2010 Lexus HS 250h

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2010 Lexus HS250h Review
There are luxurious cars, and there are fuel-efficient cars. There are even some that offer moderate levels of both characteristics. But no vehicle has managedor even attemptedto take luxury and fuel economy simultaneously to such high levels as has the 2010 Lexus HS250h, the industrys first dedicated luxury hybrid. Think of it as the Prius of Lexuses or the Lexus of Priusesyour choiceand you wont be far off. If any company can pull it off, its Lexus. But by Lexuss own admission, the HS250h is not one of the brands so-called no-compromises hybridssuch as the RX450h, the GS450h, and the LS600hwhich supplement well-endowed engines with electric power for a driving experience that feels befitting of their luxurious trappings while still delivering better fuel economy and lower emissions.

Walkaround
So what happens when Toyota takes the small-car chassis on which it also bases the Prius and adds hundreds of pounds worth of Euro-market Toyota Avensisbased sheetmetal and luxo gewgaws? Well, for one thing, it gets slowerwhich is why Lexus deemed the Priuss 98-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder inadequate and replaced it with the Camry hybrids Atkinson-cycle, 2.4-liter unit with 147 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque. The nickel-metal hydride battery pack and electric motor conspire with the engine for a system output of 187 hp (the 3050-pound Prius makes only 134 combined horsepower). Hustling the 3740-pound HS250h to 60 mph takes 8.4 seconds, which is 1.4 seconds faster than the last Prius we tested. The HS pays the piper in fuel economy, though, as its EPA city/highway ratings of 35/34 mpg doesnt even come close to the Priuss 51/48 figures. In spite of the HS250hs alleged acceleration advantage, the Prius and the HS250h feel virtually identical from behind the electrically assisted steering wheel (which, in the HS250h, unlike in the Prius, is thankfully not ovoid). Road feel is pretty much zero, even with the optional 18-inch wheels and 225/45-series tires. However, the steering response is direct and reasonably quick. At the same time, the interior sound quality isnt exactly up to the traditional Lexus-isolationist level. We wish it were, for as much as we like to hear and feel whats going on beneath us, what we hear and feel inside the HS250h are the droning mooOOOOooo of the engine-and-CVT combination during acceleration, along with a fair amount of tire noise and low-level reverberations from road impacts. We understand that less weight is important for any hybrid in the interest of fuel economyand indeed for any vehiclebut even we would like a few more pounds of sound-deadening material in the HS250h so we dont have to hear the powertrains pitiful drone. We suspect anyone whos ever owned a whisper-quiet Lexus would agree.

Summary
Okay, so dynamically, the HS250h leaves a lot to be desired. But what about luxury? The good news is that the HS250h offers many more luxury fitments than we usually associate with hybrids. Problem is, so does the 2010 Prius. The list of features that come standard on the HS is long, but not much longer than that of a reasonably well-optioned Prius. The base textured leather upholstery feels more like leatherette and makes the upgraded semi-aniline leather a worthwhile upgrade. Color combos are slick, especially the high-contrast cream leather with black carpeting, but there remains a certain sense of thin-skinned cheapness to the materials that reveal the cars light-weight-over-substance priority set. And with the batteries located between the rear seatback and trunk, the cargo area is surprisingly small and lacks the accessibility of the Priuss hatchback. And there are many optionssuch as the odd-but-effective lane keep assist feature, adaptive cruise control with collision mitigation, and swiveling headlampsthat can also be added to the Prius. Exclusive to the HS250h, however, are such options as Lexuss nifty remote touch controller, a wide-view front monitor, a head-up display, and a Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system. The HS250h debuts Lexuss new OnStar-like Enform system, which makes real live people available to beam directions to your navigation system, displays sports and stock information, and allows owners to input up to 100 destinations into the car from their computer rather than from the drivers seat.

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2010 BMW M6 Review
The rear-wheel-drive 2010 BMW M6 is powered by a 5.0-liter V10 that pumps out a thrilling 500 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. A seven-speed single-clutch automated manual gearbox called SMG is standard, and it can be operated via wheel-mounted shift paddles, manual shift-lever manipulation or a full-automatic mode. A six-speed manual transmission is available at no additional cost. The M6 makes quick work of acceleration tests, as you might expect. We've timed an SMG-equipped coupe at just 4.6 seconds to 60 mph en route to a 12.8-second quarter-mile. Expect the heavier convertible M6 to require a few extra tenths. EPA fuel economy estimates for all M6 models are an impressively bad 11 mpg city/17 mpg highway and 13 mpg in mixed driving.

Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options
The 2010 BMW M6 is offered as either a coupe or convertible. Based on the 6 Series, the M6 comes standard with 19-inch double-spoke wheels, a carbon-fiber roof (coupe only) a body kit (including a more aggressive front airdam, side-sill extensions and a rear diffuser), adaptive xenon headlights, adjustable suspension dampers, leather-upholstered 12-way power front sport seats with driver memory settings, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, Bluetooth, the revised iDrive interface with a hard-drive-based navigation system featuring real-time traffic updates, and a 13-speaker Harman Kardon surround-sound audio system. The convertible comes with a power soft top. Options include a head-up display, keyless entry/ignition, satellite radio, HD Radio, iPod/USB integration and leather trim for the dash and console. Walnut wood trim is standard in the M6, but olive ash wood and carbon-fiber trim are also available. The 2010 BMW M6's dashboard layout is clean and attractive, but it's basically lifted out of the 5 Series sedan, so it's not particularly sporty relative to, say, the dash Porsche puts into the 911. Materials quality, however, is absolutely first-rate. The newly revised iDrive system with hard-drive-based navigation is finally a competitive infotainment interface, thanks to additional physical buttons around the control knob and a new menu structure that just makes a lot more sense. As ever, it also provides access to in-depth functions like the maximum-performance "P500 Sport" mode that unleashes all 500 hp (400 hp being the default output) with instantaneous throttle response. The M6's front sport seats are among the best in the world, offering both excellent lateral support and drive-all-day comfort. The tight rear seats are strictly for short trips, though. Trunk capacity for the coupe is 13 cubic feet, while the convertible manages a decent 12.4 cubes (10.6 with the top down).

Summary
For 2010, one additionally previous demerit has been erased thanks to an updated iDrive system. Like other 2010 BMW models, the M6's iDrive gets a new interface with more sensible-to-use menus, extra buttons for accessing oft-used features and a hard-drive-based navigation system. With this fixed, one's consideration of the M6 could very well come down to styling. If classic looks is your thing, you'd be better off going with a Porsche 911 (the current model has got its aesthetic groove back), a Jaguar XKR or the coupe-only Maserati GranTurismo. But if all-out performance and daily-driver flexibility are high on your list of priorities, the 2010 BMW M6 is hard to beat.

2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid

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2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid Review
It'sprobably best to call the new Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid a mild,rather than full, hybrid, because it can't propel itself on electricalpower alone. In other words, the BlueHybrid is not powered by thetwo-mode system co-developed with GM for big SUVs, which will be anoption for the M-Class next year. This is a smaller, cheaper systemdesigned to be scaleable across all Mercedes car lines. Despite itscomparative simplicity, the S400 BlueHybrid's gasoline and CO2 savingsare significant: some 21% in the European test cycle, compared with theregular V-6 S350. It's also quieter at rest and more muscular inreal-world acceleration. There's very little penalty over the standardV-6 in terms of weight -- just 170 lb -- and none at all in passengeror luggage accommodation or payload.

Walkaround
2010 Mercedes Benz S400 BluehybridRear View Click to view Gallery Of course you can't buy a regularEuro-spec S350 in the U.S., so let's do the numbers against a V-8 S550.The BlueHybrid goes 47% farther on a gallon than the S550 on the Eurotest cycle, but its performance figures aren't so far off -- aboutseven sec 0-to-60 instead of 5.4. That's why they called it S400:because it feels like a four-liter engine. The BlueHybrid's electricmotor effectively does duty as the gas engine's flywheel, turning atcrank speed all the time. It offers 118 lb-ft of torque at zero revs,but because its torque falls with revs, it only contributes an extra 20hp to the total by the time the gas engine is in its stride. Comparedwith the standard V-6, this extra torque makes it feel slightly morelike the V-8 at lower revs: a strong but lazy roll-on to the throttlewithout so many hectic downshifts. 2010 Mercedes Benz S400 BluehybridSide View Click to view Gallery The point, throughout this engineeringjob, was to make the hybrid feel like the regular car, except in theissue of tank range. In fact, the V-6 has new cam timing and cylinderheads. It runs, like a Prius, on the Atkinson cycle. This delays inletvalve closing, reducing effective compression.

Summary
It gives the enginegreat efficiency but over a fairly narrow rev range. In other parts ofthe rpm spectrum, the electric motor fills in the torque deficit. Thetransmission is reprogrammed to suit, aiming to keep the engine whereit's happiest. The electronics keep a constant eye on battery state ofcharge, and if it's near 100%, then the electric motor is deployedfully while the engine is throttled back. If you've just ascended along steep hill and the battery is low, then more of the overall powerwill be coming from the engine.

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