bummer.
The T after the liter designation stands for Turbo. Those cars are some of the best to use for a rally type situation. They are from \"least\" fun to drive.
You have to realize that some of these cars are turbocharged....
As an A3 owner myself, I spend a lot of time in my car, so I do want to have something nice to drive. And I do care about how much gas I use and get better mileage than most other popular cars.
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Is this some kind of joke??? The Volvo C30, Audi A3 and TT are two door sports coupes with (relatively) tiny engines. They are in NO WAY \"luxury\" cars. The Porsche Boxster/Cayman might squeek in by dint of over-pricing but it, too is a tiny two door sports car with little in the way of luxury pretentions. The Volvo S40 2.4i sedan/V50 2.4i wagon are entry-level cheapo cars compared to the real \"luxury\" car segment and the Audi A4 is - again - just skimming into that category as well.
That leaves only the Lexus GS 450h and the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetech.
Whoever wrote this article is a Class-A certified idiot.
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@DraconWolfX: Consider it an added bonus -- not only does one get a 'luxury car', but a luxury car that gets good mileage as well. I always brag that my BMW 330i sedan gets 21/city and 30/highway (it's actually more like 32-33mpg/highway if you set cruise control) while still being certified ULEV. It's nice to be in a safe car that gets good mileage and still having 200bhp+. Plus BMW has a great racing heritage, something I'm a huge fan of. There are a bunch of \"economical\" cars that don't get that sort of mileage and don't have nearly the amount of power that the 330i does. And their manufacturers don't race.
That being said, I'm totally getting a Ferrari as soon as I can afford one, gas prices be damned.
@Starfury: I hear it gets ~2mpg when doing 250mph. Then again, my fiance's friend's truck gets 14mpg when doing 65mph. Of course, the truck didn't cost $1.5M (which is what, 9M euro now?).
@slowreader: The Boxster (I drove the 'S' model, with ~250hp) is one of the best handling cars I've ever driven. The mid-mounted engine sounds absolutely wonderful and I hit 140mph on a straight in 5th gear with the top down, 6th gear sitting there taunting me. Unfortunately I hear they're a huge pain to maintain, partly because the engine is so inaccessible.
@howie_in_az: If you like the Boxster engine sound, you'll love the 997's even better. Last time I drove a Boxster (around 2001) it did sound a bit like a sewing machine, however. Thank God for the \"S\".
I have had three close friends who own boxsters, and while maintenance is basically \"dealership only\" the car is designed to have the engine easily dropped at the dealer for service so at the very least they shouldn't be scratching any paintwork leaning over the body. Anyway, these cars are pretty much bullet-proff in the engine department.
BMW will begin selling diesel 3 series sedans and the X5 SUV later this year.
Also, you can order a smart car with leather-does that make it count?? LOL
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@howie_in_az: You're having exchange rate issues. If the Veyron costs $1.5M, that's barely over 1M euros.
@Buran: None of the \"luxury\" hybrids from Lexota get near 50 mpg. While the Prius is quite efficient I wouldn't call it luxurious. I wouldn't call several of the cars that DID make the list luxury cars either, but that's what happens when you quote financial journals on their car reviews (the Kiplinger one a few days ago in which only 1 of the best sedans under $20k was actually a sedan of any kind was particularly amusing.)
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@Buran: \"How is 50+ mpg \"bullshit\"?\"
If you actually believe that any hybrid out there (even the Prius) gets \"50+ mpg\" in the *real* world then I have a bridge to sell you. Hybrids are for people who care more about labels than substance, and who are willing to pay a lot for those labels.
@Buran: I do 90% highway driving, so the 33mpg/highway is much more important to me than the city. I should have mentioned that I live out in The Boonies originally.
@GearheadGeek: My sarcasm backfired :(
@mariospants: There was an article I read a few months ago about buying a used Boxster. The article said that the 'check engine light' more commonly meant 'replace engine light' or something along those lines. Still, I wouldn't mind a newer Boxster S sitting in my garage. I'll be getting an E46 M3 soon enough, though :)
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@clevershark: Fork over that bridge title, then, because my bf's Prius gets 55mpg while I'm behind the wheel. Or is my firsthand experience \"bullshit\"?
@howie_in_az: I still like having a car that gets good mileage city AND highway, although I got 31mpg on a trip from Chicago back home to St. Louis back in November.
I agree. Who defined what constitutes luxury and non-luxury? Comparing small-engine coupes to 4-door barges is hardly fair. What was the price cut off?
for instance, Mini coopers are just as expensive as entry Volvos and i'm sure get better mileage.
@bbbici: Exactamundo. When I check the \"Luxury\" section of the new car buyer's guides, I sure as hell don't seen any two door sports cars in there. I'll bet the C30 is literally 1/2 to 2/3 the length of an S500.
@howie_in_az: The problem with buying ANY used sports car is that there's a good chance that the car has been abused in the past. This is esp. true if the car has been through more than one owner! Even the few days it spends at a used car dealer can have a profound effect on its longevity. Add the fact that the Boxster is an entry-level Porsche (and hence people who may not either know how to maintain nor can afford to may own it) and alarm bells start ringing. The venerable 911 is - and always will be - a better used car, btw.
@slowreader
Least fun my butt. The Audis in that list have a 2.0 turbo that gets around or above 30 MPG on the highway and puts down just below 200 to the wheels. Go spend $500 on an APR 93 octane chip for either of those Audis (well not the A4 really, it has a squishy suspension, a VW GTI, VW Jetta 2.0t, or a VW Passat 2.0t and you should be putting down about 220 horsepower and upwards of 230 Lbs/ft or torque. In a car the size and weight of either the new TT or something like the VW GTI(which has the 2.0t by default) that's not insubstantial. Add to that the almost complete lack of turbo lag, great torque curve, and wide power band, you get a engine that got voted the best engine two years in a row by major european cars mags.
Educate yourself before you speak son. Small displacement turbo and supercharged engines(or in VWs case a small displacement engine that is both turbo and supercharged) are the way of the future for daily driver cars that get great gas mileage and provide a fun drive.
@Buran: \"@DeafLEGO: How is 50+ mpg \"bullshit\"? \"
What are you talking about 50mpg? This isn't the crapo Prius, this is the LS Hybrid which has a ESTIMATED mileage of 22mpg City and Highway. Toyota has been yanking everyone's dick, including yours Buran. Even the Prius doesn't get 50mpg! That little \"h\" is a marketing ploy that is suckering people left and right.
The regular gas LS gets 16/24 mpg So, yeah the \"h\" gets better City but loses it on the highway with all the weight.
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LOL BMW 1 Series 118D does 62MPG which is better than the two Audis, so should go 2nd. Man those idiots need to do some bloody research...
@Communist_Gamer: the 118d isn't available in the US and I doubt BMW will bring it here. The 335d will come here with ~45mpg, however.
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@DeafLEGO: So I'm a sucker for paying 10 percent extra on my '07 Camry Hybrid (which has just about everything the XLE model has, and a few extras that it doesn't) to get 35mpg in the city (30 percent better than the 24mpg city of a V4 Camry)?
We should all be so gullible!
What the hell is a V4 Camry?
@DeafLEGO: *sigh* A thousand pardons. I meant 4 cylinder or inline 4, as I'm not a car guy (beyond being \"gullible\" enough to spend a bit more to save a lot on gas) and didn't realize/care that the V4 was retired as a car engine back before I was born, as my father before me erroneously referred to all 4-cylinder engines as V4s as many people do, nyah nyah blah blah.
Hhahahah fuel Efficient thats funny all those cars MPG simply put suck.
It should be considered an embarrassment to say \" my car gets 20 mpg\" but its consider a badge of pride having a gas guzzling monster and everyone who doesn't is consider a filthy tree hugging commie.
@DeafLEGO: Good luck yanking what doesn't exist, thank you for making an invalid sexist assumption with absolutely no proof, I hope this comment makes you think before typing next time. And again, my personal experience is not BS, and Toyota does indeed make a hybrid that can get that, and is rated as such. The fact that people can't keep their lead feet off the pedal is not my problem or the manufacturer's. 55MPG is most definitely not BS. Toyota hybrids are definitely NOT a joke.
Now if you want to say \"hybrids that just use the hybrid drivetrain to boost performance, not mileage\" (cough, Accord Hybrid, cough) you're talking.
@oneswellfoop: I love my GTI 2.0T. I'm gentle to every car I ever owned, including this one, and it's STILL a lot of fun. If I play with it in sport mode (got the DSG), it gets even more fun, but I'd rather it last for 10 years. At least.
@oneswellfoop: Oh and the 2.0T is the only choice on the GTI although you can get a 6-cyl in the Passat. There is a 2.5 naturally aspirated engine in the Rabbit, so if you don't want a turbo but like the hatch design that's your car. Not quite as fun but the price is right.
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I cant wait to hear some Californian say they bought a Boxter \"for the fuel economy.\"
@cheddah: I seriously don't understand the hate for those of us who see how bleak the future is if we do nothing about it, and try to actually do something about it. Why is it \"the in thing\" to fuck ourselves over and smear those who point out the folly in that?
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@mariospants: Wow. It's funny to hear someone call cars, of which less than 10% of America can actually afford, and nearly all of which are associated with actual luxury brands (I'm looking at you, Volvo), \"non-luxury.\"
I'll have to apologize to the next person who sits in my IS250 for not having provided them with true luxury as defined by mariospants.
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my A4 Quattro 2.0T gets only about 23mpg in mostly highway driving, even with the 6-speed manual. my last car, a 2003 Passat 1.8T with 5-speed manual got as high as 34mpg and I don't drive the Audi any harder than I did the Passat. I guess the Quattro system adds a lot of weight and mechanical drag. or something. or maybe I should't cruise at 80mph. whatevs. I didn't buy it for the fuel economy.
I'm rather fond of the Testla as a dream car I'd love to have.
[testlamotors.com]
The equivalent of 135 MPG, 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, 220 miles between each recharge, which all means about two cents per mile.
Only available in the US, and in limited numbers.
It's beautiful *tears up*.
Ironic part? I'm not much of a car fan - I usually say \"they have 4 wheels and go, what's the fuss\", but damn...
Seriously though...If you're going to spend that much money on a car do you really care that much how much gas you'll use? I understand the idea of spending more money and wanting your car to be more green, but I'm not buying any luxury car with the intent of saving money on gas.