Confident or Sporty, Pick One (part 2)

I recently had a teleconference with a client who produces luxury sport sedans, and I brought up the issue of AWD and sport suspensions being mutually exclusive. This manufacturer explained that for AWD cars, the priority is for maximum compliance over rough roads, and that's not achievable with the sport suspension.

I mentioned the increasing trend toward adjustable suspensions, like Audi's Drive Select (pictured), and inquired whether they would consider the combination on a car with this sort of setup. They responded that the next generation of the entry sport sedan would be getting this technology, and that it's possible that it would be an option with AWD.

I suppose this is actually the reason why Audi was the first to introduce this kind of system in the segment occupied by the A4. Without it, perhaps they can't accommodate AWD and sporty handling, and Audi's sportiest offerings all have AWD.

So here's to the future, when I'll be able to fulfill my fantasy of both the perfect track car, and the perfect winter-mobile.

Confident or Sporty, Pick One

I'm currently working on a consulting project for a client that is introducing a brand new entry into what we call the Near Luxury segment. You might know this class as the cars getting whooped by the BMW 3-Series for the past several years.

In the info we got from the manufacturer, it turns out that, while there is a sport suspension option on this car, it is not available with all-wheel drive. I was all set to point out the foolishness in this setup to the client, when I dug into the issue and found out that for rear-drive based entries in this segment, this is pretty much universally true. In fact, the Infiniti G37x coupe that I recently drove lacked paddle shifters because they are only available on the sport package. BMW offers a sport package, but on the AWD models it omits the suspension upgrade. You're out of luck with Mercedes and Lexus, too.

It makes me feel a bit left out, since, quite honestly, if I were to buy a car in this class, I'd want both. I'm actually right in the wheelhouse for this segment, and it's possible my next car will hail from it. Why should I suffer if I want the security of AWD for the snowy Michigan winters, during which I actually change my tires, and the fun of a sport suspension for when I visit Grattan for some laps?

I discussed this with a co-worker, and he insisted that our client should be building cars for the larger market, not me. He's got an excellent point, but it still saddens me. If anyone has feedback on this, though, please comment, since I still feel like the combination works. Do you think they're making a mistake? Do you happen to have inside info that generally AWD on rear-drive platforms is not compatible with the decreased compliance of a sport suspension? Sound off!