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James Whitbourn25 May 2015
ADVICE

Five best Prestige cars over $100K

It might still be Deutsch by default, but today’s triple-figure luxury car market offers more diversity than ever

This high-brow market segment might begin ‘over $100K’ – the least expensive of our picks is the $115K Mercedes CLS 250 CDI – but it’s possible to spend $400K (on the flagship Benz S 63 AMG L).

Within that broad price spectrum, there’s more than one way to skin your prestige saloon. It might come wrapped in designer Italian sheetmetal, for example, in the form of Maserati’s Ghibli.

Alongside the flamboyant baby Maserati, our other four offer a decidedly Germanic flavour. Though, there’s hardly a conventional-looking prestige sedan among them.

Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class follows the three-box sedan template to please traditionalists, with added curves. However, many modern ultra-luxe buyers wish to make more of a statement.

BMW’s 6 Series Gran Coupe and Merc’s CLS-Class take the four-door coupe route, the distinction being the availability of the wagon-style Shooting Brake Benz that adds practicality without compromising style.

Audi’s A7 blazes its own trail – the 7 loosely translates to an A6 sedan given the fastback treatment.

There’s almost as much choice on the powertrain front as there is in body styles. Rear- and all-wheel-drive layouts are offered, with effortlessly efficient big turbo-diesel engines right through to spectacularly potent turbo petrols.

The quickest among them hunts supercars – Audi’s RS 7 is virtually as quick as a Ferrari 458 – while entry-level oil-burners such as Mercedes’ S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid (4.5L/100km officially) offer brilliant economy.

However, sumptuous luxury of the kind found in few cars is the real reason most buyers shop in this segment, together with the fact that cutting-edge car technology frequently makes its debut in this exclusive realm well before it filters down into the mainstream.

motoring.com.au Recommended cars prestige over $100K

Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
The four-door coupe was born a decade ago into the open embrace of style-driven prestige car buyers, with Merc’s previous-gen CLS.

The opportunity to trade rear-seat practicality/headroom has since spurred buyers – and other brands – to flock to the segment.

However, Benz’s CLS, now in better-looking second-gen form, remains the original and the best.

The price-leading CLS 250 CDI brings a modest 2.1-litre twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine, which in a range-wide drive layout, powers down via a seven-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel-drive.

While the cylinder-count and capacity aren’t impressive, outputs of 150kW and (more so) 500Nm are. The 1.7 tonne oil-burning CLS strikes an admirable balance of performance and parsimony, with a claimed 7.5-second 0-100km/h figure and 5.2L/100km combined cycle fuel consumption.

The highly refined CLS never feels like a rocket, but nor are you ever left short of wafting grunt.

An extra $9K buys the CLS 250 CDI as a stylish Shooting Brake – a body shape only available in base and flagship forms.

Need more than the turbo-diesel can offer? Move up to the rumbling, $160K twin-turbo V8 CLS 500 – arguably the sweet spot of the line-up. The 4.7-litre engine lops more than two seconds off the 0-100km/h acceleration figure, while fuel consumption increases to 9.9L/100km.

The $262K range-topping CLS 63 AMG S (the Shooting Brake adds $2500) brings a larger 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 with continent-crushing 430kW and 800Nm outputs. The official fuel consumption looks impressive, at 10.3L/100km. But be warned – if you use the low four-second performance often, you’d have no trouble doubling this figure.

Audi’s reputation for finely crafted cabins is deserved. So, when the Ingolstadt brand turns its attention from hatchbacks and medium sedans to a prestige flagship such as the A7 (yes, technically still a hatch), the result is nothing short of spectacular.

The A7 cabin is like sitting in a high-class inner city bar, especially at night, when the mood lighting adds its effect. The comfort level is top-shelf and everything you touch oozes quality and tactile delight.

Meanwhile, in terms of the level and presentation of infotainment, it’s more like a first class flight – there’s enough to keep you entertained, and ease the boredom of those long hauls.

However, for the lucky one (of four occupants) in the driver’s seat, there’s plenty about the drive experience to excite.

The all-wheel-drive A7 might be sure-footedly easy to drive quickly, but there’s a smorgasbord of tasty engines to ensure the drive has depth.

The $137K, entry-level 3.0-litre turbo-diesel found in the A7 3.0 TDI is the least interesting engine, though sixes 0-100km/h is not slow, nor is 6.0L/100km thirsty – it’s a fine pick.

For less than $10K more, the petrol 3.0 TFSI is a cracker. The supercharged V6 is a seamless, snarler of an engine that cuts the 0-100km/h sprint to 5.6sec yet still officially only drinks 8.2L/100km.

Performance-wise, the 3.0 TDI Biturbo is in a similar league to the blown V6, but economy drops back into the sixes. It’s a technically interesting engine that offers appeal in the form of its V8-esque synthesised soundtrack.

If you’d prefer the real thing, look to the turbo V8 S7, at $180K. It brings a bent-eight backing track, with the low-five-second 0-100km/h acceleration to hose sports coupes.

The $238,500 flagship RS 7, meanwhile, hunts further up the food chain and, with its 412kW and 700Nm, devours supercars.

This is the car on which Maserati is pinning its fortunes – the brand reckons the Ghibli will double its global sales.

In the context of its pricing in Australia, the new four-door, which sells alongside the Quattroporte will no doubt generate sales based purely on it lowering the cost of Maserati ownership from the $199K asked for the entry-level Quattroporte, to $139K.

The Ghibli’s unique selling point? In the absence of Benz-rivalling tech, it sets out to lure luxo buyers with its Italian sense of style and dynamic sensibility.

The rear-wheel-drive Ghibli is smaller than the Quattroporte, from which it derives its rear-wheel-drive architecture and drivetrains, though it’s only around 50kg lighter.

Shared drivetrains means the base turbo-diesel Ghibli brings a VM Motori 3.0-litre V6 producing 202kW and 600Nm, which it sends rearwards via a slick ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

Given the small weight difference, the figures are only a fraction better than those of the equivalent Quattroporte, at 6.3-second 0-100km/h (claimed) and 5.9L/100km on the official combined cycle.

Just as in the Quattroporte line-up, a more vocal turbo petrol engine is the pick over the diesel, though, because a Maserati must make the right noises.

The mid-range twin-turbo V6, with 243Nm and 500Nm, brings the requisite note, and 5.6-second 0-100km/h ability, while fuel consumption increases to 9.6L/100km. Consider the extra fuel as the price premium because the sticker price of the petrol variant is almost identical to the diesel’s.

For our money, the Ghibli S is pretty persuasive. The twin-turbo V6 is more engaging – and more powerful, with 301kW and 550Nm. It’s still cheaper than a base Quattroporte diesel, at $170K, yet is almost as quick as a GTS.

It’s also arguably better looking than its bigger brother, with a slightly sharper chassis.

Maserati is out to steal sales from the German luxo Big Three with the Ghibli, which it will do to some extent. There’s no doubt, though, that the baby Maser will steal sales from the other side of the showroom, too.

Mercedes’ S-Class has long been the cornerstone of long-haul luxury, but the current W222 is something else. It’s by far the best S-Class yet.

Truly exceptional ride comfort is perhaps the most difficult dynamic ability to instil in a car, yet is a quality the air-sprung S-Class possesses across the range in spades, even without the S 63 AMG’s Magic Suspension that sees bumps and prepares the chassis to glide over them.

At the same time, the S-Class’ refinement level and the quietness of the cabin are unmatched by any other car.

Remarkably, then, the big Benz flagship is also more agile, with more incisive steering than in any previous generation.

While the S-Class interior is stylishly conservative, the cabin takes luxuriousness to the extreme, pampering occupants with brilliantly comfortable seats, achingly high-end finishes and forward-looking tech.

The $197K E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid opens the range, offering exceptional turbo-diesel/electric economy (4.5L/100km) and forceful performance (7.6-second 0-100km/h).

Highlights in between it and the awesome S 63 AMG include the long-wheelbase only, $231K S400 L with is powered by a potent twin-turbo petrol V6 that still does 7.9L/100km on the official combined cycle, despite weighing around two tonnes (like most of the range).

However, the S 500, offered in regular and long wheelbase, is the sweet spot because it introduces the twin-turbo V8, an absolute belter of an engine. At $287K, it’s $100K less expensive than the S 63 yet, like the AMG, is a sub five-second 0-100km/h car.

Given that a coupe-like four-door prestige car isn’t the most pragmatic of picks, it probably doesn’t matter too much that BMW’s 6 Series Gran Coupe isn’t the most affordable, roomiest or most refined of the genre.

Understand that a 6 Series is like a coupe version of a 5 Series sedan and, therefore, that a Gran Coupe is a 5 Series with less rear headroom and comparisons with its more conservatively styled sibling are impossible to avoid.

What price style? Drivetrain for drivetrain, the 6 Series Gran Coupe comes at almost $70K more than the 5 Series.

Fortunately, the base 640i, at $184K, offers all the engine you really need in the form of the brand’s silky 3.0-litre turbo in-line six. Its 235kW and 480Nm are enough for a claimed 5.4-second 0-100km/h.

For virtually identical money, the twin-turbo diesel six is an intriguing prospect. The same price, the same performance, but without the thirst, rev range or visceral thrill of the petrol.

The 650i’s twin-turbo petrol V8 is alluring and unnecessary in equal measure. Only a bit quicker and a fair bit thirstier than the sixes, at 8.9L/100km, but it makes all the right noises, which counts disproportionately in its favour.

From the $239K 650i, why not jump to the flagship M6? Well, perhaps because it’s more of a leap, coming at a $60K premium. It’s more focussed, of course, and power from the boost-fed V8 is up considerably, from 330 to 412kW (though torque is only upped from 650 to 680Nm).

The 0-100km/h sprint drops by a second to 4.2 seconds while consumption increases by a litre to 9.9L/100km, which is no doubt only a real world figure if you drive like you’re in a 520d.

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Written byJames Whitbourn
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