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2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I agree E55 and M5 are superior in quality and refinement, but are they worth 100% primium ? With stock market buble burst, so does this forum.
The cars will incorporate systems and components from Mercedes Benz, including: transmissions, steering columns, seat frames and axles. They will also be the first Chryslers to share electronic architecture with MB products.
The LX cars will have a wheelbase four inches longer then the current LH cars but the overall length will be reduced by over a foot. Both width and height will be unchanged. Wheels will probably be in the 20-inch range and they will ride on wider tires.
One thing for sure, Daimler Chrysler isn't going to shoot its own foot by offer a model as good as its best sports sedan at half the price. You don't see Ford doing it to Jaguar, and Daimler Chrysler won't do the same to MB.
Some off-topic posts have been removed. This is a reminder that your Town Hall Terms of Use requires respectful and civil disagreement.
If you want to talk about the Jag XJR, MB E55 and/or BMW M5, please continue.
Pat
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If you have any information on the Hennesey suite of modifications - particularly a website - I would love to see it! I haven't heard that name mentioned when discussing XJR improvements. Are they new at this, or a small shop? Arden of Germany (http://www.arden.de) seems like the leader in Jaguar improvements. However, getting their engine and exhaust modifications is almost impossible state-side. The other outfit is http://paramount-performance.com. They too seem to have their act together. Either one of these establishments would be prohibitively expensive for me. Paramount isn't good about returning voice calls or e-mail. Eurotek (http://eurotekdesigns.com) imports some of the Arden, Ritter and Carlsson components for installation in the U.S. The other thing I found out about the Arden engine modifications is that it generally requires high octance fuel (~98) that would interfere with some of the engine electronics on U.S. specification vehicles.
What do you know about Hennessey???
Thanks in advance...
http://www.hennesseymotorsports.com/
Seems pretty similar to the other stuff you listed. Again, I am a bit suspicious about simply boosting the charger some more - if the additional horsepower comes at the cost of low-end torque, it's not worth it, in my opinion. The souped up interiors of the Paramount modifications seem pretty darn awesome, though. Pity Jaguar as a whole does not have some division that customizes cars some - the personalization market seems a bit lacking.
Looks like pablo already supplied the Hennessey motor sports web site. If you have 25K to burn this could be an option, although I would be seriously concerned with reliability, and octane requirements. I recently talked to Jeff at Wheeltec 1-800-939-4335, who is a rep for arden, he installed the pulley and an arden exhaust on an XKR. He assured me that the 2 psi boost increase from the pulley does not cause any detonation or pinging, even with our hot and humid South Florida weather and maximum 93 pump octane (on a good day). The 30 to 35 Horse increase appears to be a reasonable expectation. I also talked to a guy in Chicago who installed a 3:77 gear from Phil at Eurotek in his 98 XJ. He was totally blown away and insists on a full second improvement in 0-60 times,obviously he highly recommends it. Highway acceleration in access of 110mph might be slightly diminished but who really cares.Cruising rpm is slightly higher but no big deal due to the 5 speed overdrive. It lookes to me that a pully with an exhaust in addition to some gears is a perfect solution for my 2001 XJR, which is propably the way I am gonna go. Any comments or recommendations are greatly appreciated, otherwise I will check in again after moifications are complete.
P.S. Does anybody know who reworks the pulley's locally in the U.S.
The conditional never makes for a good comparison. Fact is Lexus does not offer a car that is in the super-sedan category. The GS430 is nice, sure, but not in this league.
M
In conslusion, Im simply questioning the future integrity of BMW's gap of superiority in supercar engineering here, not whether or not Lexus offers this or that. Im just concerned with how BMW's performance figs are not all too superior in this light lexus being the more resoursceful, and therefore potentially capable in its own right. To Pablo: I was not comparing what Lex offered, I'm comparing their engineering prowess, b/c thats the whole point of comparing cars from diff. manufacturers, to answer "who are the better engineers?"
The M5 still reigns supreme for this generation.
Too bad Lexus is focusing on the wrong thing(plush luxury and opulence) b/c if they wanted right now, i bet they could cook up an M5 of their own! Lexus deserves a lot of respect as well
And the M5 and any of these cars here utterly dust the GS430 in a straight line. Close to a second is an eternity. The GS430 does not feel *stupidly* fast to me. It is fun and entertaining, but nowhere close these cars. Forget the numbers, cars are a lot about mere feeling, and there's just no comparison.
That 1 second to 60mph is a lot, think of it this way, a GS430 and 540i to 60mph in around 6 seconds, the E55/M5 does it in 5 seconds, the Porsche 996 Turbo and Ferrari 360 can do it at around 4.0 seconds.
From what I have seen/heard on the net. The 2003 will be using a 450hp engine. It could very well be the same one as the SL55. It is getting someother stuff the SL55 has as well.
Heres the most recent spy shots/info
http://www.ecomcars.co.uk/newcarsecrets/spypictures/spetember_2001/mer_e_class/mer_e_class.html
M
I'm curious if the 2003 E500 will only have 288bhp..
i love my XJR, but given the fact i am going to be moving back to europe, i'll probably have to soon learn to re-aquaint myself with more down-to-earth horsepower issues. :-(
Why is this?
Is it just looks? I remembered that my red roadsters back in the 80's did not fared well against road debris versus the metallic silver cars I had over the last 5 years.
Curious? Any thoughts, anyone?
Just get what you like best.
I don't think white as a color hurts the resale value that greatly. Personally, the M5 I like in blueish hues, be it the light blue silver or the darker metallic blue.
My XJR is white. I thought long and hard about British Racing Green, but heritage be damned, this is California and white is far more practical...
a white Lexus ES300
a silver Mercedes ML430
a silver Mercedes S500
hoping for that red M5, but likely another silver.....
sounds like mercedes just lost the power race; neither their current AMG or V12 renditions can compete with this!
Bangle needs to be fired. First of all, he wants to take us where we dont want to go, in both styling, and gimmickry. Now this?
BMW was once known for their engines. Note that I did not say power. There are hundreds of companies that make huge power engines...just take a look at any popular yaghting magazine. It is not about power. BMW engines have been known for their smoothness, in both power delivery and reving nature.
A V10, which are nearly impossible to balance correctly without sucking large amounts of power, would stray away from every ideal BMW has ever held. A V8 was bad enough.
Seems like the Dodge Viper has finally created a V-10 monster in the automotive world. Took a decade, but the march appears on. Too bad.
I concur with you that I'd prefer to see balanced engines like I-6, horizontally-opposed 6, V-8, or V-12 than odd things like I-5, W-8, or V-10. What do these new engines really offer, that you couldn't get from an existing inherently balanced engine, other than being odd and different?
Well to answer your question about what do you get with these oddball engines....You get two more cylinders to brag about to the naive public that will always believe more power is better. Oh yeah, and you also get a bunch of R&D money wasted on trying to balance an engine that doesnt like being balanced.
has lost the anything. Right now i.e. 2002 they are killing BMW in power with one engine the 5.5L Kompressor V8. A staggering 493hp. And AMG has had a V10 on the shelf for years, as is a new V12 a comin'. You think Mercedes is going to just sit and watch BMW and Audi reach for the sky?
M
BMW should be scared about what MB has up its sleeve these days. The 493hp SL55 is just the warm-up. Next it will be a 500hp S600, a 580hp SLR, a 550hp Maybach and so on, before the power gets ridiculously excessive
Unless and until AMG does what M Series does, and only uses manual transmissions, not sure I care what any automatic-transmission-equipped car can do performance wise. Wouldn't be something I'm interested in or would consider buying.