Super-Sedans

By Andrew Beehler Published October 26, 2009

So you want a true family car, one with actual leg-room in the back seats, but you still like to make out to track days every now and then. BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz have each created what could be called a super-sedan. Each of these cars starts in the mid-fifty thousand dollar price range, comes with a custom-built V8 producing over 400 HP, and can get to 60 MPH in about 4.5 seconds. All three cars qualify as a comfortable and stylish daily driver – they are refined with all of the standard luxuries you would expect from BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus. All in all you are not sacrificing any comfort by choosing one of these as a daily driver, and when it comes to track day they will still perform with the best.

2010 BMW M3 Sedan — 2009 BMW M3 Sedan Image used with permission by copyright holder

2009 Lexus IS F Image used with permission by copyright holder

2009 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Image used with permission by copyright holder

Andrew Beehler

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Andrew Beehler has been with Digital Trends since 2009 and works with agencies and direct clients. Prior to joining Digital…

Topics

Smart Home

Cars

This sleek Chinese EV pairs supercar styling with three AI brains

The Xpeng L03 is an AI supercomputer disguised as a stylish family SUV

Xpeng’s latest electric vehicle carries enough processing power to make the term "smart car" actually sound more realistic than it actually is. The new Xpeng L03 debuted simultaneously in Europe and China on July 16, with the company presenting it across 65 markets. Available as a fully electric vehicle and an L03 Power X range-extender, the coupe-SUV is Xpeng’s most internationally focused model so far. Market-specific prices and sales dates remain unannounced.

Three AI chips and Google Maps built right in

Cars

A new sodium battery posts wild four-minute charging numbers, but don’t expect it in an EV yet

The breakthrough could improve fast charging and battery life, but the study hasn’t demonstrated those results in a production-sized pack

A new sodium-metal battery has posted a charging number that makes today’s EVs look painfully slow. In laboratory testing, the cell operated at a 15C rate, equivalent to completing a charge or discharge in roughly four minutes.

That doesn’t mean researchers plugged in an electric car and watched it fill up before the driver finished buying coffee. The result came from a small experimental cell using a new quasi-solid electrolyte, while the larger pouch-cell prototype delivered far less dramatic performance.

Cars

The Apple Car may be dead, but it became the foundation of Apple Intelligence

A decade of work on a canceled car project reportedly laid the groundwork for Apple Intelligence.

The Apple Car may have never left the garage, but it apparently gave birth to Apple's AI ambitions. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's canceled autonomous vehicle project, one that consumed more than a decade of work and over $10 billion before being scrapped in 2024, ended up laying the technological foundation for Apple Intelligence. In a rather ironic twist, one of Apple's most expensive failures may also become one of its most important long-term investments.

The Apple Car forced Apple to think like an AI company