Luxury Cars That Desperately Need A High Performance Variant

Please automakers, just make these cars a reality.

Ever since BMW and Mercedes began their rivalry with the E30 M3 and 190E Cosworth, the sporty luxury car segment has been one of the most important in the auto industry. Many companies have tried and failed to compete with the M3. More recently, certain competitors have topped the BMW in some aspects. Still, we believe there are a few luxury models that could use a performance enhancement. Each of these cars is in need of a performance halo variant to help bring attention to their respective model lineups.

Infiniti Q50

Infiniti tried and failed to create its own performance division called the Infiniti Performance Line (IPL). The brand currently sells its Q50 sedan and Q60 coupe with an optional 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 producing 400 hp. This power is edging on M and AMG territory, but the rest of the car doesn't meet high performance benchmarks. The steer-by-wire system doesn't offer feedback to the driver and the suspension is tuned for comfort. We'd like to see Infiniti offer more powerful versions of the Q50 and Q60 with around 500 hp and more aggressive tuning.

Genesis G70

The G70 is the first all-new vehicle for the Genesis brand. The G80 was simply a rebadged Genesis, and the G90 was the Equus. Although it is just arriving, we would like to see Genesis borrow the N performance name from Hyundai. The G70's most powerful engine option is a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 with 365 hp. We'd like to see a sportier G70 N with around 100 extra horsepower.

Volvo V60

The Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar models were never the most popular sport models on the market, but they were still very good cars. Volvo has revealed the new 2019 V60 wagon, which shared engines and interior design with other Volvo models. The most powerful T8 trim produces 390 hp from a 2.0-liter twin-charged four-cylinder mated to a hybrid motor. Polestar is looking to become Sweden's answer to AMG and M, so tuned versions of the V60 and upcoming S60 could be in the works. We'd love to see even more than 390 hp along with more aggressive styling.

Jaguar XE

Just a few years ago, Jaguar competed against the BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 AMG with the XFR and XFR-S. When the smaller XE sedan arrived, we waited for an XER with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8. Unfortunately, that car never arrived and it may never reach production. Jaguar has said it does not plan to stick an SVR badge on the XE, which is a bit sad. This means the Project 8 may be the only V8 XE Jaguar ever builds.

Acura TLX

The Acura TLX has always been a bit of a disappointment in our eyes. The car never lived up to sporty TL models like the Type S and 3.7-liter SH-AWD. Acura did introduce a sportier looking A-Spec model, though it didn't add any extra power. Luckily, Acura is gearing up to add a new twin-turbo V6 engine to revive the Type S badge. We just hope the TLX is the beneficiary of this new engine.

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5 Car Infotainment Systems That Desperately Need An Update

We aren’t enamored with any of these in-car systems.

In-car infotainment has become increasingly important to evaluate new models. Almost all new cars come equipped with screens to manage their assortment of functions such as navigation and radio. Even inexpensive cars boast high-tech infotainment systems. But not all infotainment systems are built equally, and the following five are those that we feel are in desperate need of an immediate update.

Toyota and Lexus share very similar systems that are controlled in different ways. Toyota typically uses a touchscreen, while Lexus uses either a mouse or a track pad controller. Many people have said that the Lexus control system is hard to use, but we haven’t experienced too much difficulty with it. Where both systems fall short is their lack of smartphone integration. Toyota and Lexus don’t support Apple Car Play or Android Auto, and instead rely on proprietary systems called Enform for Lexus and Entune for Toyota, which are slow and clunky to use.

Honda and Acura both use very similar systems that are severely showing their age. Honda has started to roll out Android Auto and Apple Car Play on several models, but Acura has been slower to adopt these technologies. Honda and Acura use touchscreens, which are simple but basic. Acura has started to integrate two screens, which are a bit confusing to use. The navigation on Honda/Acura cars hasn’t changed much for years, and we’d like to see the company make their systems look more modern. The most annoying missing feature is a simple volume knob to adjust the stereo on several Honda/Acura cars.

When Mazda first rolled out it latest infotainment system, it was a huge improvement. Old Mazda cars couldn’t settle on an infotainment system that worked, including one that could only be controlled from the steering wheel. This new system is still several years behind the competition. Mazda doesn’t support Android Auto or Apple Car Play and the interface reminds us of an early 2000’s MP3 player. From a design standpoint, we’d get tired of looking at the overly stylized menus and lack of smartphone integration. The combination of touchscreen and BMW iDrive style control is not the easiest to figure out, and needs to be simplified.

Like Honda and Acura, Nissan and Infiniti both use systems that feel very dated. Nissan supports Apple Car Play, but not Android Auto. We sampled Nissan's new system in the Maxima and Infiniti’s two-screen system in the Q50 and Q60, but both systems still look cartoonish compared to the more attractive German systems. Like in Acura cars, having two screens ends up being confusing and cumbersome, especially when they show the same information.

Perhaps the number one system that is in need of a refresh is Cadillac CUE. This system has been criticized for being laggy and slow to respond. Our biggest gripe with CUE is the buttons (or lack thereof) that surround the screen. CUE uses touch-sensitive controls instead of physical buttons, which are especially irritating to use while driving. There isn’t even a simple volume knob, which makes the whole system needlessly complicated. Cadillac has tried to improve the system, but we think that CUE should be scrapped for something similar to what the Germans use.

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