Lexus ES 350: Don’t drive... Cruise!

If you ever wanted to buy a yacht but were worried of getting seasick, go for a Lexus ES 350 instead... 

It is true that the ES 350 can take you from zero to 100 in 7 seconds flat. It’s also true that at 268bhp, the 3.5 L V6 is powerful enough to leave behind most other luxury sedans, and even some of the sporty kind, on the six-lane. The super-sensitive steering can weave some impressive manoeuvres while changing lanes or overtaking. But chances are, you won’t remember any of those details en route, when you finally step out of your ES. The only thing that would stay in mind is the impeccable cruise to your destination. 

It is perfect silence... with a downside!

The first thing you notice in a live and running ES 350, rather what you won’t notice, is the sound of the engine. It takes a bit getting used to not looking at the rpm meter to determine if the engine is running idle. The silent cabin is perhaps the most remarkable of the many remarkable features that adorn an ES. It cuts out the road noise, absorbs the bumps and glitches and makes an average road seem like polished glass. The only thing that could give you an occasional jolt of reality is the light jerk of higher gearshifts. 

You need to step on it hard – listening hard, too – to actually appreciate the engine sound above the relatively silent air-conditioner. Now, quite unlike the inspiring burble of a BMW, one can’t say the Lexus engine does spill out music to your ears. From somewhere deep in the underbelly rises a softly contained tenor, hesitant to develop into a full-blown symphony. So it’s much better off doing what it does best - ­remain reticent and be applauded for its magnificent silence. But again, the downside of having too silent an engine is that, on a midsummer afternoon when it’s 38º C outside, you are constantly exposed to the monotonous blowing of the fan, like the desert wind itself. However, the dual-control Air-conditioning is effective enough in the scorching summer sun -­ so what’s new? It’s a Toyota after all.

 

Lexus lives in the details

The show begins even as you approach the car with the key tucked away in your pocket or handbag. The SMART keyless entry rides smooth into the keyless start as well. The idle luxury also makes itself evident in its responsive cabin ergonomics, right from the steering wheel that presents itself in your favourite position to the simple-to-navigate console buttons and sliding mid-console storage. The side-view mirror even saves the driver from straining his neck, by keeping track of the blind spot in the dotted margin of the mirror.
Whoever said that the ES was nothing but a glorified Camry never heard of the aphorism “God is in the details”. Claiming almost double the price of a Camry, the Lexus ES 350 justifies every fil of it. Its pampering attention to detail extends from the glossy wooden trims and appetisingly delicate (temperature-controlled) leather to the “everyday frills” like the navigation, the blue tooth, rear parking assist with camera, rear sun screens and an impressive sound system - just like its owner, the sound system of the Lexus is clear and composed too. Lexus bestows a lot of care on its passengers even when it comes to a stop, with guiding lights in the foot-wells as well as the side wings.

If you could bestow a mid-size luxury sedan with a “limousine” tag, this would be it! On the contrary, if you prefer the sporty kind, or have zero-tolerance for a tendency towards over-steering, Lexus was never intended to be your chosen one. Its laid-back character is so deeply ingrained that even when you decide to summon the power it hides, your Lexus ES would take a moment or two, to shrug off its gentleman’s cloak!

If you ever wanted to buy a yacht but were worried of getting seasick, go for a Lexus ES 350 instead. It costs much less and would afford you a luxury cruise along a more comfortable terrain!

MG 750 – Grandeur is back

“It doesn’t just make you feel good. MG 750 makes your every dirham feel distinguished.”

My childhood neighbour used to be visited by an Uncle who chugged along in a Morris Minor – thinking of which gives those wonderful years the innocent charm of “once upon a time”. The real charm of “once upon a time” is that it just doesn’t belong to once upon a time – it is forever. Which is what goes to the great advantage of MG Rover 75, as it makes a comeback as MG 750. 

For a car that once belonged to BMW, (a fact that its charming six-cylinder burble still reminds you of!), won accolades including the “most beautiful car” and the “Middle East Car of the Year” in 1999-2000, and was among the preferred ministerial cars of the British Government for a good part of its career, the Rover’s exit in 2005 doesn’t go down very easily. But what matters is that it’s back - as SAIC Motor Corporation’s prized trophy from its English campaign. And by the way, MG still stands for Morris Garages (just in case you thought it was “Mind-blowing Grandeur”).

MG750 is a true classic - the feline contours of a distinctive British heritage; the dashboard clock that is straight out of a 007 car chase of the sixties; the minimalist sophistication of wood-finish and leather; the refinement that satisfies the eyes and doesn’t disappoint ensuing expectations. The car in its new avatar has retained all of it except for the price tag. Now, let me not jump the gun and spoil the fun. I’ll save that for last.

The car is a retro fanatic’s dream come true, from the classic grill mesh to the double-barrelled snoot at the rear. It is powerful enough to convert the champions of China’s new economy into total retro buffs. The car does everything the good old way – regal, luxurious and elegantly stunning. From the cool sensation of the veneer and leather steering that grows on you with every turn to the soothing instrument panel that reminds you of classic pencil drawings, with their clean whites and oval dials – like a 19th century horologist’s inspiration drawings.

Once the key turns the ignition, the first thing that impresses you, and overwhelms you in the long run, is the evocative dignity of the unmistakably European growl of the V6. I haven’t heard anything like that in a long time on the roads – ever since BMW gave up its rights on Rover. It’s not the arrogant roar of an engine that will take you from 0 – infinity in yellow to green signal time. On the contrary, it is the stately guttural roll of a car that will take you steadily on snaking suburban roads just as well as six-lane highways that demand lane-manoeuvring with relaxed confidence. The MG 750 allows you to get carried away in a fluent ride – shock-free and silent, at cruising speeds. In case you wish to engage the extra power by switching to “S” mode, you will notice that the 2.5 L V6 isn’t necessarily the most powerful of its kind but is undoubtedly among the most refined.

Comfortably fitting into the Executive sedan category, the spacious cabin offers first-class comfort with plenty of legroom. The backseat and the headrests are designed in such a way as to please taller passengers. The armrest in between doubles up as an executive stowaway when the MG 750 credibly gets converted into an everyday limousine! Just a piece of advice for parents of toddlers, avoid buying restrictive child seats with ISO FIX provisions only – coz MG 750 hasn’t provided for those.

The elegant leather seats instantly make you feel comfortable but if you are one of those who would like to lean against the soft response of plush skin, you could be a tad disappointed on a long -haul. On a sweltering summer day, like the one I chose for the road run, the fact that it takes the blower at full-throttle to cool the car can be irksome, but once settled to a steady temp, the air-conditioning silently adds to the ride quality. Some of the trims have compromised in material quality, like the storage buttons or the AC vent grill, but there’s not enough evidence anywhere to justify the price at which this royal driving experience from the British heritage is now offered. (We are almost at the end of the suspense thread!)  

During my road runs, I ferried many a pleased passenger aboard the MG750. As we steered comfortably along daunting curves and menacing curbs, we played “guess the price” in its spacious cabin. The bids never dropped below a 100 K. And then, I would spill the beans with a warning not to trip over them in utter surprise. For, AED 76000 is a great price for any car that gives you classic luxury wrapped around evolved technological features like Dynamic Stability Control, ABS, EBD and you name it. It’s doubtful if there is another sedan out there that defines Value like this one. It doesn’t just make you feel good. MG 750 makes your every dirham feel distinguished.

  

Take cover - get out of that car!

I was driving down Sheikh Zayed Road on the extreme right lane when right in front of me, like a barricade on the highway, was something – a car with its flashing lights barely noticeable in the blindingly bright afternoon sun. Two seconds later, I was parked in the middle of the highway, close enough from the stationery vehicle to realize that in fact it had similarly screeched to a stop inches away from another car. Looked like it was a breakdown situation ahead. But there was no warning sign or anything that suggested an emergency.


Traffic kept zipping past us at 100 km per hour, or more, and it was almost a minute before either of us could swerve back into the flow. The other car remained where it had come to an abrupt stop after some unexpected trouble cropped up. Unfortunately, it happened along a short strip where the space beyond the hard shoulder was too narrow for the stranded vehicle to seek refuge!


The lady driver was still in her seat, speaking on her mobile – seeking help perhaps. Behind her, cars kept coming along, at 30 metres per second, swerving in the nick of time to slip into the second lane traffic, or screeching to a stop. Oblivious, she held on to her seat and her mobile. Hope she soon had the sense to step out of the dubious safety of her car onto the hard shoulder strip  – scorching hot, yet unthreatened by hurtling cars!

The legacy of staying different

It was with trepid anticipation amply fed by legend and rarity on the road, that I approached the Subaru Legacy. The car offered me a choice of 2 celebrated engines. But then if you are choosing a Subaru for its legendary drive, you might as well drive the 2.5 GT, which generously returns 265 PS at 5600 rpm and a broad-spectrum torque of 350 Nm between 2400 and 5200 rpm.

Just to feel the power shoot up eventually, I started off with the “I” mode on the three-spoke SI knob. It was pretty tame which made me glad that I didn’t settle for the 167 PS version of the car.

While what I expected was a totally sporty sedan, what I got was a sporty family sedan, equipped with most trims to please the sport enthusiast donning the cap of a family man. Besides the safety that surrounds the passengers, what was destined to surprise even the family man was the legroom at the back and the headroom too, which was good enough for an NBA player – class-leading among Japanese sedans and almost as spacious as its larger American rivals that still ride high on the proposition ‘big is beautiful’!

Handling was expected to be super-sharp thanks to the balance of power provided by the horizontally opposed Boxer engine and the legendary all-wheel drive that is the trademark of Subaru. It sure hugs the road when you step on it and I was literally taken aback by the G-force as I turned the knob to SI mode. A quick and steady burst of torque took me as far as I wanted to go on the highway before I was in competitive mode with the parallel traffic. As promised, lane changing and curves were razor-sharp, the all-wheel drive neutralizing the bit of over-steering or under steering on reasonably curvy roads.

Yet, it was when I descended sharply onto the highway from above the sweeping interchange, challenging the logical speed limit banking on the legacy of Subaru’s AWD, that I grudgingly remembered a similar maneuver carried out in the cockpit of an A4. Where it matters most, the Quattro technology seems to have an edge, after all, with the banking thrust displacing the passenger by fewer degrees in Audi’s comfortably secure cabin. While extraordinary curvatures at 50 miles wouldn’t be something you attempt every day, one thing that would leave you wishing for better refinement would be the Subaru speaker system, which seems to assume that a taste for turbo-charged baritones isn’t often complemented by an ear for music. Talking about refinement, the paneling trims reminded me of bicycle reflectors or tacky holograms done up in green and grey.

Back on the positive front, the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT has a menacing ventilator gaping on top of its bonnet, doubling up as a cooling device for the engine. It’s sure to please those with a sporty bend of mind just as the SI and SI# modes would. The leather seats provide ample comfort though not in the same veins as a luxurious sport car would and the brushed steel finish and the driving mode selector do their bits to make the cockpit impressive enough. One should keep in mind that at AED 123,000, there is a good piece of automobile technology and driving pleasure, not to mention the long legacy of sporting enthusiasm, that come with this family-friendly sedan. That alone is still bound to make you stand out in the crowd, for being different. 

Audi A4 Plus One!

Audi A4 S-line

Audi seems to be giving up much of its “understated elegance” to a dashing, sporty appearance. With 180 bhp to play with, its 2 T engine generates enough torque to gain quick acceleration at rpm as low as 2000. Yet, I would say it parts with its power steadily rather than swiftly. Banking is admirable, sweeping curves are snug and smooth at 70 plus speeds. Even though there is a slight “hurtling-down” feel at high-speed dashes, one really feels safe inside the new Audi A4: My baby slept without a sigh!

A5

The changeover from the A4 to A5 took just two minutes – so the adrenaline could pick me up from where it left me. The signature Quattro all-wheel drive made sure the extra 30 horses (211 bhp from the 2 T powerhouse) left the A4 experience half a mile behind in a minute. On the busy highway, mid-drive thrusts proved powerful enough to make a hundred-metre breach in traffic seem like an airport runway. With a relatively silent engine, you end up being a distinguished glimpse rather than a dominating menace on the road. The flipside: backseat comfort still belongs to the A4!