Which nation makes the best cars?

[thepolarfoxqx]

Who makes the world's best cars?

The contenders:

The United States: If nothing else, the US makes cars in great volume, famous for our oversize engines, large cars, and rough edged performance, america is all about the size and bang for the buck. Highlights include cars like Viper, Vette, Mustang Cobra, Saleen S7.

The United Kingdom: Famous for luxury, style, and class, british cars are known for their rich connolly leather interiors, trimmed in the finest woods, and using nothing but top shelf materials. British cars have leather gloved performance, and feature engineering that is often counter-intuitive but very effective. Of late the british manufacturers find themselves answering to German and American automotive giants. Highlights include Lotus Esprit and Elise, Jaguar XK and XJ models, and anything TVR, Rolls Royce or Bentley, as well as the Legendary McLaren F1.

Sweden: The Swedes have a passion for doing things their own way. Safety is always a priority, and the engineering is always first class in ingenuity and uniqueness. The swedes are famed for pioneering turbochargers, seatbelts, and front wheel drive. While their big 2 automakers have been bought out by the US, thier cars still hold true to swedish theory of automaking. Swedish cars own the realm of ergonomics and safety, and are trying hard to get performance too, highlights include the Koenigsegg CCV8S, Volvo S60R, and Saab 9-5 Aero.

Germany: The germans built the most efficiently engineered performance cars around. Luxury, efficiency, engineering prowess, performance and refinement all colide in german cars. Between their big 4 makers, odd are they have a blend of the "Jack of all traits" formula for you, the luxurious Mercedes, Practical VW, Sporty BMW, and hot rod porsche cars all share the same philosophy of automaking. Highlights include the Porsche 911, BMW M3, M5, and Z8, Mercedes SL55, E55, C32, and CL65AMGs, and the Lotec Sirius.

Italy: The italians make the most famous performance cars around. From italy hale the world's most no-compromise push the envelope lines of supercars. The firey italian spirit has long been more than enough to make up for their lack of interest in build quality and practicality, which in recent years have improved. Little more has to be said than the names of their great cars, highlights include: Ferrari F360, Enzo, and F575, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago, Pagani Zonda, Alfa Romeo 156 and Brera, and Maserati GT.

Japan: The Japanese try to win them all, thier cars aim to best american cars in simplicity and bang for the buck, germans in refinement, and swedes in safety. The net result is a very good car with no personality very often. Japan has of late developed its own spirit and flavor of performance car crafting, turning out some of the world's most pre-eminent performance cars. Highlights include: Nissan Skyline R34, 350Z, Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, Toyota Supra, MR2, Lexus SC430, GS430, IS300, Honda S2000, NSX, and the world famous "civic" lol.

[Anzeige eBay]

Hallo thepolarfoxqx,

 

kennst du schon Which nation makes the best cars? (Anzeige)? Dort ist vieles zu finden.

 

Verschiedenes über Autos Ersatzteile (Anzeige) | Verschiedenes über Autos Zubehör (Anzeige)

[djfux69]

I havent voted yet, i need more time to think about it. for me it is between the germans, and japanese. i love italian cars, and they make a lot of great ones, but lets face it, they make a lot of crap too. japanese and germans have a more balanced selection. leaning towards better cars as a whole, less bad ones. give me a little more time, i think i am leaning towards german though. but italy is still.... i dont know.

[Kevin321]

I agree with djfux.

[LateNightCable]

I won't even get into this one too much, except to say that they are all the master of their own specialty. I love cars too much to choose a " best ". I don't feel like driving German machines all the time, thats' why I have a Cadillac. I think it comes down to catagories. So, it's like this ...

United States : Largely due to high volume production and plenty of solid manufacturing wisdom, the U.S. owns low cost durability.

Japan : Japanese frugality has made them the masters of no fuss, low cost reliability.

Germany : An emphasis on technical mastery has put Germany at the top of the game in terms of refinent, and especially mechanical harmony.

Italy : The Italian love of the sportscar, and unrivaled experiance manufacturing them has made Italy the number one choice for those looking for lusty, unbridaled passion and stylish flare over practicality. Magnifico!

Sweden : Well, the Swedes are an interesting alternative to everything else.

So, whatever floats your boat folks, whatever floats your boat.

Fox is on a roll, he's using capitols .

[GIR]

Hey what about the Dutch damnit! Spyker, Donkervoort, DAF, Iveco. All known and respected brands.

[LateNightCable]

Hey what about the Dutch damnit! Spyker, Donkervoort, DAF, Iveco. All known and respected brands.

Those may all be well known and respected, but I think the focus is on nations with a worldwide automotive presence, and as weird as this may sound, if it's not a name in the U.S., it's not " worldwide ". Kind of like " Choosy moms choose JIF ", it's a leading brand of peanutbutter, but there are still other good kinds of peanutbutter available that you might not here about.

[All Wheel Drive]

I believe Iveco is a italian brand, at least in its beginings...

[All Wheel Drive]

I think that my answer is Germany.

They are the nation that knows how to combine good engineering with pleasure, luxury and efficiency. Actually they lack in top of the range luxury and sportivity, but they can't have them all... They are going to compensate a bit that with the future M1(I hope), SLR and obviously some stuff from Audi. Porsche is doing a very good job also...

Germany does not have the mass production of the USA, the world fame for security as the sweeds(Volvo) or the cost efficiency as in Japan, but they're still doing very good. Their cars have these all and they combine them very good.

I pay my tribute to the germans.

[kleinefisch]

I said Italy. When you want to buy a car that you can drive every day, Italy is almost always out, but the poll is not about most practical or reliable, and the meaning of "best" is vague at best. However, it can be looked at like this: when you think of the absolute pinnacle, the premium, the creme-de-la-creme of automotive engineering, style, performance, and feel, nothing says it like Italy. Another problem with choosing a nation is that everything seems to be interconnected through mergers, etc. When you break it down, it seems that the Germans have their hands in everything. Some may interpret this as superiority, but I see it as meerly economic prowess over the purchased, not necessarily overall prowess. This is not knocking the Germans at all, I just firmly believe that the absolute top-spot of the automotive world is held by the Italians.

[All Wheel Drive]

I would have agreed with Kleinefisch if the pool would had been about charm, luxury and sportivity: the Italians have the top right there.

I thought the pool had been put as regarding more from a general perspective of automotive industry. My quess is that germans have it nicely going...

[Anzeige eBay]

Hallo thepolarfoxqx,

 

schau doch mal hier zum Thema Zubehör für Verschiedenes über Autos (Anzeige)? Eventuell gibt es dort etwas Passendes.

[bodohmen]

Sorry folks, it´s not ´cause I´m german, but the only answer can be germany If u ask for the most desireable cars than it might be italy, but any other way it´ll always be the same answer

[thepolarfoxqx]

When I made this, i considdered holland and france, and rejected both on the grounds they either make very few cars (holland), or their cars are sufficiently odd and specialized as not be able to be practical on the world market (yeah, that would be our french buddy's cars).

The poll is about values really. What do you value in a car? Is it the lusty soul of an italian with no care for practical detail, is it sheer brute force, rough edged rock hard american muscle, is it swedish efficiency, creative, and soft touch hard edge performance, is it the british character, all of it's classically sexy and timeless charm, and it's inate sportingness, or japan, cars made to move people from A to B done exceptionally well with no soul, or is it Germany, technical detail refined to a T with an emphasis on performance over all else?

I provide the zest to my cars, so i don't really need italian cars (but i respect them), I'm not enough of a redneck to refer to my CAR as a figure in cubic inches, so I thought american cars wouldn't be the best, I hate front wheel drive in general for lots of reasons, and resent the fact that you cannot be 6'4" and have forearms and still be able to work on a japanese car (apparently they were made for oompa loompas), and as much as i love british cars, it seems that the italians have more soul, the german more technical merit, and the americans, swedes, and japanese have practicality on them.

I said german, i provide the zest, the car does the rest, and it is always capable of going tit for tat, anything i throw, to me that is what counts.

[GIR]

I believe Iveco is a italian brand, at least in its beginings...

Yeah it was founded by some Italian guy...

[8-ball]

The Italian supercars are nice, but for most of us, just a dream. My favorite car is Swedish but I found it hard to vote for Sweden when the Koenigsegg is the only car there I love. I hate Japanese rice rockets and American muscle cars. So it was betwen Britan and Germany. British make great cars that I love like the Aston Martins, The Bentleys, The Jags etc. But I had to go with Germany because of Porsche. To me the best supercar maker.

[P.I.M.P]

its really hard to judge who make the BEST because there are so many qualities which make a car great. These qualities include style, performance, build quality, technology.

-The Japanese do well at making cars with excellent build quality, and stellar technology with an example being the new Prius, and more the forthcoming RX300 Hybrid which will be even better than its gasoline counterpart. However, their cars lack in performance and style. Thier style being bland and boring. Not to mention value, which is true to the idea of more for less.

-The Italians lead at making cars with the best performance, style, and performace technology, but only in their exotic cars which most cannot afford. Ferrari, Lambos, and showcase this because only they can actually make a NA engine that has more than 500hp unlike the Germans(except the Carrera GT). However, their more normal cars suck at everything, so they're mot gonna be mentioned.

-The American car makers suck at everthing mentioned above so lets not go there!

-The British are great at styling as demonstrated in the Astons, Rolls, and Bentleys(or at least in the past). Performance is pretty good as in Lotus, Bentley, and Jaguar. However, build quality is a shortcoming. Jaguars are notoriously unreliable and Rovers are not that great from what I've heard.

-The Germans overall are the best automakers in the world. They make the most technological innovations, such as BMWs active stering, cruise control, Double Vanos Engine, and their 6-cylinders, iDrive, anti-roll stabilization, and a ton more that would take forever to write. If it weren't for Gottlieb Daimler, the car ITSELF wouldn't exist. Neither would the airbag that saves millions of lives. MB makes the best diesel passenger car, and some of the best looking cars around as much as bimmer. The performance of German cars are also the best. Porsche makes the best sports cars in the sense of that they can actually be driven everyday. They are also some of the best looking. BMW could ties with porsche on perfromance. The build quality is good on all of them, not to forget VW and Audi. That is why Germans make the best cars in the world.

[kleinefisch]

German auto-makers all have their heads up their arses right now in my opinion. Everybody is slipping. BMW is making some really ugly cars, VW is sticking their nose where it doesn't belong (ie: Lambo) All are making cars with reliability ratings in the basement (especially MB and Audi). Porsche is doing the best off in terms of holding their image, although Cayanne isn't helping at all. I'm not saying that German cars don't have their high points (really high points) because they do. But I don't think that any German auto company is worthy of praise right now. Maybe it's just that I hold Germany to a higher standard, because we have seen what they can do. Ultimately, the consumer will force the marques to change, fast. And of course, in search of profit, they will obey. But I still firmly believe that Italians make the best cars in the world (Germany a really strong second though), and nothing anybody says (except news of a Ferrari SUV) will make me change my mind.

[P.I.M.P]

who makes the best cars that are NOT two hundred thousand dollars each. Italy sure doesn't with their alfas, etc.

[thepolarfoxqx]

have you owned an italian car though? As fun as they are, as great as the style and performance and the exhaust note, my alfa romeo's small trunk always had a full tool set and a case of spare parts that saw use WAY too often. I can't tell you how many repairs i've done on roadsides or parking lots to that car.

[skyline_r34v]

have you owned an italian car though? As fun as they are, as great as the style and performance and the exhaust note, my alfa romeo's small trunk always had a full tool set and a case of spare parts that saw use WAY too often. I can't tell you how many repairs i've done on roadsides or parking lots to that car.

That sux.

I chose Italian's, since i'm basin it solely on looks, quickness and fastness.

They have sum of the best lookin cars along with the most performance comin from a stock engine.

Even though the price is out of range for prolly 75% of America, its still got the hold on performance.

Although i've been thinkin bout German alot cuz of Porsche and BMW being damn good in performance.

I still have to go with the Italian's cuz they still have more cars with more performance.

[djfux69]

fox . what year was your alfa?

[kleinefisch]

who makes the best cars that are NOT two hundred thousand dollars each. Italy sure doesn't with their alfas, etc.

That wasn't the criterion for the poll wise guy.

[thepolarfoxqx]

I just thought of which country had the best philosophy of automaking when I made the poll, which country's cars left enthusiasts overall happiest.

My first alfa we had was before i was old enough to drive. My old man had a 1982 Sypder Veloce with the bosch Jettronic-L fuel injection, which meant it wasn't that exciting of a ride. The 60-100 time was amazing considdering the car though. It wasn't too bad for reliability, and fixing it wasn't too bad, as it was fairly conventional. In 3 years, it had about $3,000 of repairs done to it. It was fast and an easy driver and had NO body roll at all.

The seccond was a gift to me, my dad had without my knowledge bought a 1978 Alfa Romeo Spyder, had it's engine rebuilt, had it painted, and a new top put on. It had Alfa's propreitary SPICA mechanical fuel injection, which was bizzarre! I drove the car cross country, from Philly to minneapolis in a day and a half, making it from philly to jainesville, ill in a day without so much as a hiccup. I drove the car about 15,000 miles and did a bunch of odds and ends repairs to it. A water pump, a few gasgets, clutch adjustment (it had a hydraulic clutch back then). My favorite repair i ever did was when I was out one night with a buddy, we came up next to an eagle talon TSi turbo cruising on a 45mph boulevard at about 1am. He accelerated, I accelerated, taking turns shooting out ahead of each other, till he just pegged it, i followed suit, and to my suprise, we was only eaking out a hair ahead of me. I abused the fact I had no rev limiter and pushed the little engine well past 8,000 rpms (I hit 10k in a quick rev with that once), and when he backed off the gas, I looked down to see i was well over 120mph. I then realized my battery light was on, i slowed down and pulled off into a nighclub parking lot. I opened the hood, coolant was everywhere. I killed the engine, let it cool down, inspected things, my alternator pulley had come off all together, destroying my one and old belt. We had to call freinds for a ride home. The next morning I got to replace the alternator pulley and drive belt (there is by the way NO room under the hood of that car AT ALL in the parking lot). If you've ever worked on an alfa, you'd know that wasn't fun at all.

I liked the 1978 better, it sounded better, drove better, was faster, and had more personality, probably because it had the italian fuel injection. The man who rebuilt the engine also swapped the stock 1978 cams to the 1975 cams, which were before emissions, and retuned the mechanical fuel injection. That car had zoom. It also had a limited slip differential, exhaust gas temp guage, and all all-aluminum engine with dual overhead cams and took 9.8 quarts of oil into its huge finned oil pan. They were cool cars for sure, just not practical.

[bleh]

I just thought of which country had the best philosophy of automaking when I made the poll, which country's cars left enthusiasts overall happiest.

in that case i say japan or germany. i say this plainly because most honda owners (not always those with performance in mind)are in love with their cars and the same holds true with bmw owners. others are satisified with their audis, benz's, and toyotas but i hear bimmer and honda owners talk about how much they love their cars all the time.

[thepolarfoxqx]

we are a devoutly loyal crew, and we love BMWs a lot. Hondas are great for the every day driver, but i aimed this at the enthusiast. Either way, i guess it still counts.

You'd never know itbut volvos have a crazy cult following too.

[P.I.M.P]

kleinefish why would it matter who makes the best cars if people couldn't buy them?