Visit Bavaria - 5 Things You shall love & About the hatred Bayern, Germany
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Five reasons to love or hate, the German car culture.
There are a few months, we have taken a view 500 feet of the culture of American cars to dissect pride and prejudice on our way to the conclusion that auto allegiances can be embraced simultaneously derided We had so much fun with the story that we decided to do it again, this time a look at Germany and its world renowned range of automakers, including people from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen, among others.
Join us below we discuss the points and counterpoints that are or have been the German automotive industry what it is today.
If America is known for the proliferation of the V8 engine, an argument could be that Germany has the V12 Yes, of course, other companies have created V12 Ferrari, Jaguar and Lamborghini come to mind immediately, but the big 12 cylinder powerplants from BMW and Mercedes-Benz in particular have proven to be some of the most effortless luxury motors and more squarely built the world has ever seen.
These days, having 12 cylinders is more a case of excess miserable than ever, and yet you can still walk in your BMW or Mercedes and get a brand new 760i, S600 or even an over-the- top G65 AMG, be damned effective.
Best of all, since the majority of these German power plants is rapidly depreciate an anchor well, almost all car enthusiasts who dream of a dozen rolls can satisfy their carnal desires.
Remember how we talked about those glorious V12 engine Well, you can even get an Audi that runs on diesel If your fantasies ignition compression err more on the side of fuel savings, that art no problem, be it Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen have what you need, with engines from as small as 800 cubic centimeters Smart Fortwo.
If you want something a little more practice, it is hard to argue with a VW Golf TDI, which will provide plenty of space for you and three of your best friends, plus a fair bit of luggage, while returning miles 50-ish per gallon.
For purposes of this discussion, we'd rather focus on silly levels of torque provided by Germany diesel engines upscale than the low range fuel sippers that he ys something wrong with them, but can possibly complain about -Feet 720 pounds of torque V12 TDI from Audi, or even 553 lb-ft V10 TDI that once powered the VW Touareg.
Perhaps the most interesting diesel applications used by the Germans, however, come from the long-distance running, especially at Le Mans Audi Suffice it to say, Germany has proven that diesel engines are a core competence, which we fully endorse.
The automotive press in general is an inventive group, came with a myriad of ways to describe the strength German auto vault of the Bank Anvil Tank-as there are many more, but that's not really the point that you see, there are reasons publications like ours use these descriptors, it is because German cars, with particular emphasis on Mercedes-Benz, have a well deserved reputation for being over-design.
This engineering excellence can be better go back to the W126 and W140 1979-1991 1992-1998 Mercedes S-class sedans, which were, and still are, hailed as automotive benchmarks in luxury and performance car segments Even today, just about everyone could plop in the driver's seat of a classic for years and 80,300 sE content with the driving experience, which is not something we could say most vehicles of the time.
Nowadays, an argument could certainly be that the engineering gap has virtually to the point of non-existence between German cars and their rivals from Europe, Japan and the United States, at least in regarding the segments where all players of all countries participate, but the Germans still have a few tricks up their sleeves as Porsche seen just below.
AMG M RS These are terms that we all know well, Mercedes, BMW and Audi Brabus, RUF and Quattro, as they are the names given to the German plants tuners, and machinery of these specific companies for each brand are revealed are the stuff of legends.
So full did a lot of these tuning companies become the factories themselves were forced to take action, usually by bringing the secondary market internally, creating a sub-brand and give driving enthusiasts exactly what they wanted, directly from the factory, and with a guarantee at this stage, it is difficult to imagine a BMW without the letter M or Mercedes AMG without.
Okay, this little tongue in cheek, but bear with us The German automakers like the word momentum, and I can tell you that those of us who talk with men and women to these brands, and who read every press release from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and VW, get a bit of a chuckle descriptions by constant dynamism.
For the record, Merriam-Webster defines the word dynamism in this way a theory that all phenomena that matter or movement can be explained as manifestations of force or an expansionist quality Not that German brands means, although the Oxford Dictionary is more appropriate definition quality to be characterized by vigorous activity and progress, or the quality of the attitude being dynamic and positive.
No matter what definition you use, however, the word dynamism we still hits like a funny way to express the dynamic qualities that Germans bake in their vehicles again, funny or not, we're pleased that these dynamic properties such a concern for the engineers German manufacturers.
As we have said, we had fun with this little exercise a few months back, focusing on American cars Just as before, it's a counterpoint quite legitimate to each of the reasons cited above we love German cars.
The V12 engines are thirsty and even much more expensive than V8s in general, and a high number of cylinders are completely useless in the modern age we live in, we're big fans of the Mercedes-Benz AMG CLA45 that puts power 355 healthy and 332 lb-ft of torque from only 2 0 liters, thanks to good engineering and large turbochargers It is, of course, much more effective than large V12s of honkin seen in machines like the Maybach S600.
Oh yes, we mentioned impairment There is a reason for this.
Diesel engines can be very effective, if used appropriately But most oil burners we know and love aren t exactly used correctly does the world really need V10 and V12 TDI engines beat paved and emitting harmful gases from exhaust pipes massive SUVs not clearly and, of course, the environmental debate between gasoline, diesel and electricity or raging, with serious consequences each.
Excellence in engineering Is this to say that the Americans, Asians and Europeans aren t able to engineering a carton What's more, much of the praise heaped comes from German brands success and milestones other words, we are as varied sure automakers Acura and Lexus Ferrari and Lotus would gladly put their engineering feats against that of BMW and Mercedes, and to gain some points.
Factory setting departments are fine, but they're certainly not limited to Germany Any number of digital titles and deployed alphamerical of skunk works factory Chevrolet, Chrysler and Ford, for example, and have won fans and motor sport all over the world, including in the competition against the Germans.
And then we have the dynamism What is that mean the same, anyway is it measurable applicable significantly No, not really just one word, and one of the most nebulous that and so does The debates that center on that makes the best cars seem to be in no danger of being decided in the near future, and for that we're grateful After all, what kind of place would be the Internet as if it weren t for odious fanboys of all shapes, sizes and nationalities fought the Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette, the Golf and Ford focus or VW G-class relative to the Defender.
Not the kind of Internet we want to share So, keep, obsessed with boys and girls We exist because of you.
Five reasons to love or hate the German car culture, reasons, love, hate.