I wouldn’t get the LX700h, I would just get an LX600. Pricewise though for the $116k a luxury model LX600 costs I would have a hard time not getting an X7 60i or GLS580.

 

Again it's not just numbers it's feel and sound overall. If Toyota just simply updated the 3UR they could have kept it competitive but we've all talked this one to death.

Stellantis is literally just about dead without V8 engines. They're rushing like 4 versions of the Hemi back. The six people who have bought Charger EVs spent like $24k on them LOL.

GM never stopped making V8s and wisely never said they would.

Mercedes has a new one in development and there's a rumor it's pure ICE only (or a version of it is) because they're admitting owners don't like all the weight this hybrid crap adds. And they're probably hiding from us the fact that they know most of us would rather have an absolutely dragon-esque 600hp pure ICE V8 instead of 750 horsepower hybrid with some stupid plug connected to it. And a curb weight of 5700lbs. There's a reason the Cadillac handily won this comparison test:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...mparison-test/

The times may be a-changin', but over a few days and several hundred miles, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing showed that a classic can still jam. Sure, this car makes some sacrifices to keep its base price low, and ticking options boxes will destroy the value proposition, but the Caddy's driving dynamics and overall packaging earned Detroit the win. Tail-happy rear-drive antics pair perfectly with the Blackwing's huffing and puffing V-8.

The Audi, with its preternatural sense of the road ahead, came close to victory, but at the end of the day, the Cadillac was the car we wanted to hear and drive more than any other. We will miss the big Blackwing's straightforward nature when electrification comes for it. (won't ever happen...)The Cadillac manages to hold on to its supersedan title. It's clear that the rear-drive V-8 performance sedan will not go gentle into that good night.

 

I think there is a small segment that still wants a V8 like me for an SUV but I would bet the majority of buyers don’t care that much as long as they can get a luxury SUV for a good price. Once you start creeping over $100k is where I start to say it better have a V8 unless it is a full size Range Rover because of everything else it gives you for that price.

 

I agree mostly. However people like Tahoes/Yukons etc bc they’re all V8s. The 5.3 that gets crushed at the drag strip by every competitor, consumers don’t seem to care bc they sell every one they make.

 

There is an elegance in engineering simplicity when done well.

Hybrids aren't "it", Imo. Lol

 

But a snarling killer S/C V8 sure is. 668hp from 6.2L.

Yeah I'll pass on any hybrid crap.

You couldn't gift me that M5 or Audi, I'd immediately sell either of them or trade/etc. Now that Caddy I'd love to own.

 

Hybrid stuff has its place. Much prefer the PHEV Pacifica to the gas Pacificas we had, love the EV range and then having the gas there so you don't have to worry about it on a trip. ZF 9 Speed in the gas Pacifica is so awful the CVT is a big upgrade in the PHEV. Drove the PHEV S580e though and immediately it wasn't for me, in a car like this I appreciate the great V8.

Wouldn't be interested in EV only driving in something like an S63 for instance...the whole point is the great V8.

I think in a car that is just transportation the hybrid works great. In a car where the powertrain is meant to be enjoyed not as much. Pretty much everybody I know that drives a "mainstream" car wants a hybrid which I get.

 

Wait I thought ZF was the best? But it's the 8 speed that's gotten all the hype?

 

ZF is the best, except for that specific 9 speed which has really weird shift logic. Honda used it in the Odyssey too and scrapped it for their own 10 speed, Chrysler uses it in the small FWD Jeep products too. Terrible transmission.

 

The 9 speed is FWD trash

When people say ZF is amazing they are specifically referencing the 8HPXX series transmissions, nearly everyone has them in their RWD or AWD cars from Chrysler to Land Rover to Bentley. BMW had it first followed shortly by nearly everyone who doesn't insist on an in house trans like Mercedes/Ford

The reality is you don't really drive an engine so much as you drive the transmission, the engine isn't the most critical thing funny enough.....it helps and all but in a world of early/frontloaded boost engines that a feel very similar the transmissions make a major difference.

Most of the time you only really get an NVH and upper end powerband difference in feel from the engine, shift points, gear holding, predictive shifts, block shifting, etc are all transmission side. Performance stuff still has an individual flavor but it's not really thing in mass market cars anymore.

2.0T and 3.0T engine regardless of brand all feel similar, but BMW for example is really aggressive with their ZF calibrations and that's what makes them feel so snappy and engaging. Not the engines really

 

Its like riding in a car with someone driving who doesn't know how to drive a manual. Its always in the wrong gear. Getting in the same van with a CVT was a revelation.

 

100% and I think about that sometimes. The engine is just spinning, happily. It's the gears/transmission that actually make the car move.

That sounds truly, truly awful. Good way of making it easy to picture.

 

Very true about the transmission... the MB 9 speed in the S580 gets flummoxed from time to time but by and large its pretty good.

I have never driven a car with a transmission over 6 gears I thought really felt totally natural. IMO 5-6 gears is just the right number of gears.

 

Agreed. Though I will say the 10 speed in the Yukon is excellent in just about every way. But the way it accelerates isn't as raw or visceral as a car winding through gears, the way the Benz does with its 5spd auto and long gears. Second takes you to nearly 80. That's a lot of winding out, a good thing in my opinion. The Yukon just buries itself at the redline shifting through them all which is very effective and quite nice as well, but it is different and took a little getting used to.

 

ZF8 come on now lol! Or a PDK