F... Lexus Xmas Commercials

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Maybe true, but I'd take a Mercedes or a Beamer 8 days a week over a Lexus or Acura. There's something special about the way a Benz and Beamer drive. A Lexus is a glorified Toyota, and an Acura is glorified Honda. Infiniti's don't really drive any better than Nissans. Nothing wrong with Honda, Nissan, and Toyota, but I feel like they just slap their top-shelf models with a different name and try to pawn them off as "luxury."

Audi, Benz, BMW... Still far ahead of the rest performance-wise, even if numbers say otherwise.

Come again? What other metrics are there when it comes to performance? Fastest from point A to B is all that matters.

As far as Honda:Acura, Nissan:Infiniti, Toyota:Lexus, it is much more than badge replacement. Engine and transmission variances, quality of materials, gap control, etc are all huge distinguishing characteristics between the house brand and the upscale brands.

For instance, my daily driver is an 06 Acura TSX. I chose this car because of the availability of Bluetooth (at the time), size (it's smaller than an Accord, bigger than a Civic), engine and transmission availability (K24A2 not available in any Honda model as well as 6 speed manual), as well as many other smaller details that you just couldn't find in any North American Honda at the time.

Lexus is the same way. Find me the Toyota that is just a rebadged IS, GS, or LS. All three of those models are unique to the Lexus brand. Inifiniti does reuse platforms to a higher degree than the other two, but even the Infiniti models differ greatly from their Nissan cousins.