Ford recalls nearly 200,000 Mustang Mach Es due to faulty door latches that could trap passengers
Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 200,000 electric Mustangs because the door latches could falter, potentially trapping passengers in the back seat.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford is recalling 197,432 Mustang Mach E midsize SUVs, model years 2021-2025.
The government agency that regulates automobile safety said that the electronic door latches may remain locked after a driver or front seat passenger exits the vehicle and shuts the door, potentially trapping a child or other passenger who is unable to use the interior door releases.
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37 minutes ago
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Tesla fires longtime insider as Europe slump deepens
Tesla fires longtime insider as Europe slump deepens originally appeared on TheStreet. It's safe to say all the chatter about robots, AI, and Musk's President Trump drama has masked Tesla's () core: an electric vehicle company that's now stumbling big time. Over the past few years, most earnings calls have hyped AI, robotaxis, and what Tesla could be. 💵💰💰💵 What it actually is, though, is a lagging AI player that continues to see a steep drop in vehicle sales. Mr. Market hasn't taken those declining sales reports kindly, either, with Tesla stock down more than 20% year to date. Moreover, the drama's now spilled over, with recent C-suite shakeups hinting that things are blowing up behind the scenes. Tesla and its unpredictable CEO, Elon Musk, have always landed in hot water, but the past few months have been uniquely messy. Early in 2025, Musk found himself in an unlikely alliance with the Trump administration as a special advisor. The move prompted backlash from progressive shoppers and lawmakers in no time, with massive 'Tesla Takedown' protests hitting showrooms in major U.S. cities and media chatter had buyers holding off vehicle purchases, and some states even started looking into unfair labor claims. With Tesla taking the hits, Musk told Reuters in April that he'd cut his Trump gig to just a day or two a week. Then in late May, after an ugly fallout with President Trump, he ditched the role entirely, promising to get back to Tesla's core business. The PR mess bruised Tesla's equity and precipitated some of its worst sales drops ever. Particularly in Europe, Tesla's foothold has been visibly slipping. Registrations have tanked by more than 40% early in the year and then by nearly 30% in the spring. In contrast, the broader European EV market expanded at an encouraging pace. By mid-2025, Tesla's share there had fallen to under 1% — a steep drop from the 1.6% it held a year earlier. More Tech Stock News: Circle's stock price surges after stunning CEO comment Robotaxi rivalry heats up as new cities come online Analyst reboots AMD stock price target on chip update Amid this decline, Chinese EV brands like BYD and SAIC's MG charged ahead with aggressive pricing and wider model options. In North America, Tesla's deliveries held up better, but Musk's public profile cooled off a lot of that enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the Tesla robotaxi trials started last week in Austin, attracting mixed reviews so far. Early influencer videos showed jerky braking and lane slip-ups, catching the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's eye. On the flip side, longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives still isn't rattled and remains bullish. Tesla has reportedly fired Omead Afshar, its head of North American and European operations, following a massive drop in European EV deliveries, according to Forbes. Afshar is a veteran Tesla engineer and has climbed the ranks since joining in 2011. Putting things in perspective, in May, Tesla sold just 8,729 EVs in Europe, down 40.5% from the prior-year period, with its market share shrinking to 0.9% from 1.6% year-over-year. Similarly, YTD registrations were at 46,312 units, a sharp 45% drop from 84,215 a year ago, while European EV demand climbed 12% in the first five months of 2025. In contrast, from January through May 2025, BYD's European registrations jumped fivefold from about 8,500 in Q1 2024 to over 37,000 in Q1 went up a notch in April, when BYD beat Tesla for the first time with 7,231 BEVs sold versus Tesla's 7,165. European BYD customers seem to be enjoying the company's aggressive pricing strategy, fresh hybrid models, and bigger dealer network. Meanwhile, Tesla's North American performance looks a lot better, but not bulletproof. In Q1 2025, Tesla delivered 128,100 EVs in the U.S, an 8.6% drop from a year ago, but it maintained the lion's share at 44%. The contrast reflects its home turf advantage, backed by a massive Supercharger network and loyal Model Y and Model 3 buyers. Nevertheless, automotive titans like GM, Ford, and Volkswagen are all gaining ground fast. All eyes are on Q2 as Tesla reports earnings on July 16, 2025. Wall Street's looking for GAAP EPS of 35 cents, down from 40 cents a year ago. In the last four quarters, Tesla's only topped EPS once in Q3 2024 and beat sales estimates just once, too. Analysts have also slashed EPS estimates 20 times in the past 90 days. On the deliveries front, the street's betting Tesla moved about 393,000 vehicles globally in Q2, down 11% year-over-year but up 17% from fires longtime insider as Europe slump deepens first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 27, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
Car and Driver
43 minutes ago
- Car and Driver
View Photos of the 1990 Full-Size Luxury Sedan Comparison Test
Read the full review The arrival of Lexus and Infiniti was a watershed event in the world of luxury cars. This is the first comparison test in which the LS400 and the Q45 competed.
Car and Driver
43 minutes ago
- Car and Driver
1990 Comparison Test: Full-Size Luxury Sedan Showdown
From the December 1989 issue of Car and Driver. Millennia from now, archaeologists will dig down through the layer left by the Automotive Era, and when they finish their sifting and sorting, they'll conclude, "Wow, 1990 was a showdown year in the car business." Model-year 1990 will be looked back on as the time when competition finally hit the high end of the market. The same on-rush of new models and new technology that enlivened the menu of low-priced automobiles in the 1980s is finally coming to high-priced automobiles in 1990. Toyota and Nissan are pushing their Lexus and Infiniti four-doors into the exclusive territory of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. What's going to happen? Easy. The market will go to the best cars. Not immediately, of course—people don't dump their present cars and loyalties the minute something better comes along. But over the years, buyers in the lower-priced markets have moved unerringly toward the better cars. Competition has forced the laggard brands to quicken their steps or be left for dead. The same realignment will happen at the top: our choices up there will just get better and better. Competition is a wonderful thing. The customer always wins. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver That brings us to the central question: What's the best luxury sedan of this new season? Again, easy. God invented comparison tests for just such questions. All will be revealed below. But first, let's talk about the candidates. What is a luxury sedan? The Japanese automakers have plainly cited BMW and Mercedes as "the competition." The top models of those German brands sell at prices so far above Cadillacs and Lincolns that no one would think of the Detroiters as comparable. Moreover, there is a great philosophical difference between the European and American approaches to expensive-sedan design. The Europeans take driving seriously, and a fine car must therefore be a fine tool for the discerning driver. Detroit generally regards driving as something that the affluent would leave to a chauffeur if they could, so the assignment of a Detroit luxury car is to isolate the driver from the drudgery. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver We unhesitatingly side with the European definition, and from that standpoint, the comparison choices become obvious. In size, price, and engine type, the Mercedes-Benz 420SEL and the BMW 735i match the new Japanese challengers more closely than the other offerings from their respective makers. The new Audi V8 Quattro offers traction advantages beyond all conventional sedans, which is surely a luxury from a driver's standpoint. The Jaguar XJ6 brings a unique British perspective to the class. Neither the Lincoln Continental nor the new Town Car is sufficiently driver-oriented to make the cut. Cadillac, however, clearly intends the Seville Touring Sedan for the active driver. Just look at its 16-inch blackwall Eagle GT+4 tires if you don't believe us. Finally, we come to Lexus and Infiniti. Both makers claim to have targeted Europe's best, so they asked for this no-holds-barred comparison. And we gave it to them, the full range of modern motoring—a day of city stop-and-go, another of Interstate cruising, and a third spent tearing up the twisties (in a secret location); the complete test-track ritual was included, of course. Now, our seven-man jury has rendered its decision. The results follow in ascending order of preference. Please, no peeking at the conclusion. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 7th Place: Cadillac STS This is not your normal Cadillac—not your normal Seville, either. Imagine a Cadillac Z28, and you'll be close, because this is a uniquely American approach to sporting luxury. The Seville Touring Sedan is shorter in overall length than the other cars in this test, and it is clearly less roomy—the unfortunate result of having a platform conceived in the early Eighties for a fuel-short future that never happened. On one hand, we're inclined to forgive the Seville for its tight packaging—hey, back in those days, we thought the petro future was bleak, too. On the other hand, 1990 is the fifth year of the Seville's production run. If it were on the typical Japanese four-year cycle, it would be out of production now. If GM isn't going to get competitive, it'll have to take its lumps. The STS definitely has a special-car sense about it. The big, bold 60-series Goodyears shoulder themselves out of the wheel openings. The exterior decor is restrained; there's no stand-up hood ornament, just one Caddy wreath-and-crest badge. The interior is finished in buckskin-colored leather with first-rate wood-burl accents. A console that cuts through the rear seat enforces the car's four-seater limit. And the exhausts speak with a rumbling accent. No, this is definitely not your country-club Cadillac. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver But it's not quite in the driver's idiom, either. The know-nothing instrument panel has its digital speedo and gas gauge positioned in front of the driver, and all other monitoring functions are combined into a computer display located at knee-height on the console. The driver's seat has lumbar and lateral-restraint adjustments, yet the cushion is so flaccid that basic support is absent. At night, when you dim the instruments for rural driving, the small controls (for the wipers, climate control, etc.) black out completely before the cluster is properly deglared. And the throttle is touchy in a way you never find in cars of breeding. Cadillac's 4.5-liter V-8 has gained 25 horsepower for 1990—up to 180 hp now—but it still has the lowest output of any engine in this group. Working in concert with an adroitly calibrated four-speed automatic, this engine makes for a quick-reflex machine in the cut and thrust of city driving. Out in the country, though, it's breathless compared with the others. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver The Z28 suggestion comes from the way this car moves. There's substantial grip (0.79 g on the skidpad) from the tires, the high roll stiffness tosses your head sideways on lumpy roads, and the shocks really send up a jolt over large bumps. The STS seems a handling sort of car in normal driving. But when the country curves come at you, the body floats, the steering becomes insensitive, and managing the grip is quite challenging. The faster you go, the less fun it becomes. We think the STS is a fine idea. Just don't quit now, Cadillac. 1990 Cadillac STS 180-hp V-8, 4-speed automatic, 3540 lb Base/as-tested price: $30,981/$36,870 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 9.2 sec 1/4 mile: 17.0 sec @ 81 mph 100 mph: 29.9 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 204 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.79 g C/D observed fuel economy: 14 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 5th Place (tie): Mercedes-Benz 420SEL This biggest of the Benzes is old—introduced in 1981—and its age shows. It feels ponderous, like driving a bank, and the jury ranked it lowest for fun. A lot of things about this car suggest a bank. The price, for one: at $62,600, including gas-guzzler tax, the 420SEL is the most expensive car in the test by a clear margin. The vast rear legroom also brings to mind a bank, or perhaps a small cathedral, as does the solid, stolid architecture. Those staffers who are particularly large of frame and girth find this an exceptionally comfortable car. The welterweights report hard seats that require serious bracing to maintain position during brisk motoring. Nothing about the outward personality of this machine prepares you for the joy of its 201-horsepower V-8, which pulls heroically and issues an absolutely exhilarating sound as it climbs the rev scale. The 420's automatic, though, is as obtuse as the Cadillac's is slick. It starts from rest in second gear and, at any speed, will downshift only after taking plenty of time to mull over the decision. The V-8 deserves a better partner. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver Despite its ponderous nature, this car is capable when it's time to hurry. The suspension is well-disciplined, and the tires hang on to the road. If you're smooth on the controls, the chassis seems never to give up. Capability, though, is not the same as being friendly. There's nothing welcoming about this car. Yes, it's terribly responsible: it's the only one in the group to provide airbags for both front occupants. And craftsmanship is right out there where you can see it: The wood tambour on the console compartment is a brilliant detail. But why so much roar from the dash vents? And why must so much effort be applied to the steering to keep from falling off the road crown? The answer is easy: this car is ten years old. In this market, that's obsolete. 1990 Mercedes-Benz 420SEL 201-hp V-8, 4-speed automatic, 3900 lb Base/as-tested price: $61,210/$62,600 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 9.3 sec 1/4 mile: 17.1 sec @ 85 mph 100 mph: 25.6 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 193 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.72 g C/D observed fuel economy: 15 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 5th Place (tie): Jaguar Sovereign The Jaguar could hardly be more different from the M-B: It's light to the touch where the German is heavy, and its interior seems more close-fitting—like a cockpit rather than a large room. Both interiors proffer wood and leather, but the British have a warmer, more welcoming way with the materials. Jaguar has made drastic improvements for 1990. The 24-valve inline six has been stroked 10 mm for a displacement increase to 4.0 liters. Power is up 13 percent, torque up 20 percent. The car is quick now, and the engine seems to hurry through the gears—yet the Jaguar still recorded the highest overall fuel economy in the test. As in the BMW, the six-cylinder powerplant gives the Jag a different and altogether earthier flavor than what comes through in the V-8-powered competitors. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver The instrument cluster for 1990 is, finally, back to the Jaguar way. Gone are the glowing green electronic gauges, replaced by round dials with needles and numbers, all set into a field of walnut burl. These traditional instruments, arranged in an intimately compartmentalized cockpit, are basic—make that essential—to the Jaguar way. The Jaguar way is quite different from the ways of other carmakers, not surprising when you remember that Jaguar is a vest-pocket car company: its total annual production of approximately 50,000 cars equals just two-thirds of what Lexus plans to sell in the U.S. in its first year. So we are tempted to make excuses when a Jaguar is equipped peculiarly—"How come this car has motorized passive belts instead of an airbag?"—and are then totally amazed by the things the car does well. The ride is an unusually fine combination of road sense and smoothness; brake dive and power squat are superbly disciplined. Overall handling is nicely balanced, but—another Jaguar quirk—the steering is so quick just off-center that you tend to steer too much and then correct. It takes a delicate touch to avoid the twitchies when you try to go fast. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver Generally, C/D staffers prefer sedans without compartmentalized interiors, and we place more emphasis on V-8 power than on wood and leather. Consequently, Jaguars—particularly the current-generation sedan—don't earn raves in our tests. Nonetheless, the 1990 model is a spirited performer, and Jaguar, in a burst of scrappiness, is prepared to duke it out with the Japanese on price. The base XJ6 lacks the sunroof, load leveling, and Euro headlights of our Sovereign-edition test car, and it has wood of a straighter grain inside. Those few sacrifices bring the price down to $39,700, pretty darned competitive for what amounts to a boutique sedan. 1990 Jaguar Sovereign 220-hp inline-6, 4-speed automatic, 3920 lb Base/as-tested price: $43,000/$43,500 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 9.6 sec 1/4 mile: 17.0 sec @ 85 mph 100 mph: 24.1 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 190 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.74 g C/D observed fuel economy: 18 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 4th Place: BMW 735i This car earned its highest marks when driven seriously through the back-country twisties, it impressed us at night with its turn-the-world-white high beams, and it provoked a surprising number of rude comments from us in routine traffic, where there wasn't much to do besides notice a few annoying details. BMW handling is marked by clear signals to the driver, predictable response, and a suspension that's quite taut. The 735i doesn't wallow or bottom out. That's basic, and that's good. You can be reasonably sure the car will go where you point it. You can also be reasonably sure it will drift its tail a bit when you lift off the power during hard cornering. That's fun if you're ready for it, although probably not in the textbook description of good handling. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver What's not so much fun is the steering, which has a zone of insecurity on-center that requires a lot of minor corrections in polite traffic and even when you're cooking along. The BMW's interior architecture includes vast expanses of severe black padding, uncluttered white-on-black gauges, plenty of glass, and a high driving position that provides excellent outward visibility but not much headroom for tall drivers. Generally, the control efforts are moderate and smooth. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver At the same time, this car has quirks that are hard to forgive at its $55,140 (including gas-guzzler tax) price. The air conditioner wheezes loudly and lacks an automatic setting for the fan speed. The brake-light switch clacks with every pedal application. Our test car had rattles. The engine ties for the loudest of the group at idle, and it sounds coarse under power. At 10.3 seconds to 60 mph, acceleration is the weakest of the group, too. Still, there's something undefinable about the 735i that engenders warmth in the heart and votes in the ballot box. That, finally, is the all-important insight that only a direct comparison with the competition can reveal. 1990 BMW 735i 208-hp inline-6, 4-speed automatic, 3800 lb Base/as-tested price: $54,000/$55,140 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 10.3 sec 1/4 mile: 17.4 sec @ 83 mph 100 mph: 25.1 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 183 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.76 g C/D observed fuel economy: 16 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 3rd Place: Audi V8 Quattro The Audi did not win a single category of the balloting but scored high in all of them, indicating well-rounded abilities. Its highest marks came in handling and in driving fun, in both cases just one point behind the Infiniti. The Audi V8 Quattro's handling is direct and secure, with inexorably increasing understeer as power is increased. The suspension did seem to bottom a few times in the rough stuff, but even then, the car retained its composure. "Fun to drive" is a loose, catchall category, and yet it is perhaps the most important one of all. And here, the Audi does many things right. It feels nimble in the city. The accurate steering drew raves. Most staffers found the car a nice fit on their bodies. The seat offers excellent support. The instruments are nicely placed and legible. And, just as important, everything inside seems in exquisite taste. The test car's interior was finished in shades of gray; you could wear this car forever and not tire of the look. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver All of the four-wheel-drive equipment beneath the skin adds up to make this, at 4040 pounds, the heaviest car in the test. The 3562-cc V-8 is rated at 240 horsepower, third highest. But the engine is weak at low revs, which, in turn, makes the car sluggish from rest. The first 25 feet away from an intersection are agonizing. When you're on the roll, the transmission downshifts eagerly, enabling the engine to work in the rev range it likes best. No complaints then. This Audi is a luxury car in the most athletic sense. Of course, the Quattro system gives superb traction when you need it, but it's more than that. You always feel sinewy muscles in the chassis. The suspension is just plain hard over small bumps, and there's a growling, high-drag feel to the chassis that's not present in the others. Lift off the power in this car and it slows quicker than the others, almost as if the brakes were dragging a little. It's tempting to blame all of those bearings and U-joints in the drivetrain, but we have no proof. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver This car carries the idea of luxury further in the European direction than any other car in the group: the engine needs revs to perform, the chassis cares nothing about creamy ride, and the machine's overall sense of agility is unmatched. It's a flavorful car. 1990 Audi V8 Quattro 240-hp V-8, 4-speed automatic, 4040 lb Base/as-tested price: $47,450/$49,435 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 10.2 sec 1/4 mile: 17.4 sec @ 84 mph 100 mph: 25.5 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 180 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.77 g C/D observed fuel economy: 15 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 2nd Place: Infiniti Q45 This car topped the fun-to-drive sweepstakes, largely because the engine and the transmission create rapture, and there's nothing very wrong elsewhere to break the spell. The engine is simply extravagant, 4494 cc of sensuous muscle. It idles so quietly that more than one of us, at a driver change, tried to restart it when it was already running. Response to the throttle is always crisp. And the machinery speaks with sweet verve at full power, truly the voice of luxury. The Infiniti hauls butt, too. Despite its weight (4020 pounds, the second heaviest of the group), the Q45 was easily the fastest car in our test. It's the only one to 60 mph in under eight seconds, the only one to 100 mph in under 20 seconds, the only one through the quarter-mile at over 90 mph (this is fast-car territory), and the only one to top 150 mph flat out (the Lexus did 150 exactly). You'll have to pay a truckload for a faster four-door. And yet ... and yet, the Q45 doesn't go around acting like a fireball car. It's just as mild as a reference librarian if you don't provoke it. And even when you do, it's the quietest of the group at wide-open throttle. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver This is a big car, but not huge like the Mercedes. Rear-seat legroom is tight, considering the exterior bulk. The driver's seat cushion doesn't tip up quite far enough in front for comfort. And the look of the interior is vaguely off-putting. All of the materials are so close to the same hue (but not quite) and all the surfaces are so close to the same texture (but not quite) that question kept arising: Are they supposed to match or not? The mood changes as soon as the sun goes down. Everything you touch feels rich in the dark. And the architecture of the dash, a cove with widely spread instruments, creates the mood of an airliner flight deck. Even the murky little orange electro numbers (for odometers and such) at the bottom of the analog cluster become clearly visible. We can't recall another car so completely transformed by lighting. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver We particularly like the steering and pedal efforts of this car. They seem exactly right. And the transmission always seems to choose the right gear. Strangely, our test car was equipped with sporting Michelin XGT V tires, which are supposed to be included only with the Super HICAS rear-wheel-steering option (which our car did not have). They have inspired behavior in the twisties, which probably gave this car an unfair advantage there, and they probably added harshness to the ride. How much harshness? Not enough to raise a single complaint, which suggests that the Q45 will be an easy rider with the standard tires. Out on the tearing-around roads, we did notice that the Infiniti was more apt to be unsettled by large bumps than the others. Nothing alarming, though. One staffer noted in the logbook, "I'm tired of writing superlatives about this car." Ever heard a better exit line? 1990 Infiniti Q45 278-hp V-8, 4-speed automatic, 4020 lb Base/as-tested price: $38,000/$38,350 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 7.9 sec 1/4 mile: 15.8 sec @ 91 mph 100 mph: 19.4 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 193 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.75 g C/D observed fuel economy: 16 mpg View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver 1st Place: Lexus LS400 Who would have guessed? Toyota, in its first time at bat in the major leagues, slams one out of the park. The LS400 is a formidable stroke. This car scored highest in six categories and topped the "overall" ballot by a clear margin. Every staffer loved it. This is an extraordinarily mild automobile, even more so than the Q45, with a friendly temperament, confident moves, and a polished demeanor. It never screws up. It is by design, though, a very filtered, silken automobile, the hardest job of all to pull off. We stand in admiration of the engineers who executed this assignment. At the same time, we recognize that the Lexus may seem a bit placid to the strong-coffee crowd, those who don't think they're getting real flavor unless their car has the forceful, machine-like demeanor of the Audi or the BMW. The only forceful assertion in the LS400 is correctness. What do we like best about the Lexus? That's tough. The engine is not quite as strong as the Infiniti's, but it's a bit more thrilling in its tone. Performance is second only to the Q45. And the automatic seems to read the driver's mind in choosing its gears. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver Still, maybe it's the interior that charms the most. The arrangement of the controls is logical and fine. The textures and colors are chic. The seats seem to have just the right shape. And the steering wheel's leather feels as if it came from a heifer that enjoyed Elizabeth Arden treatment all its life. Or possibly it's the ride that wins us over. This car moves creamily over the streets without a flutter, yet the suspension is disciplined. A few staffers felt mildly inhibited on the tearing-around roads, not quite sure they had enough feedback—particularly from the steering—to proceed with the usual abandon. But they came around after a bit. The Goodyear Eagle GA tires were developed with ride quality as a high priority, but they manage, in concert with the suspension, to produce a highly predictable steering feel on the curves. Our test Lexus was equipped with nearly every option in the book. Leather is $1400 extra; we highly recommend it. The air suspension, at $1500, may be more a matter of gilding the lily. For sure, the load-leveling feature is a good idea if you carry heavy loads. The Sport damping position on the console switch seems to be more of a personal decision. Some of our drivers never switched out of it on the twisty road, others never bothered to engage it. Even in the Sport setting, ride quality is quite reasonable. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver Easily the most controversial part of the Lexus is the grille. It doesn't look original. For a car that seems to break new ground in all of its executions, such an ambivalent face is troubling. Not too troubling, though. A luxury sedan is more than speed, more than comfort, more than nifty gadgets—more, even, than the envy of your peers. It's satisfaction on wheels. We spent a lot of time on this test pondering the idea of a car as a prized possession. What is it about an automobile that gives lasting satisfaction, a sense of joy even in the wee hours when it's locked in the garage and all is dark? How about "perfection"? When the machine comes as close as you can imagine to flawless execution, there's no holding back the satisfaction. Mies van der Rohe opined that God is in the details. With that in mind, we started looking beneath the surface of these cars at details that normally escape notice. The editorial gaze finally settled on trunk hinges. Every car has two of them, plus wiring that must jump from the body to the lid for various electrical devices. On the Cadillac and the Jaguar, the hinges are straightforward metal stampings, painted body color, with the wiring routed alongside the arm. Just the basics, in other words. On the Audi and the Mercedes, the hinge arms are made of tubing, and the wire is routed within one of them. Still basic, but very tidy. View Photos David Dewhurst | Car and Driver On the BMW and the Infiniti, the hinge arms are clad with black molded plastic that hides the wire. Extra effort expended there. On the Lexus, the arms are beautifully formed stampings arranged so that the sheared edges of the metal are hidden, leaving only smooth radii for the eye to behold. Into the left-side arm is formed a deep groove running its full length. The wiring is routed inside the groove, and it is concealed by a black rubber welt. All you see are two elegant hinges, one showing an orderly, black seam. A sublime execution. There are countless details in a luxury sedan. Lexus, particularly, seems to have lavished attention on every one of them. With the newcomers already on top of the game—as verified by our rankings—this luxury class will be a fascinating arena to watch as competition goads all the players to do their best. The nineties will be a glorious decade for cars. 1990 Lexus LS400 250-hp V-8, 4-speed automatic, 3940 lb Base/as-tested price: $35,000/$42,650 C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 8.6 sec 1/4 mile: 16.3 sec @ 88 mph 100 mph: 20.8 sec Braking, 70-0 mph: 195 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.73 g C/D observed fuel economy: 16 mpg
