A look into a segment: Luxury Convertibles

This post is part of a series of entries looking at one particular segment and body style, and seeing what the state of the market is by using The Vehicle For Me.  First up is Luxury Convertibles.

The market of Luxury Convertibles seems to be fairly niche, with a wide range of options that consider themselves in this class.  At the low end of the price spectrum we see the now defunct Saab 9-3, the Audi A4, Volvo C70, and Lexus IS C all hovering in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. And at the high end we see the Jaguar XK Series, Mercedes-Benz SL Class, and pair of Bentley Continental models all with trims well above $100K.  Of the twelve models available, only four offer a manual transmission, and six offer AWD drivetrains.  Let's look at what comes out on top with a couple scenarios.

Scenario 1: Adrenaline rush for under $75K

I chose the highest level trims possible for each model under $75K, then set my priorities to be Horsepower, Horsepower RPM, Torque, Torque RPM, and Weight.  This will maximize horsepower and torque at the lowest RPM and the lowest weight.

The top three vehicles were the 2013 BMW 3-Series 335is at 74%, followed by the 2013 Volvo C70 T5 Platinum at 69%, and 2012 Saab 9-3 Indepdence Convertible at 64%.  As you can see, even though the Infiniti has more overall horsepower, the BMW hits its maximum thrust at a much lower RPM, and crushes the Infiniti in torque.  Based on the specs, the BMW has it won, but the Volvo appears to be the value pick of the litter with it's much lower MSRP and good gas mileage (unfortunately that part is below the screenshot fold).  If you're on a budget and need to stay under $50K, the Volvo looks like a good bet, but I would probably take the BMW.

Victory: 2013 BMW 3-Series 335is

Scenario 2: Cute "economical" car that looks good

I don't know if this is really what people buy luxury convertibles for, so I just made this up.  In this scenario, I'll be prioritizing total exterior size (smaller is better), fuel economy, and safety.  All cars will need navigation and safety features like parking sensors and stability/traction control, some extra goodies like HID Headlights and power locks/windows, and be Automatics.

Coming in first with 79% of the maximum score in this scenario of "cute" cars is the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL63 AMG.  And though it doesn't seem to excel in anything in particular, it comes in the top three in everything important, which is good enough to outshine the rest of the group.  The 2014 Jaguar F-TYPE V8 S and 2013 Infiniti G Convertible IPL 7AT take 2nd and 3rd place respectively.  The Jag is the lightest and the shortest of the three, though it looks like the Infiniti is going to be the roomiest in the inside.  The Mercedes-Benz looks like it could tear stuff up with the power it has, but it may be a little much for "cute", which I think is probably best represented by the Jaguar, which has a better value as well.

Victory: 2014 Jaguar F-TYPE V8 S

This test of scenarios has been helpful for me, as it lets me dogfood my own program on a class of vehicles I would probably never look at, and it shows me that it would be really useful to be able to have more control over certain priorities.  For example, some people might want a car to be longer and some might want it to be shorter, but currently the length priority thinks shorter is better.