Depends on the car and what one wants. The manufacturers are trying to appeal to the broadest possible audience, which dumbs down the products.

Where I find most domestics and Asians come up weak is when you hurl them down a windy road at extra-legal speeds. Then the softer suspensions and lack of steering feel really show up. A few hours on the road and the seats aren't so good. But unless one has experienced great seats they don't know the difference.

But there are exceptions. Even 10 years ago I put over 2,500 miles on two rented Olds Intrigues and found them just as good as say, my Saab 9000 or our 9-5 on two long hauls, but not not as good on the back twisties. I've put about as many miles on some versions of the Ford Taurus and felt that with some Konis/Bilsteins and decent tires they'd be reasonable. The 10-way leather seats in our Ford Exploder were equal to the seats in our Saabs, and both my wife and I notice seats bigtime.

I was surprised by the previous generation Mitsubishi Eclipse for seat comfort on 4-6 hour trips as well as handling (although they need 3 more inches of suspension travel). The previous generation Nissan Altima wasn't bad on some 4-hour jaunts, including some great windy roads. (The current version...not so much!).

Is a BMW or Audi or Merc better? Sure, but the question in this thread are they really worth the big difference in price and upkeep? When you compare new car prices it gets harder to justify the difference. But a used Euro brand can be a great deal over a domestic/Asian.

The car mags love to do tests comparing cars and once the numbers are out of the way the evaluations get kinda subjective and personal opinions weigh in. To me, seats and steering feel still come up short. I don't like the way they are geared and the lack of poke when I punch it at 70 mph. But the number of turbo-motor cars out there is increasing, which is nice to see!

What domestics/Asians really lack is character and soul. And you can't add those as options!

• The European car as a concept, No Snaab, Tue, 3 Jan 2012 15:51:50
  • A good case in point, No Snaab, Sat, 7 Jan 2012 14:59:57
  • What is European?, OKSaabs, Thu, 5 Jan 2012 06:31:55
  • Re: The European car as a concept, Bruce, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 12:24:06
  • European (foreign) no longer that different., Cary, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 06:05:34
    • Re: European (foreign) no longer that different., John in Bismarck, Thu, 5 Jan 2012 06:56:31
  • Agree. ...and this thread could get lengthy., Noel, Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:41:26
    • rust, torque curves + gearing, handling, safety, ergo, James, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 22:08:57
    • Same thing happened to Cadillac and Lincoln, No Snaab, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 15:43:26
      • You're right on the subtle dfifferences, Noel, Thu, 5 Jan 2012 08:01:03
    • The decline in European cars is almost a, poop deck pappy , Tue, 3 Jan 2012 17:02:25
      • Re: The decline in European cars is almost a, john in ct, Tue, 3 Jan 2012 18:32:21
        • Nice e34 choice, PGAero , Wed, 4 Jan 2012 10:11:53
          • Re: Nice e34 choice, Dan-O, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 12:50:34
  • American cars a still a POS, nwas, Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:10:48
    • What have you driven lately?, No Snaab, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 09:34:58
      • Rated better? Maybe when new... not after 2 - 3years, nwas, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 16:26:46
    • Re: American cars a still a POS, Noel, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 07:06:32 <-- Viewing This Message
    • Re: American cars a still a POS, Gary G, Tue, 3 Jan 2012 21:27:51
      • Avenger, Brian in MA, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 05:28:57
        • Re: Avenger, James, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 21:45:56
        • Apples to Oranges, Bruce, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 12:08:53
          • Re: Apples to Oranges, kkelley, Wed, 4 Jan 2012 20:07:14

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