Category: Luxury Car Over $50K, Paul Williams
Contenders – Price as tested
Acura RLX – $55,990
Cadillac CTS – $75,125
Hyundai Equus – $72,299
Infiniti Q50 Hybrid – $56,450
Jaguar XF – $75,650
Lincoln MKZ – $55,275
Mercedes-Benz E 250 Bluetec – $64,050
This is a strong category for 2014, with a range of high-quality vehicles that in varying degrees offer a combination of prestige, the latest technologies, high performance and fine design. The choice this year is between an Acura RLX, Cadillac CTS, Hyundai Equus, Infiniti Q50 Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz E 250 BlueTEC, Lincoln MKZ and Jaguar XF.
  2014 AJAC CCOTY Luxury and Performance Cars. Click image to enlarge |
The surprise for me was the strength of the $55,990 Acura RLX (all prices “as tested”, although in the case of the Acura, this is also the base price). It boasts superb fit and finish, excellent comfort, roominess and ride, and quiet, willing power from its 3.5L, 310-hp V6 engine. Acura has shaved about $20,000 off the price of the outgoing RL, simplified the driver interface and loaded this car with desirable safety technologies along with numerous driver and occupant conveniences. In this category, the RLX is the only front-wheel-drive vehicle (though the MKZ is also based on a FWD platform), which may dissuade some buyers.
   2014 AJAC CCOTY Luxury and Performance Cars. Click image to enlarge |
The $75,900 Cadillac CTS Vsport (AWD) is the “full jam” version of the impressive new CTS. Its twin-turbo, 420-hp engine rockets this very high performance sedan from 0–100 km/h in 5.1 seconds, while providing a beautifully constructed and designed interior (compared with previous Cadillacs) and a more understated yet still dramatic exterior. This is the highest performance vehicle of the category, and it really is a superb effort.
The Jaguar XF AWD makes a more modest 340 hp from its 3.0L V6. At $74,800, the XF boasts appealing exterior design and a delightful interior, with an innovative and unusual, yet easy-to-operate interface. The most notable characteristic of the XF, however, is its driving dynamics. It feels light, strong, powerful and stable, and in my view is the best-handling vehicle of this category.
The $58,450 AWD Infiniti Q50 should impress a bit more than it does. It’s a hybrid making 360 total hp and it feels very quick and smooth on the road. It just lacks a certain personality, if you’ll forgive the vague observation. This is the replacement for the popular G35 and G37 sedan and it wears more dynamic and voluptuous sheet metal than the superseded “G” cars.
Likewise, the AWD $64,050 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTEC 4Matic does everything very well, but in a very quiet, almost too understated manner. Actually, I was surprised that you could buy such a well-equipped Mercedes for this price as it’s loaded with desirable safety features and amenities, plus it returns amazing fuel economy (7.4/4.6 L/100 km city/highway) from the 195 hp (369 lb-ft torque) 2.1L four-cylinder turbodiesel engine. It’s certainly a car you could live happily ever after with.
At $72,299, the rear-wheel-drive Hyundai Equus is a limousine-sized car of ambitious reach. Hyundai points out that while the company sold only 116 of them in Canada last year, the point of the Equus is not about sales. The point is to demonstrate that Hyundai can absolutely do luxury. With an engine more powerful than the Cadillac’s and every technology available to Hyundai on display in the Equus, it’s a rolling advertisement for the company’s ambitions.
In contrast, the Lincoln MKZ is to my mind not a successful representative of ambitions that Lincoln may have to revive the brand. A piece of interior trim has already detached in my test car, and its poorly positioned or retro-styled controls were a distraction from the pleasures that should be generated by driving a vehicle costing $55,050. It just didn’t seem up to the standard of its competitors.
In this category, the Cadillac’s the top performer; the Equus the most sumptuous; the RLX the underdog, but I would happily take home a Jaguar XF.
