Quote:
Originally Posted by E90ice
Yeah..you're right...every automaker knows how to do everything and everything is really easy to do, but they just don't do it....
For that reason, I'm sure Lexus or Infinity want to be better than BMW, driving and performance wise, but they just don't do it....
Dude, if they knew how to do it, they would have done it already. Or maybe they have some special secret why they want to be #2 or #3 all the time.
Does that make sense to you?
And stop with the name calling! If you can't express your opinion without calling people names, don't post.
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Let's look at Toyota for a second. First of all, they just surpassed GM as the number 1 automaker in the world. Second of all, the IS250/350, the obvious competitor to the 3 Series, is selling quite well. I believe the old IS was selling at about 1/10 the rate of the 3 Series. Last I saw, the 2nd generation was selling at more like 1/2 the rate. That's a
huge improvement in market share.
And Lexus achieved that improvement without offering a coupe or convertible. More importantly--for the enthusiast--it also made all this headway with a weak base engine, and no stick available with the 3.5-liter. Lexus could
easily have chosen to offer a better set of powertrain options, but it very consciously chose not to. This isn't a failure to "crack the BMW code", it's just what made economic sense for Lexus.
As for feel, the IS actually rides stiffer than a sport-packaged 3 Series. Lexus spokespeople have publicly stated that, with the ES350 in their lineup, they can tune the IS more stiffly than the 3 Series because the buyers looking for comfort will simply buy an ES instead of an IS. BMW, on the other hand, tunes it's suspensions with more compliance, yet still manages to achieve very good handling, and it's engineers put a strong emphasis on communication. The IS has all the capability of a 3 Series, but the company still believes its buyers--even those who want the stiff-riding IS--favor isolation over communication, so they smooth out some of the vibrations BMW leaves in.
So, yeah, what homerunball said...If Lexus wanted to make a 3 Series with an IS body over it, it could. Instead, it chose a different path. Its engineers purposely chose not to continue with an inline-6 (but see the IS300 for proof that they know how to make one), and they chose to build more isolation into the steering (yet there are MR Spyders out there that suggest Toyota can build a quicker, more communicative rack if they so choose).
So, there's nothing magic about BMW. It's just a company with a storied history, a loyal following, and a very strong brand identity. The reason other companies aren't offering BMW clones is that they have their own brand identities to uphold and their own niche in the market to satisfy.
-Dan