http://www.askmen.com/cars/car_vs_ca...ar_vs_car.html

Interesting read. No surprise on the outcome though.

Oh I was about to rise to the bait... take this apart with a zillion arguments... But really the author did it himself... How can one take seriously any review that contains this sentence... "It's a fact that Mercedes aren't up there with the best of the performance vehicles"... that they "still lack that certain oomph that BMW and Audi have honed so perfectly."

Yep the S65/600, (S63) CLK 63 Blk Series, SL 65/600/E63... every AMG in fact, is not "up there" as a serious performance vehicle at all.. nope... everyone knows they all lack that "certain oomph..."

Chris

Agreed!! You should also read their review of the C63 vs M3. Its also flawed with the same arguments.

Have always been amazed how few (if any) press articles ever accurately depict/evaluate any cars....

Can't forget they don't hand out journalist jobs to just anyone....

Would observe which cars are repeatedly chosen by guys who can afford any car (and who are actually interested in driving)....in my expce, lots of new AMGs and MBs...not many Ferraris/Porsches (even for wkend driving)...and far fewer BMW/Audi/Lexus....

But need to drive any car >300-500mis or so on interesting roads to draw own conclusions....these are all discretionary cars....value is determined by subjective driving pleasure provided....

is it me, or does it seem the people who make these reviews are pretty biased. it's always the benz losing by 2-3 points. WTF MATE?

Yep... this "journalist" had to try really hard to bring the score up to 1 point short of the Alpina as he had obviously already made up his mind before even trying the cars as his ridiculous/uninformed comments on performance (and Audi!) demonstrate.

The plethora of breathless glowing M5 reviews, despite its miserable range, awkward SMG, and over complexity, are the worst recent offender IMO... It's still a fascinating car but the "BMW can do no wrong" school of journalism is getting tiresome...

Alas, good objective/analytic journalists are rarer than hens teeth...

Chris

I didn't even read the article! After owning the current generation 750iL I can tell you that the car simply looks UGLY for 2008. MB, looks wise is WAY above BMW. Putting the "Alpina" tag on an existing ugly car does not really impress me.

Looks like the author is biased big time. WHO in their right mind would pick an aging BMW 7 sedan over a state of the art MB S63?

"askmen.com"? Give me a break!

I personally think the Alpina B7 is badass. There were a few things I disagreed with throughout the article, but not many that I would lose sleep over...that is until I got to the second to last paragraph.

I happen to really like the facelifted 7 and I'd take a white 750Li on looks over an S even though it is inferior. The 745 was an ugly duckling though and all agree.

As regards B7 vs S63, I'd take the 63.

Just read the first graph of the review. What an idiot. Alpina is to BM what AMG is to Merc...ummm, MOTORSPORT? Clearly hasn't heard of Brabus.

A worthless read.

The last paragraph sounded like a sheepish admission it was rigged. Giving the BMW 19/20 for exterior design and the S63 17/20 so that the Alpina could win by 1 point? And when you read the exterior design paragraphs I don't hear A+ vs. B+ reviews.

I think the styling revisions make it uglier than a de-chromed 750Li Sport. Tacky wheels and front and rear lip/spoiler. Just my opinion though.

Like how he says the Merc will hit 186mph de-ristricted when that is just the 030 limited speed. 190-195 would be a closer figure but then again I'm not just rehashing a press release fact sheet like this fool.

I would have at least docked a point for the ugly rims and another point for the fact that it is still nearly a 5 second car.

Even Stevie Wonder would tell you that the Alpina is an ugly car while the S63 is nothing short of "Bad ***" (to borrow someone else's words)

The driving experience is by nature subjective. We can objectively measure things like acceleration and cornering ability and traction but how do you measure how refined a vehicle is, or how 'sporty' a car is? Thats the problem and Mercedes tends to get the short end of the stick especially when the vehicles getting reviewed are sport-luxury vehicles. BMW is known for producing vehicles for the sports car enthusiast so the comparable mercedes will get labeled a 'compromise' simply because the vehicle has a nicer or more refined interior. Its the eternal argument of brand x v.s brand y and it will never end.

Now as far as Mercedes goes I will say this: BMW tends to make cars that are more 'sporty' designs from the outset but one of the tradeoffs is that the BMW interior tends to feel a bit "rough" in some ways, at least to me. Mercedes on the other hand is just a very comfortable and refined car. I have never felt as "at home" as in my S class. AMG however is another story: with AMG they take this extremely refined and comfortable vehicle and then make it insanely fast to boot. I have had a chance to drive the Z8 alpina and the SL65 and while both cars are fast the SL65 is just a monster... oh and you can actually fit in it too.

S63 FTW, but the Alpina is a quite a rare car and finds a nice balance of handling, comfort and uniqueness.