Do Only BMW and Audi Get It?
Thread Starter
Pole Position
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: CA
Do Only BMW and Audi Get It?
Stuck in traffic on the way home tonight, looking at all the luxury cars on the road (and there are plenty here in LA), I got to thinking...
When you look at the BMW lineup, you can pretty much tell which car is more prestigious than another because the numbers go up in sequence. 1-series, 3-series, 5-series, 6-series, 7-series. With Audi it's the same--A3, A5, A7, Q7, R8. You've got the M and S models, but they're special cases within this system.
No one else follows this simple rule. Mercedes has C, E, S, CL, SL, CLK, SLK, GL, CLS, and probably a few I've forgotten. Infiniti has G, M, Q, EX, FX, and QX. Acura has TSX, TL, RL, RDX, and MDX. Lexus has ES, IS, GS, LS, SC, RX, GX, and LX.
You have to be something of a car nut to know what these model nomenclatures really mean. At least with BMW and Audi, the uninitiated can see that higher numbers mean better cars.
That's my hopefully-interesting random thought for the day...
When you look at the BMW lineup, you can pretty much tell which car is more prestigious than another because the numbers go up in sequence. 1-series, 3-series, 5-series, 6-series, 7-series. With Audi it's the same--A3, A5, A7, Q7, R8. You've got the M and S models, but they're special cases within this system.
No one else follows this simple rule. Mercedes has C, E, S, CL, SL, CLK, SLK, GL, CLS, and probably a few I've forgotten. Infiniti has G, M, Q, EX, FX, and QX. Acura has TSX, TL, RL, RDX, and MDX. Lexus has ES, IS, GS, LS, SC, RX, GX, and LX.
You have to be something of a car nut to know what these model nomenclatures really mean. At least with BMW and Audi, the uninitiated can see that higher numbers mean better cars.
That's my hopefully-interesting random thought for the day...
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
128/328/528
135/335/535
330/530
325/525
540/740
545/745
550/750
So does the 6-series, but I don't remember all the 6-series powertrains.
I dont know, I dont like BMW or MB or Audi naming or styling cheme. Those who aren't into cars probably couldnt tell the difference between 3 and 5 series, or C and S class can look very similar except for the size. I actually like Lexus' pre L-finesse styling cheme, you didnt need to even look at the name of the car, you could see that LS was the super luxury, the 2GS was agressive, 1GS was elegant, 1SC was super classy, 2SC sexy and the evil 1IC. They were all distinctively different, not necessary more or less prestigious, while MB C and E class, especially older models just scream "I cant afford a real Mercedes so I bought this cheap POS."
Of course, Lexus did have its minuses as well, for instance the ES screamed "geezer", the RX screams "Soccer mom" and LX screams "Small member". LOL, but thats what they are purposed for afterall.
Of course, Lexus did have its minuses as well, for instance the ES screamed "geezer", the RX screams "Soccer mom" and LX screams "Small member". LOL, but thats what they are purposed for afterall.
Last edited by Och; Jun 26, 2008 at 09:09 PM.
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From: ------
I am tired of all these letters and numbers only used for most luxury cars like letters and numbers are what luxury is and names are not. I would like to see more names for cars instead of letters and numbers. Unfortunately many crappy cars have decent numbers like famous race circuits like Pontiac Lemans-crappy car, Chrysler Sebring-crappy car, etc. One you get to real high end cars though they do seem to retain names like Phantom, Continental GT, Quattroporte, Veyron, Enzo, Carrera GT, Diablo, Murcielago, Vanquish, Espirit, etc. I wish BMW, Merc, Acura, Lexus, Audi would give some of their models actual names instead of numbers and letters, I preferred the Legend and Integra to the RL and RSX.
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Or am I missing something here....
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The current 650 uses a 4.8L v8, and it is a blast to drive!
pretty much what i think as well..... if it's someone who's in the market, they will know. for other people, they probably don't care if it's numbers anyway
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Well its b/c they had the name for a long time. THe luxury market has grown at least tenfold in the past 20 years.
1. Lexus/Infiniti came. Infiniti just chose the worse liked letters in the alphabet
2. Acura dropped the names
3. The Germans and competition have more and more models by now. I believe the X6 4.8 turbo is called a X6 5.0 super ugly ****
4. Caddy dropped the names
5. Lincoln dropped the names
6. Non luxury brands added names. Mazda 3, 5, 6. Pontiac G4, 5, 8 etc, Altima 3.5 SE, Hyundai XG 350 yadda yadda
I am a car nut and I get lost a lot of times. In Europe it would be even worse. There are over 35 versions of the 3 series.!!!
I do like BMW/Benz/Audi/Lexus names even those that don't make sense. Everyone else seems to be clueless.
1. Lexus/Infiniti came. Infiniti just chose the worse liked letters in the alphabet
2. Acura dropped the names
3. The Germans and competition have more and more models by now. I believe the X6 4.8 turbo is called a X6 5.0 super ugly ****
4. Caddy dropped the names
5. Lincoln dropped the names
6. Non luxury brands added names. Mazda 3, 5, 6. Pontiac G4, 5, 8 etc, Altima 3.5 SE, Hyundai XG 350 yadda yadda
I am a car nut and I get lost a lot of times. In Europe it would be even worse. There are over 35 versions of the 3 series.!!!
I do like BMW/Benz/Audi/Lexus names even those that don't make sense. Everyone else seems to be clueless.
Mercedes Benz model line-up abbreviations and meanings...
SL= sportlich, leicht (sport, light)
SLK = sportlich, leicht, kompact (or kutz, which means short)
SLR = sportlich, leicht, rennsport (sport, light, racing)
CL = comfort leicht
CLK = comfort leicht kompact
CLS = comfort leicht saloon
C = Compact (it's an English abbreviation, when introduced in 1993, by DaimlerChrysler)
E = Einspritzung (actually stands for "fuel injection" )
S = Sonderklasse (Special Class)
G = Geländewagen (stands for cross-country wagon)
GL = well, here's the deal. The GL-Class was supposed to replace the G-Class, but decided to keep both in 2006. The L differentiated the two vehicles.
M = no particular meaning. Perhaps Midsize SUV, made by DaimlerChrysler.
R, A, and B = no particular meanings.