Long Term Update 4: 2011 Acura TSX Wagon

MSRP: $30,960 - $38,250

MPG Range: 28 - 30 mpg

Body Style: Sedan, Wagon

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BMW displeased with 5 GT; wagon to return?

Monday, May 23rd, 2011 @ 3:30 p.m.

North American BMW executives say that they aren’t satisfied with sales of the 5-Series Gran Turismo hatchback and now the company’s regional CEO says that the return of a more conventional wagon might be in the cards.

It’s no secret that the quirky BMW 5-Series GT hasn’t been a big sales success for the German automaker. Conceived with North American buyers in mind, it has hardly been a home run. Sales are settling it at an average of less than 200 a month, about a quarter of what BMW intended. BMW sells plenty of 5-Series wagons in Europe and other markets across the globe, but the automaker thought it would have more success with a taller, less wagon-looking model in North America.

In reality, BMW couldn’t have been farther off. While the 5-Series GT is outselling the old 5-Series wagon, it isn’t bringing in new buyers. In fact, BMW is losing its wagon faithful.

The automaker says that it is luring in buyers from its 5 and 7-Series sedans, but not its wagon buyers, who have mostly jumped ship to Mercedes-Benz. BMW’s arch rival still offers a wagon version of its E-Class in North America; in fact, Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to import a high-performance E63 AMG wagon to supplement its current E350 4Matic.

“The disappointment I have is that I thought a lot of our 5-series station wagon customers would go with the GT,” BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell told Automotive News. “In point of fact, that is not happening. We have lost those customers to the competition – mainly to Mercedes-Benz.”

Curiously, BMW says that it has seen 10 percent of 7-Series owners in Florida replace their cars with new 5-Series GTs – but that relative success hasn’t been nationwide.

As for a more conventional wagon as a 5-Series GT replacement, O’Donnell gave a mild hint: “It’s in the back of my mind. When we do the next generation, maybe we should.”

O’Donnell confirmed that BMW will stick with a wagon version of its 3-Series.

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Caddy Wagon Meets its Family

For decades Cadillac was the only General Motors division that did NOT build a station wagon. Now it’s the only one that DOES (at least in North America). I spent my Memorial Day weekend in Phoenix at the wagon-themed, Westward Ho Grand International Invitational Meet of the Lambda Car Club. As I am temporarily in between owning my own vintage wagon (I’ve owned a ’69 Chevy, an ’80 VW Dasher diesel, a ’73 Chevy, a ’59 Dodge, and a ’57 Plymouth), I sweet talked Cadillac into loaning me the meanest wagon currently available on the U.S. market–the CTS-V–and took it to meet its forebears.

There’s no mistaking the family resemblance between our Crystal Red Tintcoat Caddy and this similarly hued 1976 Chevy Vega Kammback Nomad. You may remember that car as having blazed the trail for aluminum-block engines like the V’s 556-horse 6.2-liter. The early Vegas were notoriously unreliable, but by 1976 cooling system revisions made them roadworthy enough to consider long trips like this one made. It also shares the same space-robbing steep backlite angle and top-hinged tailgate. This design was once relegated to only midsize and compact wagons, though some–like a cute 1963 Buick Special that attended the meet–also featured a roll-down window within the hatch.

Don’t remember the Vega Nomad? This extensive trim package was dreamed up by Jim Wangers (of Pontiac GTO fame) and built by his Motortown Corporation in Detroit, but offered as factory-orderable option ZR5. (Motortown also did the Pontiac Can Am, Mustang Cobra II, and other factory specials.) In all, some 1500 Vegas and 1000 Pontiac Astres got the Nomad treatment, which included the vinyl roof, fiberglass B-pillar and door filler panels to simulate the slanted pillar, and rub strips on the decklid.

In the late 1950s, GM wagoneering didn’t get much fancier than this 1957 Buick Caballero. Look at all that chrome! As the four portholes and pillarless “hard-top” construction attest, this is Buick’s swankiest grocery getter, wearing top-of-the-line Century-grade trim and options. In those days, cargo access was typically via a split rear, with the tailgate folding down and the rear window swinging up like this. Buick offered no 9-passenger option that year, but Chevy and Pontiac did.

Here we are snuggled up next to a 1958 Olds Fiesta for the evening taillamp glow car show.

The Super 88 Fiesta was the ne plus ultra Olds wagon, featuring the same pillarless hardtop construction and nearly as much chrome as found on the Buick Caballero. One fun feature on the Olds: In those days car companies liked to make life difficult on the service-station attendants who pumped your gas by hiding the fuel filler. To reveal the Olds’, you push inboard on a section of that chrome blade leading to the top of the taillamp on the left side. Cool.

Chevrolet’s horizontal gull-wing fins for 1959 were tame by comparison with Cadillac’s soaring vertical numbers, but they juxtapose nicely with the crisp origami folds of the modern CTS-V. This stunning Parkwood model is the 6-passenger version of the 2nd rung Bel Air trim series (Kingswood being the 9-passenger Bel Air grade, and Nomad connoting the top-spec Impala-grade wagon, though for 1959 all wagons were four-doors). By 1959 the rear glass retracted (manually by crank or electrically) into the tailgate, but that gate still only folded down, making entry to the usually rear-facing third-row seat anything but graceful. Rambler and others offered an optional left-side-hinged swing-out door option, but then you couldn’t carry long lumber home on a tailgate. These were your choices until Ford unveiled the Magic Door Gate in 1966. After you rolled down the rear window, it could either open down or to the side.

By 1969 you didn’t even have to roll the rear glass down on a full-size Ford wagon to swing it open by the side hinges. GM tried to one-up this design with its complicated “clam-back” wagons of 1971-1976, wherein the tailgate dropped down under the floor while the glass motored up into the ceiling. This idea was great for providing access while a trailer was attached, and 9-passenger versions featured front-facing third-row seats, but the heavy and trouble-prone design never caught on. By 1977, all GM and Ford wagons (like the too-similar looking Olds, Buick, Ford and Mercury here) featured the three-way gate.

Oddly enough, GM’s final swing at the full-size station wagon took a side-step back toward the 50s with an up-swinging rear window, though the tailgate still opened down or to the side. These “orca” design wagons like the Buick Roadmaster and Chevy Caprice Estate shown here never sold very well but they WERE powered by a Corvette engine, like the CTS-V is (well, sort of–the LT1 Small Blocks used in the full-size sedans and wagons wore iron heads and were down-rated a bit on power). They didn’t accelerate like our CTS-V, but they sounded Corvette-y while trying!

After three days of quietly rubbing fenders with wagons of all stripes our CTS-V was ready to lay a few stripes of her own, exercising those 556 horses and 551 pound-feet in a cloud of tire-smoking glory, but alas in the Arizona heat, with the A/C on and four well-fed club members and luggage onboard, there was no tire smoke to be had–but plenty of gut-wrenching g-forces (and a 10.6-mpg weekend-average reading on the trip computer!).

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2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan - Coupe - Wagon - Cabriolet

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class offers a two new models in addition to last year's Coupe and Sedan with a Wagon and Cabriolet now available, plus the tire-shredding power and capable handling of the E63 AMG.

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan swings to the masculine side of the pendulum and sharpens its driving appeal in the process.

All E-Class models share similarly aggressive styling cues, adapting them to their varying shapes with equal success. The many angles, curves, and chrome accents may prove busy for some eyes, but the overall impact is unmistakably German. The AMG model gets unique treatment to mark it out as the performance superstar.

Three engines are available across the lineup, from a peppy V-6 to a powerful V-8 to a fuel-efficient and high-torque diesel. Not all engines are available in all body styles, however; if you want a diesel, you'll have to get a Sedan; if you want a V-8, you won't find one in the Wagon. Regardless of the model or engine chosen, however, the E-Class range rewards the driver with adjustable suspension settings, a responsive seven-speed automatic, and improved, yet still comfortable, driving dynamics. The E63 AMG kicks the whole show up a notch, with 518 horsepower from its 6.3-liter V-8 engine, and reworked AMG-tuned suspension.

The latest E-Class also offers more space and luxury than previous generations of the car, with a wider and longer body and more standard and available features. Build quality is tight, materials selection is mostly excellent, and quietness is a strength.

Standard and optional safety equipment are a highlight of the E-Class range, with two models earning Top Safety Pick status from the IIHS. Computer driving aids from drowsiness detection to adaptive cruise control that can brake to avoid an accident are available extras.

Though the 2011 E-Class offers plenty of standard features, including the COMAND infotainment system, vinyl seats are curiously included in the base spec. Upgrading can take many paths, from more luxury to more sport, or both, with gadgets like rear-view cameras and luxury features like massaging and heated seats among the list.

Though it's no bargain value at a minimum starting price of $48,850, the E-Class range certainly justifies its premium price with an all-around premium product.

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class combines a refined engine range with comfortable yet capable driving dynamics for a winning combination. See details and best of the Web The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class can't be considered a bargain with a minimum $48,850 MSRP, but its features list certainly justifies the price. See details and best of the Web Four body styles, three engines--your choicePlenty of interior roomMuch richer interior treatmentAll-wheel-drive optionGet Dealer Price Quotes Busy styling cuesTechno features' steep learning curveVinyl seats standard?

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2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan - Coupe - Wagon - Cabriolet

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class offers a two new models in addition to last year's Coupe and Sedan with a Wagon and Cabriolet now available, plus the tire-shredding power and capable handling of the E63 AMG.

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan swings to the masculine side of the pendulum and sharpens its driving appeal in the process.

All E-Class models share similarly aggressive styling cues, adapting them to their varying shapes with equal success. The many angles, curves, and chrome accents may prove busy for some eyes, but the overall impact is unmistakably German. The AMG model gets unique treatment to mark it out as the performance superstar.

Three engines are available across the lineup, from a peppy V-6 to a powerful V-8 to a fuel-efficient and high-torque diesel. Not all engines are available in all body styles, however; if you want a diesel, you'll have to get a Sedan; if you want a V-8, you won't find one in the Wagon. Regardless of the model or engine chosen, however, the E-Class range rewards the driver with adjustable suspension settings, a responsive seven-speed automatic, and improved, yet still comfortable, driving dynamics. The E63 AMG kicks the whole show up a notch, with 518 horsepower from its 6.3-liter V-8 engine, and reworked AMG-tuned suspension.

The latest E-Class also offers more space and luxury than previous generations of the car, with a wider and longer body and more standard and available features. Build quality is tight, materials selection is mostly excellent, and quietness is a strength.

Standard and optional safety equipment are a highlight of the E-Class range, with two models earning Top Safety Pick status from the IIHS. Computer driving aids from drowsiness detection to adaptive cruise control that can brake to avoid an accident are available extras.

Though the 2011 E-Class offers plenty of standard features, including the COMAND infotainment system, vinyl seats are curiously included in the base spec. Upgrading can take many paths, from more luxury to more sport, or both, with gadgets like rear-view cameras and luxury features like massaging and heated seats among the list.

Though it's no bargain value at a minimum starting price of $48,850, the E-Class range certainly justifies its premium price with an all-around premium product.

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class combines a refined engine range with comfortable yet capable driving dynamics for a winning combination. See details and best of the Web The 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class can't be considered a bargain with a minimum $48,850 MSRP, but its features list certainly justifies the price. See details and best of the Web Four body styles, three engines--your choicePlenty of interior roomMuch richer interior treatmentAll-wheel-drive optionGet Dealer Price Quotes Busy styling cuesTechno features' steep learning curveVinyl seats standard?

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Long Term Update 1: 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon

From the June, 2011 issue of Motor Trend / Photography by Jessica Germiller Editor at large Ron Kiino discovered that after a 10-day stint in the Sport Wagon, he really likes this car. "I might even go so far as to admit that I love it. I've always been a big fan of the sedan, and the wagon body just takes it to the next level for me -- all the rewarding driving dynamics of the sedan, married to great cargo and useability in a sporty-looking vehicle." He also heaped praise on the wagon's build quality, materials, and fit and finish, all of which he described as first-rate. "For a $35,000 car, the TSX comes across as appropriately rich and well made: The leather is very nice, the soft-touch plastics look and feel posh, and the panel gaps look tight." He adds, "Cruising range, at 574 miles, is awesome. I love vehicles that can go a long distance without needing a fill-up This car is a blast on a twisty road. Great balance, sharp turn-in, and very easy to hustle safely -- and ESC isn't that intrusive." Motor Trend Rating:  

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Arrival: 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon

From the May, 2011 issue of Motor Trend / Photography by Jessica Germiller If you've ever heaped a forkful of well-made coq au vin into your mouth, you already understand what I'm about to tell you. Coq au vin, or, in English, "rooster in wine," is a simple dish of basic, if not ignoble ingredients: one tough old rooster, some fatty bacon, mushrooms, an onion (perhaps), and a bottle of mediocre table wine. Again, nothing special; all things you have lying around. But prepared the right way, the quite ordinary becomes the extraordinary. In that vein, allow me to introduce our newest long-termer, the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Like the French peasant staple, on paper our new long-term TSX Wagon doesn't have much going for it. First, of course, it's a station wagon, a style of motorized conveyance so dreaded that (A) minivans, SUVs, and CUVs exist; and (B) our wagon-loving German friends won't even say the phrase. Instead, you get nonsensical synonyms like Avant, Touring, and Shooting-Brake. Acura isn't calling its five-door a station wagon, either, instead opting for the euphemism "sport wagon." Fine.

Under the hood, there isn't much to get excited about. As with the entry TSX sedan, there's a 2.4-liter inline-four good for 201 horsepower and a lowly 170 pound-feet of torque. But unlike the four-door, there is no optional 3.5-liter, 280-horsepower, 254-pound-foot V-6. You want big power, get the sedan. Likewise, the transmission falls into also-ran status. Just five forward gears and a torque converter. And you can't get a manual like you can in the sedan. One final seeming black eye: The TSX Wagon comes only with front drive. But mix all these ho-hum ingredients together, and you get motoring magic.

Our editor at large, Ron Kiino, after 10 days with the Acura Wagon: "I gotta say, I really, really like this car. I might even go so far as to say I love it." Ron goes on, "Relative to its competitors, the TSX SW is a bit low on power, but you wouldn't really know it from behind the wheel. The five-speed autobox, like the power output, is lagging against the competition, but again it performs well enough that I never yearned for a sixth gear."

Assistant art director William Walker says, "Winding quickly through canyon roads as well as a couple hundred highway miles reconfirmed how much I enjoy sporty wagons. I also think the Acura gives the Audi Avant a run for its money on style. Overall, it's great." I couldn't agree more, and eagerly look forward to the next 12 months.

Front engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door wagon 2.4L/201-hp/170-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4

Motor Trend Rating:  

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GM To Bring Holden Commodore Sedan, Wagon, And Ute To U.S.?

Source: MotorAuthority.com

The short-lived Pontiac G8 was perhaps the most missed of the cars to die with the brand, but rumors of its rebirth in Chevrolet guise persist. Today, the idea has been given another boost with a report from GM Inside News that internal documents are calling the Zeta-based Holden Commodore the G8 was derived from an "approved program" within the company.

The best part? In addition to the code-named Z2SC "SS sedan," there is a chance the ute and wagon forms of the car could make it here, too, though they remain unapproved, according to the report. The ute (nee G8 Sport Truck) would likely arrive as an El Camino, while the long-back car would get a SportWagon appellation.

If the Commos do arrive in Chevy trim, it won't likely be until early 2013 for the 2014 model year, as GM is thought to be waiting for the refreshed commodore to make its way through development at Holden. If the El Camino and SportWagon gain approval, they could be here later in 2013 as well.

Fans of the Zeta-platform cars, rejoice, but don't pop the champagne just yet. We'll keep you posted as the situation develops.

[GM Inside News]

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