smk4565

Agreed. I think the torque will hit low and be very usable. 158 hp is 12 less than the current car though, would have been nice if this new engine was more like 170 hp and 185 lb-ft.

Who cares about a 475 hp V8 when they already have a 450 hp V8? Reduced weight would be nice, but then it should just be a 750i with an optional M-sport package. And part of the sport package could be the carbon fiber panels, and lightweight wheels, etc. Not to mention this car has a V12 already, which would still dominate an M770 with 100 less hp.

I like ridiculous cars, so I like this, however it looks like some water damage inside the camper part, and not a fan of the seat covers or that blue in the camper. Too bad it isn't in better condition, with a refurbished camper part that would be pretty sweet.

Bad name, too hard to pronounce, and no one will know what it means. This car looks too much like an Asian BMW with an ugly grill. The Optima is a good looking car, they should have made it look like an Optima but maybe more flashy so it stands out. I had high hopes for this car because so few make a somewhat affordable RWD luxury car, but this is a disappointment. I dont' find BMW's all that good looking, and this looks like an ugly version of a 7-series. No mention in the press release of powertrain either.

They already are 1 dealership around here. Hard to believe an stand alone Jaguar or Land Rover dealer could survive. Unless it is a Jaguar-BMW-Volvo or something like that.

I like the sound of this. The 4-cylinder should post a huge mpg number and the inline six will produce monster torque. And hopefully this prompts Cadillac to offer a diesel also, especially with Mercedes offering some more diesels now.

That's a pretty sweet ride. I wonder if it comes in Penn State blue and white... oh wait, bad idea for a van with hardly any windows.

I don't even care enough about a couple of $25k cars with gutless engines to even bother bashing them for the badge engineering. The interiors on both are poor also.

Haha, a 3-series competitor. Fun to dream but not going to happen. Electric cars are too far away still to be competitive. Too heavy, and batteries can't compete with gasoline. BMW will probably build an electric 3-series before Tesla builds one that can compete.

Golf GTI (widely thought to be the best hot hatch of the past 25 years by the way) doesn't have the 8-speed transmission or chassis or interior trim of an A4 or A5. The 2.0T engine is shared, but every automaker shares engines. They do platform share on SUVs, but the Touareg is also more expensive than an SRX, RX350 or MKX. So they aren't really starting from a mediocre product, and the Cayenne and Q7 have different engines and transmission. I'm not saying VW doesn't share stuff across the range, but for the most part their luxury brands have plenty of exclusive equipment and it is differentiated from the other brands. They aren't doing what Lexus, Lincoln and Acura do, and take a $25k family sedan and change nothing mechanically and just change the interior and front and rear fascias and call it a luxury car. That being said, I wouldn't buy an Audi, they aren't as good as BMW or Mercedes.

I actually think the ATS looks a bit boring and a bit too like a Chevy. It just doesn't look all that expensive to me. I actually hope the CTS is far less plain and actually more aggressive looking than the ATS. ATS just isn't exciting to look at. The current CTS looks chunky and blocky to me, I hope they can streamline and and make it more athletic looking.

You mean just like Audis, Bentleys and Porsches are? Audi interiors are top notch, and their cars offer good fuel efficiency considering how quick some of them are. Porshce 911 Turbo S 0-60 in 2.7 seconds and 25 mpg, and Bentley is Bentley. There is no mishmash of mediocre parts in those cars. They have Lamborghini and Bugatti too, that group of brands is pretty good. Where as Lexus is all Toyota has, and most of the Lexus line is mechanically a twin to a Toyota product. Personally I don't care for Audi, Porsche or Bentley, but they are not parts bin junk for $35-45k like most Japanese and American luxury brands try to build.

Maybe not $10k nicer, but it is nicer. Lexus build quality, as far as panel gaps and leather/wood quality is better than what Buick has. The ES and RX are all they sell since they do offer entry level luxury that appeals to people that don't care about driving dynamics, in those 2 cars cases, people over 70 and soccer moms. The rest of the Lexus lineup is a decade behind the Germans.

But imagine the 2 liter turbo diesel with the hybrid system. The 320d is 181 hp and 280 lb-ft adding around 30 to each with the electric motor should keep 0-60 around 7 seconds and probably push it to 50 mpg. The greenies will like that, and the non-greenies can buy the 335i.

I think they will Toyota parts bin together the new IS, that is why it won't be as good as the Germans, and it till be styled to look like every other Toyota, with chrome on front so you can tell it is a Lexus and not a Camry. This is why the Germans are good, the 3-series isn't pieced together from a parts bin, it is designed with purpose. This car will be a Scion chassis, Camry transmission, corporate V6, Avalon styling, etc It is just a mishmash of mediocre parts.

Well the ES is nicer than the Lacrosse, but the ES also costs more than a CTS. So it should be nicer than a Buick and a $37k car should sell less than a $30k car (in similar segments). Plus the current ES has been around since 07 or so, it is pretty stale. Although the 2013 car will look and drive in a stale fashion anyway.

Seems like a lot of extra money over a 335i, unless the hybrid has a lot of the equipment packages thrown in. But to pay $8k over a 335i for a barely quicker car, it better be posting 40 mpg to justify the price difference. And agreed with Oldsmoboi, what they need is diesel power!

ATS is 182.8 inches long and the CTS is 191.3. There is already a gap there. If they want to go to a 10 inch difference to 192.8 I am sure no one would notice, but any bigger than that and the CTS is getting too big. It is still a sports sedan.

CTS doesn't need more exterior size, more interior room would be nice though. The car needs to get better, not bigger. Cadillac used to always try to do that bigger = more luxurious idea, that doesn't work anymore.

According to Car and Driver numbers, 2013 M5 is 4387 lbs, and the 2012 CTS-V is 4220 lbs. The 5-series with and height are within a half inch of the CTS, the 5-series has 3.5 inches more in the wheelbase and 2 inches more overall length compared to the CTS. But I think the 5-series has gotten a bit big, although it still splits the difference between the 3 and 7. The current CTS on wheelbase, height, width and length is within 0.5 inches in every direction of a Mercedes E-class. The E-class is the sales champion, it's a good size car, no reason for the CTS to get bigger, it is already the same size as the heart of the segment. And for whatever it is worth, the CTS is already about an inch longer than the Lexus GS, though smaller than the Infiniti M37.

It does look bigger which makes me fear we have STS part 2 coming, but even Cadillac can't be that dumb to repeat that mistake. The grille looks big like an Audi grille, not really a fan of massive front grilles, but maybe the final product will be more like the current CTS size grille. Looks like a fairly evolutionary design though.

It will no doubt be ugly, and probably not a very good sports car, since Lexus never figures out how to make something sporty. But if they start with the GT86 chassis it should be light, if they use the 8-speed as the base transmission and turbo the the 2.5L four and 3.5L V6 they could have some good powertrains. But my guess is we see carryover engine and transmission and they'll be sunk.

Mitsubishi still makes cars?

I have to disagree with your statement. The German trio have a few cars that are above the CTS with interiors that are very nice, but in the same size/price range, the current CTS is very competitive. Well I'd agree that the CTS competes well with the G37, A4, C-class and 3-series, but the CTS gets outsold by all those except for the A4. Now the ATS is supposed to compete with those 4 cars, so that leaves the CTS as what, Acura TL and Lincoln MKZ competitor? A midsize V6 entry lux car for $36k. The CTS will have to move up market, thus have a substantial interior upgrade to compete with the A6 and E-class or Jaguar.

They should refresh the ZDX by killing it all together. The RLX seems like another dud in the waiting. "The RLX will be offered in a 310 horsepower, front-wheel-drive version, which will deliver superior handling performance through the application of a new Acura technology- Precision All Wheel Steer™." Yeah, the 300 hp AWD car from 2005 couldn't compete with the Germans, so now they'll try 310 hp and FWD. Why do I get the feeling that precision all wheel steer won't deliver BMW 5-series handling.