Four Luxury Cars

German cars like the Audi, Mercedes and BMW are the kings of the luxury car segment and for good reason. These cars are known for their gorgeous looks and brilliant performance.

Eye for detail

They are also for the fact that every detail has been thought of meticulously and is of superior quality.

Titans together Four luxury cars with distinct designs

The Swedish Volvo S80 falls into this category of luxury cars, and should not be discounted because of its country of origin.

The people buying these vehicles have high demands with regard to what the car should offer and one can’t blame them. The cars, after all, do cost a lot and so should offer a lot.

In fact, of the four cars mentioned above, three are manufactured in India; the Mercedes E-class, BMW 5-series and, more recently, the Audi A6. The Volvo is the only car that will be imported.

Though all four cars belong to the same segment, they have distinct designs.

So if it is high levels of quality and luxury you are looking for and have the money to spend, which of the four should you choose? Read on…

Design and engineering


The E-class is the oldest car in the competition. Though the design is old, it still looks classy and maintains its charm.

The A6 is easy to recognise and typical details like the ‘Bulgarian beard’ (the big grille stretching all the way down to the chin spoiler), the high-mounted twin-barrel lamps and smoothened nose give the Audi a sophisticated look.

The uncluttered lines add to the desire quotient of the A6. Overall, it is a stunning piece of design.

Equally good looking is the BMW with Chris Bangle’s design features such as the sharply creased lines, eagle-eye headlights and Dracula-cloak skinning.

All these add to the style element; it certainly looks the most aggressive of the four.

As for the S80, though in the past Volvos have been given the ‘box-like look’ tag, the new Volvo has an understated elegance. All four have India-spec suspension, which is a combination of reworked dampers and increased ride heights as part of their rough road packages.

Interiors


The BMW has one of the best designs. Despite being black; the cabin looks good and is oozing with quality. All instruments seem to have been built-to-last. Some of the buttons and knobs are a little too small though and the iDrive controller takes some time to figure out.

However, the select-by-wire gearstick is a joy to use. The front-seats on the 5-series are comfortable as are the rear.


The Audi follows a different design philosophy and the dashboard is laid out in an orderly way and is dominated by a screen that houses most of the MMI (Multi Media Interface) functions. Seat comfort, front and rear, on the Audi is great as well.

The A6’s trump card is its features — it comes loaded with a reversing camera with trajectory assist, fully adjustable dampers that lift the car’s ride height and even radar-based Adaptive Cruise Control, which recognises that there is a car in front and automatically slows down the car!

The Mercedes does not have the menu-driven screen-based system like the Audi or BMW and as a result, has a very functional dashboard design that is filled with buttons.

Cabin quality is still great and except for the odd button, everything has a nice tactile feel. The Volvo, though not as fancy in terms of style as the German cars, scores high on comfort. The front seats are soft and hugely comfortable and this is true of the rear seats as well, which have the feel of an oversized sofa.

Engine and fuel economy

Two straight sixes, one creamy and one that snarls, versus two V6s that love to purr. The Audi V6 uses new-fangled and complicated direct fuel injection, the Volvo is the only transversely-mounted motor and all the cars here use conventional automatic gearboxes except for the Audi. The Multitronic system used utilises a CVT with a metallic belt.

People who can afford to buy these cars certainly should have enough money to pay for the fuel.

So fuel economy figures are not the most important thing for the owners of such luxury cars. Still, it is a significant parameter to consider when testing cars. The Bimmer scored the highest with an average of 7.21kpl. The Mercedes and Audi scored the same figure and delivered 6.75kpl. The Volvo scored 6.8kpl, overall.