Engineered to Popular Perception

By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG + Infiniti USA

PERCEPTION is a funny thing.

Add a “hybrid” tag to the back of a Cadillac Escalade and what was once a gluttenous, bruttish SUV from the supersize era is transformed into a green, eco-minded angel.

Hey, there are such things as gentle giants!

Same was true in the 1980s for any car that donned the magic “Turbo” moniker. Saab exploited this turbo=fast craze like it was it’s job (which, of course, it was).

And what about performance metrics? Of course the benchmarks have heightened with time and technological progress, but what might we perceive as quick today?

Consider, if you will,  the 1970s Mercedes-Benz 280E W123 gen. Bristling with the righteous – ahem – power of 137 hp and 142 lb-ft of torque, the three box Benz weighed in at a then-considerable 3,565 lbs.

Now, if I were to explain that the gas version of the world’s taxi musters 60 mph in 11.4 seconds – you’d yawn and suggest that the driver could get out and sprint faster.

However, if I told you that the same seemingly lazy sedan finds 50 mph in 8.5 seconds, suddenly we can approach the old Benz with a new found respect. Not so lazy, after all. “Decent” you might offer.

Zero to 60 is our current benchmark. Back in the 70s, 55 mph was the US speed limit (as it remains on many highways, grumble, grumble). It meant more for Mercedes to engineer a car that performed well to 50 than it did to 60 due to perception.

Fast forward to today.

The Infiniti G37S posts a respectably quick naught to 60 time of 5.4 seconds. That’s thanks to a 328 hp V6 performing heroically despite a stout curb weight of 3,770 lbs.

Acceleration time is pretty linear to 60, too.

0-30 2.0 seconds

0-40 3.0 seconds

0-50 4.1 seconds

But after?

0-70 7.1 seconds

0-80 9.1 seconds

0-90 11.3 seconds

It seems our entry-level luxury “performance” sedan runs out of some steam at a faster rate on the way to 100 mph.

And herein lies the point. It’s engineering and marketing to perception.

If the benchmark was 0-70 in 5 seconds, Nissan’s boffins would’ve made it happen and cared less for the time it took to find 80 mph.

So, too, for the perceptions of eco-friendliness.

A diesel Mercedes E-Class that gets 650 miles to a tank is perceived far less clean (in these United States and California) than a Lexus RX Hybrid that might manage the average 400 on a tank.

So when it comes to the automobile – perception, truly is a funny thing.