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easy_rider911 said:
So true 
I think even BMW (that has a reputation for making 'sporty' sedans) realised long ago that it had to differentiate its highest performance cars (the M cars) from the rest of its line up by saying they were developed by its 'Motorsport' division. Audi has made a bad mistake by not doing the same with the R8. Even the 'S' and 'RS' versions are only just different enough (as an overall package) from the regular 'A' cars. You have to look under the bonnet to realise how much more powerful an RS version is. That simply doesn't have the wow factor in my eyes.
Re: VW Phaeton, it is a flawed branding concept brilliantly executed. The idea of a luxury rival to a Merc S Class made by an 'everyman' manufacturer (such as VW) was doomed to fail from the start. People are simply too snobbish to buy a class-leading sedan made by VW (that also makes the Lupo and Polo).
Here in the UK, I see Phaetons from time to time (usually company directors driven by a chauffeur) and I have seen on TV programmes regarding used cars, experts recommending a VW Phaeton as being an amazing used car to buy second hand because they depreciate in value like a rock sinks in water but are immaculately built and will last for ever and ever.
Indeed if you can get hold of a VW Phaeton W12, it's like getting a Bentley without the outside skin and all the snob factor of a Bentley.
In a way, that may be a good thing since the Bentley Continental GT's name is mud here in the UK. It's dismissed as a 'premiership footballer's car'. Enough said
The final nail in the Bentley Continental GT coffin is that every time you switch on your satellite dish, those useless free music channels that no one watches (except you when you're channel hopping) all show gangster rappers with diamond teeth getting into their bespoke Mulliner Bentley Continental GTs. As if J Lo wasn't the kiss of death already (with the outrageous stories of his and hers Bentleys for herself and Bennifer when they were still together), these tattoo'ed guys have killed off the prestige factor of Bentley Continental GTs (just like Burberry before it). Only the 'chavs' here in the UK wear Burberry anymore.
Brand image is hugely important in the mktplace....most buyers aren't hard-core car tech/driving guys...they're simply trying to buy image of status/youth and an attractively styled, fresh-looking car....
Not surprised that the premium-priced R8 fails to beat a base 997 in subtle driving dynamics/refinement (and realize that lease pmt on a loaded R8 will prob rival that of a 997TT w/PCCB)....simply eval/drive its bigger brothers: G and 640 are priced above counterparts at F/P (and prob have much more costly lease rates/deprec costs and shorter warranties in all major mkts), but L mysteriously struggles to have the best-developed steering precision/feel; best brakes/pedal feel/fade resistance; chassis damping vs bumpy terrain; quick/smooth e-gear; advcd sport seats; etc etc.....
Similarly, in luxury car land, not clear to me BMW has ever been able to develop class-leading cars in terms of safety/safety innovations; many jaded buyers laugh re: BMW's perenially inept AC systems, even vs the mild CA heat/sun; and the fade-prone brakes and dubious motors/trannies of the allegedly vaunted M series are legendary
....and VW/Bentley seems similarly unremarkable in terms of safety/safety innovations....and the tastelessly gaudy/baroque $200K+ B lacks even primitive luxury features like ventil seats.....
Ironically, despite much concern re: consolidation of suppliers, fusion/overproduc of brands, etc etc, IMO only P/F/MB have clearly proven a corporate DNA of engineering excellence in terms of performance/safety (F less so re: safety)/comfort/daily-usability....given that capital is cheap and plentiful, my suspicion is that the engineers at P/F/MB are simply smarter, more creative and more effective in translating their knowledge/skills into a more interesting driving product.....lots of imitators/wishful rivals, but mysteriously the imitators struggle w/such basics as steering/brakes/advcd trannies/safety....
Nice...so how's your family? Your wife still a lapdanser?".. 
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