Upward Mobility: 1997 $30K Luxury Sedans Compared
From the February 1997 issue of Car and Driver.
Let’s say your corporate star is rising. Your cozy cubicle has been swapped for an office with floor-to-ceiling walls and a door. Your annual salary just achieved that magic sixth digit. The paint is drying on your first personalized parking space. Now the question is, what are you going to park on that providential piece of pavement?
You’ve worked hard and earned the right to drive something special. You want to make a statement about who you are and where you’re headed, but you must choose wisely. From time to time, you’ll be the designated driver shuttling your foursome from the three-martini lunch to the links, so a sports car is out. Your spouse already drives a sport-utility vehicle, so a sedan it must be. It would be impolitic to outzoot the boss with a flashier car, so you’ll be shopping in the “near luxury” segment.
Jeffrey G. Russell and Tom Cosgrove|Car and Driver
Prepare to spend more than the cost of the fanciest family cars that top out around $28,000 but don’t cross the luxury-tax threshold of $34,000. This way you’ll send the message that you’re a good ol’ fiscal conservative, anti-tax type.
Our Buyers Guide lists 17 sedans in that price range. We eliminated five of those based on prior comparison-test standings and road-test results. We excluded
the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes C-class because reasonably equipped models only evade the luxury tax in four-cylinder guise and their subcompact interior dimensions make them less suitable transportation for four corporate execs. That last argument also ruled out the lovely Audi A4. The remaining nine cars are the cream of this crop. Each should easily satisfy the middle manager’s needs and caprices.
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Since we last evaluated this class in August 1994, the Acura TL, the Cadillac Catera, and the Infiniti I30 have joined the segment. The Ford Taurus SHO sprouted a V-8, lost its manual transmission, and was recast as—in Ford’s words—an “executive express.” The Lexus ES300 and the Mitsubishi Diamante have been redesigned, the Volvo 850GLT has been given a new light-pressure turbocharged engine, and the Saab 900SE V-6 was promoted into our price range. The Mazda Millenia S, with its supercharged Miller-cycle engine, has drifted up in price, so we invited the normally aspirated L model instead.
The field includes seven 24-valve V-6 engines, one turbocharged five-cylinder, and a 32-valve V-8. Each spins through a four-speed automatic transmission (only Infiniti offers a stick). There are two Swedes, one true Yank, one German/Yank (the Opel-derived Cadillac), and five Japanese in the bunch. Each speaks with a slightly different accent of luxury, style, and class.
Jeffrey G. Russell and Tom Cosgrove|Car and Driver
In straight-line acceleration, the pack is remarkably tight—seven of the nine cars perform within 0.3 second of the average 0-to-60-mph and quarter-mile times. Handling behavior varies more widely, as does each manufacturer’s interpretation of luxury equipment.
Although none of these cars is spartan, none is fully loaded, either. For example, not one car in this group is equipped with all four of these less-than-exotic items: traction control, a CD player, remote keyless entry, and variable intermittent wipers. Only three have heated seats. Just two have dual-zone climate controls. The Saab alone has a trip computer.
To fully appreciate the subtle personality traits of these nine middle-management-grade luxo-cruisers, we headed for the Hocking Hills of southeast Ohio. Here’s how the cars stacked up.
9th Place: Saab 900SE
Jeffrey G. Russell and Tom Cosgrove|Car and Driver
For those climbing the corporate ladder at an avant-garde corporation, the Saab 900SE is a must-have. It fairly screams “I’m different and proud of it” to parking lot passersby. From its quirky ignition switch on the floor to its unmistakable shape to its tall-dining-room-chair front seats, this is the car with its baseball cap on backward.
Some of the 900’s quirks are quite useful, like the rear hatch and the split-folding back seat (with armrest passthrough) that, when folded, allows this car to swallow more than 50 cubic feet of cargo or a box measuring, in inches, 62 by 34 by 25. Other quirks are less endearing, like the upright, far-away, 747-style windshield that limits the view of overhead traffic lights.
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The 900SE also has one of the smallest and least comfortable rear seats. Its low cushion provides Viking-scale headroom at the expense of thigh support and legroom. On the upside, there are three shoulder belts in back, each of which has a lever on the latch that allows the lap belt to be cinched tight for child-seat installation or for restraining riders during exuberant driving.
Our Saab cast the smallest shadow of any car in this group, and it racked up the highest skidpad grip (0.81 g, tied with the Mazda) and the best braking performance (168 feet from 70 mph). But a lack of road feel through the steering and considerable understeer conspired with the 2.5-liter V-6’s lack of low-end grunt to limit the Saab’s ability to generate grins out in the twisties.
Jeffrey G. Russell and Tom Cosgrove|Car and Driver
The 900SE comes equipped with creature comforts like heated power seats with three-position memory, rear-seat air vents, an eight-function trip computer, and a sporting traction-control system that doesn’t slow the car down as much as other systems do. But the interior looks plasticky, and noise levels are the highest of the bunch. Its jiggly, coarse ride ranks just above that of the roughrider Taurus.
HIGHS: High-capacity hatchback design, superb brakes, bags of character.
LOWS: Lack of low-end punch, cramped back seat.
VERDICT: The round peg in a square-hole segment.
Saab’s near-luxury formula is harder edged and less refined than its competitors’. We think that approach better suits those 900 models priced in the twenties.
6th Place (tie): Acura 3.2TL
Jeffrey G. Russell and Tom Cosgrove|Car and Driver
From the backward baseball cap, we turn to the navy pinstripe suit. The Acura 3.2TL is the corporate yes man of this bunch. From its anonymous but handsome exterior to its midpack-performing engine and chassis to its well-appointed, conservative interior, this car meets, but never exceeds, the minimal requirements spelled out in its job desc
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