Posts Tagged ‘Mercedes S-Class’

Six-figure luxury sedans are not built like other cars. Doors close with the polished authority of a bank vault, upholstery is stitched like couture, and there’s more advanced technology on board than you’ll find on the space shuttle.

But if there’s a problem to be found with these amazing machines it’s that they often lack charisma. Most of the top sellers in this class are as quiet and restrained as a tuxedo-clad butler.

So what’s a rebellious executive or devil-may-care playboy to do?

If you’ve got the means and an aversion to the establishment, I highly suggest you scoop the 2011 Jaguar XJ. This new car is a complete reinvention of Jaguar’s classic flagship.

After decades of throwback styling, the look established by the original XJ of 1968 has been cast aside in favor of a modern new wardrobe. And man, oh man is it stunning.

The imposing stance and coy feline influences will grab you by your finely tailored lapels and demand attention. Follow that sleek roofline back and you’ll swear it was borrowed from Aston Martin. Catch a glimpse of the taillights and the XJ teases with three slashes of light meant to suggest the claw marks of an angry cat.

Cars tell stories. And while other luxury sedans announce their owners as intelligent and calculated, Jaguar’s seductive new XJ goes a step further. To me, this car marks you as stylish, creative, and the kind of person who keeps their gaze fixed firmly on the future.

Not convinced yet? Step inside and survey the lavish interior, every aspect of which has been thoughtfully reimagined. You’ll still find the supple leather and beautifully finished wood that Jaguar is known for (the latter sourced from sustainable forests) but it’s now in an entirely new format.

If the old XJ’s cabin felt like an antique British drawing room, this new XJ feels like the command center at MI6.

Silicon Valley venture capitalists will love the “virtual gauges” that appear on a 12.3-inch display screen above the steering column. The switch from physical to virtual allows Jaguar to do clever new things like subtly illuminate the vehicle’s speed and overlay vital messages. Switch the car into Dynamic Mode and the gauges take on a red hue and the gear position indicator glows bright as the rev limiter is approached.

Jaguar’s recently-introduced Drive Selector adds a welcome bit of theatre each time you begin a journey. Start the engine and the rotary knob rises silently from the console, allowing the driver to shift from Park to Drive with a quick twist. It’s not purely for show, either. The Drive Selector saves space and adds an extra measure of roominess to the chic cabin.

Fire up the touchscreen infotainment system and you’ll find standard navigation and a 600-watt audio system that can play from a variety of sources including USB, Bluetooth streaming audio, or onboard hard drive.

Audiophiles will no doubt find the optional $2,300 Bowers & Wilkins audio system money well spent. Jaguar worked hand-in-hand with the English loudspeaker company to engineer the 1200-watt, 20-speaker system for optimal sound quality. Even the material and shape of the speaker grilles was considered so that acoustics stay pure and the company’s trademark yellow Kevlar speaker cones remain visible.

If that’s not enough, the XJ comes standard with other high-tech features like heated and cooled front seats, a panoramic moonroof, automatic dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and ignition, and voice recognition.

Jaguar also boasts of the XJ’s high-tech all-aluminum construction. The lightweight metal endows the XJ with surprising agility and helps to preserve fuel economy out on the road. Half of the bodyshell is produced with recycled aluminum in a process that uses just five percent of the energy required for virgin materials. At the end of its service life, a full 85 percent of the XJ is recyclable.

The car is available in six different versions in the US. The standard XJ comes with a new 5.0-liter V8 that produces 385-horsepower and can muster 23 miles per gallon on the highway. For those seeking more, the XJ Supercharged boosts output to 470-horsepower. Available by special order only is a 510-horsepower XJ Supersport.

Each of these models is also available as a long wheelbase XJL, which stretches rear seat legroom by five inches.

Though the XJ starts at a pricey $72,700, this Jag offers a compelling value among its peers. It’s got more character than the Lexus LS ($65,380), more power than the BMW 740i ($70,150), and more standard equipment than the Mercedes S-Class ($87,950).

Ultimately, I think the new XJ impresses most with its confident, seductive style. This Jaguar is going to win hearts and sales because it offers a swagger that its competitors simply can’t match. And in a segment where one-upmanship is de rigueur, isn’t that one of the greatest luxuries of all?

Free agent fever is hitting a new high and the only known cure seems to be more LeBron coverage.  Is King James leaving Cleveland for New York or Miami?

Everyone from New York’s Mayor Bloomberg to LA’s media mogul, David Geffen has wooed him but LeBron still hasn’t dropped any hints as to where he’s leaning.

Fact is; LeBron could turn either of the Knicks or the Heat into a basketball powerhouse with his arrival.  But the man is a self-described competitor who desperately wants a ring.  He needs a strong team that can seal the deal at the Finals next year.

LeBron’s consolation prize for losing the basketball semifinals a few weeks ago had been to steal attention away from the Lakers and Celtics.  That he clearly enjoyed all the coverage since then suggests that James also wants to grow his share of the NBA spotlight.  So while a fat deal with the Clippers would have been nice for the bottom line, it’s no surprise that he dropped the possibility. What global sports icon would want to share the LA stage with Kobe Bryant, anyway?

LeBron already owns Cleveland and they Cavs no doubt have another strong season ahead.  Maybe that’s why he claims Cleveland still has an “edge” when it comes to his next contract.

So what will it be when the King makes his announcement tomorrow night on ESPN’s The Decision?

Cars are our passion and after checking out the man’s garage for some insight, we’re pretty confident that LeBron James is headed to the New York Knicks.

The King may have traded in the Hummer that earned him so much controversy years ago but he still maintains a love for flashy, expensive cars.  Parked in his driveway right now is a $1.1 million fleet that includes a Maybach 57S, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Mercedes S63 AMG, and Ferrari F430 Spider.

Each car is confident and in-your-face powerful, just like their owner.  But the thing that stands out for us is the basketball star’s affinity for big sedans.

Most NBA players have driveways full of sport utility vehicles and luxury coupes.  LeBron’s garage is instead full of decadent luxury cars – the kind of stately rides that you’d expect to see bankers and financiers rolling around in on their way to Wall Street.

Big luxury sedans are practically indigenous to Manhattan.  They have a subtle, powerful presence that’s perfectly in step with New York’s business elite and old money society.

Cleveland has its Escalades and Miami has its Porsches, but Gothamites love the drama of arriving in a sleek black sedan.

That LeBron has a garage full of stretch four-doors says to us that he aspires to chauffer-driven glamour.  And a chauffeured car is definitely the way to get around crowded New York.  Just ask the Chosen One’s Big Apple buddy and fellow Maybach enthusiast, Jay-Z.

As for that Ferrari F430 Spyder, we suspect it would make a perfect toy for weekends in the Hamptons.

Let’s put it this way: LeBron may be speaking fondly of Cleveland but his fleet of cars is shouting New York.

A jury has awarded $1.8 million to the family of a Texas teenager who was killed when the 2005 Hyundai Tucson sport utility vehicle her sister was driving veered off the road and rolled over.  Though Sarah Goodner was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, she had reclined her seat so far back that she slipped out of the seat and was thrown from the vehicle as it rolled.

Goodner’s parents sued Hyundai, alleging that the Tucson’s seat had a design defect that allowed their daughter to recline to an unsafe angle.  Safety experts at the trial explained that seats should not be reclined past 45 degrees while the vehicle is in motion because of the high risk for a passenger ejection.

Hyundai agreed with the safety experts and argued that it was the passenger’s responsibility to operate the seat in a safe manner.  The automaker cited the owner’s manual, which they believe clearly warned against reclining to an extreme angle.  Hyundai explained that the extra degrees of seat adjustment are intended for use only while the vehicle is parked.

“From our view, it was a tragic accident, but there was nothing defective about the vehicle,” explained Jason Erb, an attorney for the automaker.

The above image is excerpted from the owner’s manual of a 2009 Nissan Altima sedan and shows an example of the type of warning that Hyundai referenced in trial.  A copy of the 2005 Hyundai Tucson’s owner’s manual was not immediately available at the time this post was published.

Todd Tracy, the attorney who represented the Goodner family, dismissed the warning in the owner’s manual as “fine print” and claimed, “Hyundai could have saved a life with a system currently used by another automobile company that automatically returns a reclining seat to the upright position in the event of a car accident,” an apparent reference to the optional Pre-Safe system found on some high-end Mercedes-Benz models.

Pre-Safe was first introduced on the Mercedes S-Class flagship sedan in 2002 (the 2010 Mercedes S-Class retails for $87,950) and tries to anticipate an impending collision based on heavy braking or various sensor readings.  If such a condition is detected, Pre-Safe will close the windows and sunroof, tense the seat belts, and begin to raise a reclined seat to better position the occupant for impact.

What Mr. Tracy failed to explain is that Pre-Safe is limited by the speed of the electric motors in the seat.  Even if Pre-Safe were fitted to the Hyundai Tucson that the Goodner sisters were driving, it is unlikely that the seat motors would have been able to raise Sarah’s fully-reclined seat to a safe position in the fractions of a second available before the rollover.

The optional Mercedes Pre-Safe system attempts to better position occupants for an impact by tensing the seat belts and raising the seat back if reclined.

For its part, the federal jury seemed to understand the complex nature of this case.  This is the first time a jury has ever found a reclining seat to be responsible for a death in a motor vehicle accident.  And though $1.8 million was awarded to the Goodner family, Hyundai was only assigned 45% of the fault.  The automaker will only be responsible for $810,000 if the verdict is upheld in appeals court.

Beyond the tragedy of a young person’s death and the jury’s complex verdict, this case once again raises the question of personal responsibility in motoring.

The Goodner family argues that it is unreasonable to expect for every passenger to read the owner’s manual but safety experts and automakers agree that today’s technology can only prevent so much.  Even cutting-edge systems, like Pre-Safe, may not have prevented this loss of life.

Automakers and industry suppliers are working hard to develop new features that can prevent accidents like the one the Goodner sisters experienced.  Until the day comes when our motorways are perfectly safe, this case poses the question: should reclining seats be more heavily regulated or should consumers take responsibility for their own safety?

As Sarah Goodner’s father put it, “This is the tip of the iceberg, because almost every car uses the exact same [seat reclining] system.”