Mercedes-Benz E350 HIGHS: Dynamically sophisticated, airy ride quality, plenty quick, luxurious through and through.
LOWS: Pointless gadgetry, elevated price, a few cheesy details.
The only gauche elements that might have a design referee reaching for a flag are the numerous three-pointed-star logos crammed into the grille and taillights. Otherwise, the E’s silhouette carries forward as much as its dynamic sophistication, and the latter is precisely what landed the previous E-class on our 10Best Cars list two years in a row.
By the numbers, it’s much the same. The wheelbase grows by 0.9 inch, and rear-seat space is adult luxurious. A 255-hp turbo 2.0-liter four powers the E350, and a 375-hp turbo inline-six motivates the E450. The base price is up by $5450, although newly standard all-wheel drive accounts for part of that leap.
Sure, we’d prefer the sound of the six, but the E350’s four-cylinder is extremely refined and refuses to get unruly, even as it strains to run to 60 mph in a plenty-quick 5.8 seconds. It also delivered 35 mpg on our 75-mph highway fueleconomy loop (equating to 600 miles of range).
Only when you’re outside the car does its idle sound diesel-like thanks to its high-pressure direct-injection fuel system.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Car and Driver.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Car and Driver.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
The Best Odds
SOMETIMES-NOT OFTEN, BUT sometimes-car manufacturers create something semi-wondrous that is also borderline irrational and three-quarters inexplicable to their own marketing types.
Mileage Booster
Kia Carnival Hybrid HIGHS: Big mpg bump, no CVT weirdness, solid ride and handling. LOWS: Shared HVAC and audio controls, second-row loungers can't be removed, changing brake-pedal feel.
Medium Spicy
Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo HIGHS: Lengthy list of features, spacious interior, generous trunk. LOWS: Uncomfortably flat seats, rivals are quicker, only modest grip.
Drivelines
HORACIO PAGANI IS A visionary designer and self-taught engineer.
Suspensions of Disbelief
It's easy to say a vehicle rides well but much more difficult to explain the nuanced implications of that highly subjective statement.
PUMPED-UP KICKS
NISSAN ISN'T SHY about experimenting with its subcompact of ferings. In the recent past, it briefly gave us the adorable Cube, seemingly designed by Hello Kitty, followed by the frog-eyed Juke that somehow spawned a six-figure R-badged super-SUV in other markets.
THE ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO. THE BMW M3 COMPETITION. AND THE CADILLAC CT4-VBLACKWING HEAD SOUTH ONA ROAD TRIP TO FIND OUT WHICH ONE BEST DELIVERS ON THE SPORTS-SEDAN PROMISE.
One of us, gassing up the 2025 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, says, \"No, we drove from Michigan.
SINCE WE APPRECIATE GREAT TALENT IN ALL ITS FORMS, WE ALSO HONOR THE 10BEST TRUCKS, SUVS, AND VANS. INCLUDING ONE WINNER WITH LITERAL BUZZ.
THE DISCUSSION AROUND this year's 10Best Trucks competition had some editors wishing the award were called 12Best.
OUR VERSION OF A 2024 AUTOMOTIVE AWARDS SHOW (SOMETIMES HUMOROUS, SOMETIMES NOT).
America's fastest senior citizen made the save of the year when his Funny Car's engine exploded at Virginia Motorsports Park.
"A ROMANCE THAT BUILDS WITH SPECTACULAR PASSION. THE LONGER YOU DRIVE IT, THE BETTER IT GETS."
When the history of the sports sedan is written, the late-narrative plot twist that few would have seen coming is the emergence of CadillacCadillac!-as the keeper of the flame. And yet, that's exactly what's happened.
