LUXE WHEELS

An auto expert picks out his favourite luxury sedans

- BOB RUPANI

In October, I was asked to pick my “five favourite luxury SUVs” and now here is a selection of my “five favourite luxury sedans”. While SUVs may be the flavour of the day and presently the most popular segment of vehicles, a luxury sedan has a charm and class all of its own. If a luxury SUV has street presence, a luxury sedan is all about style. And where a luxury SUV exudes strength, the luxury sedan exhibits its grace. A luxury SUV may have a commanding stance, but the luxury sedan glides along nonchalantly. One of the biggest and most important differences between them is the body roll and ride quality. A SUV due to its body style is tall and has an upright stance and good ground clearance. These result in a higher CG or centre of gravity, the outcome of which is more body roll and body movement. In contrast, the sedan sits lower to the ground and corners more flatly. The limited body movement also results in a far better ride quality. Yes, however good a luxury SUVs suspension may be, due to the inherent nature and purpose of its design, it can never deliver the supple and refined ride comfort of a top of the line luxury sedan. Given this, if you are someone who wants the smoothest ride that isolates passengers from unpleasant bumps and vibrations, then a luxury sedan should be what you have in your sights.

And when you go shopping, you might want to consider my “favourite five”. But please note, this list is largely based on my personal preferences.

MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS

For the longest time, the S-Class has been considered the “best car in the world” and Mercedes-Benz obviously place great pride in the ownership of this title. And to their credit, they do everything to ensure that the S-Class continues to retain this title with the passage of every new model and variant.