The three other cars were the established triumvirate that
Cadillac has been stalking for the past decade or so. First up: the reigning
comparison-test champ, 10Best-award winner, and all-around agreeable car, the
Audi A6. We opted for an A6 with its mid-level engine option, the 310-hp,
supercharged 3.0-liter V-6. The Audi is the only vehicle in this test not
significantly changed from last year. It carries the comparo's lowest as-tested
price of $62,745, even while equipped with optional adaptive cruise control and
a sport package among other less costly stuff.
Next is the model that was once the ultimate bogey for
Cadillac: the BMW 5-series. Specifically, we asked for the
face-lifted-for-2014, rear-drive 535i. That not being available, we accepted a
four-wheel-drive 535i, powered by the 302-hp, turbocharged inline-six. Thanks
to its M sport package ($3,150) and a couple of expensive convenience bundles,
the 535i rang in as our priciest entrant at $67,600.
We grabbed a
Mercedes-Benz E350, which, like the BMW, has been face-lifted for 2014
To finish out the German trifecta, we grabbed a
Mercedes-Benz E350, which, like the BMW, has been face-lifted for 2014. Ours
wore the "sport" version's curvy new nose, not the staid face of the
"luxury" model. This means it carries no Alterman-satisfying hood
ornament, but, according to the window sticker, it came with a "lowered
sport suspension". Try as we might, we could not find any evidence of
sport in the suspension. But with leather seating and a whole bunch of
infotainment features, our E350 arrived with a comparatively reasonable $63,490
price tag. It is powered by a 302-hp 3.5-liter v-6.
The Lexus GS350 would be eligible for this competition had
it not already lost a comparison test to the Audi. So it was just Cadillac
versus Germany. And, sadly, we could find no competitor with a real name - just
a mess of numbers and mostly capitalized letters.
We noticed as we drove away from the gas station in the
brick-shaped CTS that its fancy, dual instrument-panel screens with their fancy
multicolored animations bore some resemblance to video-gaming machines.
Coincidence?
BMW 535i xDrive
The only car in this comparison that confounds us as much as
the gaming den, the 535i xDrive seems to have lost touch with what once made us
go gaga for the model. Alterman wrote down what we were all thinking:
"There's very little of the E39 [1997-2003] left in the 5-series. Now it
feels like a big cruiser."
The 535i doesn't
turn in readily
Indeed, the notebook was overflowing with various ways to
describe the 5-series as large and ponderous. It's clear that shortly after
inspiring Cadillac to build lively sedans, BMW left that territory for the
taking. While the heaviest entrant at 4187 pounds complete with
four-wheel-drive hardware, the BMW is bigger than the other three cars only in
its wheelbase, trunk, and front-seat space. It's the car's deportment that
leaves the lumbering impression. Its fat, large-diameter steering wheel
commands a steering system that feels distant and a little slow-witted. The
535i doesn't turn in readily. Instead it takes a two-stage approach to
cornering. Turn-in is accompanied by enough load transfer and body roll to sow
doubt about the car's ability. Then it settles in and delivers the test's
second-best level of grip (0.86g). But the experience is never exactly fun or
confidence-inspiring. And the slowest-in-test slalom performance (40.1mph)
reveals its ultimately messy transitional behavior.
Its fat,
large-diameter steering wheel commands a steering system that feels distant and
a little slow-witted
So the BMW has become something of a cruiser. That's okay if
you like that sort of thing, right? Well, it would be if it delivered the ride
quality to match the test's other cruiser, the Mercedes. But it doesn't. It
feels heavy-footed and clomps loudly over broken pavement. And over one
particularly abrupt undulation on our handling loop, the 5's suspension wanted
to bottom out, where the other three cars took the hillock with considerably
less drama. We suspect driving a 7-series on the same roads wouldn't feel much
different.
Deep within this
car beats the heart of a BMW. The engine snarls demurely.
The BMW's saving grace is its near-perfect power train. Deep
within this car beats the heart of a BMW. The engine snarls demurely. It
smoothly pulls the heaviest curb weight to a quickest-in-test 5.3-second
zero-to-60 sprint. And the BMW is the only car here able to break 14 seconds in
the quarter-mile. Though ostensibly an identical transmission to the one in the
A6, BMW's tuning and calibration make it feel smoother and more certain of its
gear choices, as if it can anticipate a driver's desires by telepathy. Good
thing, too, because our car didn't come with any shift paddles - an odd, but
somehow telling, omission for a car with the M Sport package.
Technical
BMW 535i xDrive
·
Price: $67,600
·
Wheelbase: 116.9 in
·
Engine: turbocharged DOHC 24-valve inline-6 182 cu in
·
Power: 302hp @ 5,800rpm
·
Torque: 295 lb-ft @ 1,300rpm
·
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
·
0-60mph: 5.3 sec
·
Top speed: 127mph
·
Curb weight: 4,187 pounds
·
Fuel tank: 18.5 gas
