Actually, by the crappy GM standards of the 1990s, the Cadillac SLS/STS and XLR roadster had what were arguably the best interiors that GM offered.....especially when compared to their typical loose-fit Rubbermaid/Playskool interiors of the era.

 

The idea of run flats is to help you get off the road safely so you are not with a flat on the side of the interstate. The perfect solution would be to have run flats with a full size run flat spare for peace of mind.


Japan knows this. But they make up for it in different ways. Early 90s Japan card offered telescoping steering whereas GM lacks had them removed from their past offerings.

Nobody is gonna NOT buy a Toyota Camry because it lacks an air filter sensor or an oil life monitor. Newer Toyota's do have scheduled maintenance lights

I agree. If you go back and look up the second gen STS...Lexus GS400, Lexus moved on to 5 speed autos at the time while General Motors was debuting their new STS with a 4 Speed. Also wheel sizes were 17' on the Lexus at the time where the STS was stuck with 16'. Also observe power ratings, the 1UZ was at 300hp from a smaller 4.0L vs the Cadillac which had 300HP from a 4.6L V8. Another good observation is the mid 90s GM 3800 V6 making 195HP whereas the Toyota V6 made the 194HP but was a much smaller V6 and was lighter. Another example would power motorized steering wheels on Lexus models where GM lacked them for a very very long time.

 

The XLR didn't exist in the 1990s, it came out in 2003, but the SLS/STS interiors in the 90s were nowhere near as nice as what was being made by the Japanese or the Germans.

 

I agree they weren't the best on the market, but my point was that they were the best that GM was producing at the time. At the time, Jaguar was probably (at least IMO) doing the best interiors overall....along with the Lexus SC430 and LS430, although the LS430 did not debut until 2001.

 

HA! Hell no lol! Jag interiors are a joke vs same gen Mercedes/Lexus/Audi, they are always basically one gen behind and that's coming from someone who really likes Jag. Interior quality and materals are never their strong point relative to their rivals, you can't tell me with a straight face that a X-type is on the same level as the CHEAPER ES300/ES350/A4 or the S-type the E-class, GS, or A6 and if you bring the flagships into this the XJ is just barely at the level of the E class etc....nowhere near an S/A8/LS of the same year. The X308 ran all the way to 2004 so it is in BIG trouble considering the X350 is STILL worse than the LS430/S430/D3 etc etc. The X308 has NO chance vs even a ES300 for quality

 

You were wowed by wood in the Jags...the actual interior quality back then was not great at all.

Saying the STS had the best interior GM was producing at the time isn't saying much, it was just not competitive at all.

 

Those wood interiors from Jag were pretty neat looking. Can't speak to the quality because I don't think I ever sat inside one. If one wants a ton of wood, though, the LS430 has a lot of it, it's real, and the overall car is much better than anything Jag ever built.

 

Well, friend, we are going to just disagree on that one. Jaguar interiors, until they started doing the more-stark Teutonic, were, at one time, the very definition of elegance and class. The Connally leather seating was also a Jag trademark for years., as was the genuine Burnished-Walnut trim.

No, the X-Class Jag interior was not as elegant as that of more-expensive Jags, but one has to expect that for the price.....and for the fact that it was a redone Ford Mondeo with some Jag touches in the interior and exterior styling. I did both an MM Full-Review and later Retro-Write-up on the X-class.

I do agree, however, that Audi interiors, for years, were also very impressive....and were well-screwed together.

 

The LS430 was impressive, but, as far as Lexus products go, the Second-Generation SC430 was probably the King of the Crop when it came to wood-trim. Just beautiful.








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Forgot about the SC430. That is gorgeous.

 

It's hard to get better quality than genuine Connally leather and Burled-Walnut.

I'll agree, though, that for the sake of animal-lives, given the choice, I'd rather have a well-done leather substitute like NuLuxe.

 

Issue is, only part of the interior was burled walnut and Connolly leather, the rest was quite poor.

 

Have you ever owned one? I have, my friend does (2004 XJR), and I have own/owned most LSs other than the 500 and I can assure you Jag interiors are cheaply made and tend to have creeks and rattles all over. The X-type is also not a Mondeo at all, I have had both entirely apart and the X-type shares nearly nothing down even simple stuff like the engine mounts that they could have easily reused. Front suspension is entirely different, as is the rear, track width it different, shocks and mounting is different, engine is totally different, trans is an Jatco unit, it's rear biased AWD, totally different brake system etc etc.....

I also remarked in my thread about my X400 that the leather and wood were great but the rest was very "meh" vs it's rivals but that's the thing, a car is more than just the wood/leather. It is absolutely both not a "just a reskinned ford" and also not of the same quality of it's rivals.

I can't find my thread on here but here is the matching one from the Jag forums https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...x-type-262558/

EDIT: Nvm I forgot I could just go find my old threads lol! https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...jaaaaaaag.html

 

Build quality is a huge differentiator, thats why those old LS400s and LS430s are still tight and rattle free after 200k+ miles, my dad's STS had interior trim falling off before 50,000 miles.

 

Yep.....that's exactly the problem. It's not uniform quality at all.