Differences between Economy and Luxury Cars

The lines between economy and luxury cars aren’t quite as clear as they once were. In previous decades, you wouldn’t find the same features offered for a mainstream vehicle as you would for one wearing a luxury badge, but that’s mostly gone.

The ideals that set the upscale models apart still exist. Luxury cars are built better, have more options, and often give you more driving dynamics than their lower-classed competitors. All of the added benefits of a luxury name translate to vehicles that come at higher prices and sometimes we wonder why that happens.

Economy Refers to Fuel Mileage, No Quality

The market of economy cars simply being small, basic, and nearly unbearable to live with is gone. Today, a car can offer excellent fuel economy and still give you a full package of features that make it enjoyable to drive. With the movement toward electric vehicles, the economy car has all but disappeared from the market. That’s probably a good thing considering what more drivers look for in the cars they take home. Today, more than ever, its necessary for a vehicle to have a full package of safety features for the driver to stay safe on the road.

Luxury Cars are Still the Proving Ground

For generations, when an automaker develops a new feature for a car, its offered on the highest trims possible first. This typically means luxury cars receive the features before economy models. Some of the items that showed up in luxury models early include rearview cameras, blind-spot monitoring, independent rear suspension, and Safe Exit Assist. Today, the benefits of these features make them more mainstream and widely offered when available. Why should those that can afford a luxury ride be the only ones to enjoy the top safety features of a vehicle?

Comfort is Still an Important Part of Luxury Driving

The brand names we associate with luxury driving offer comfort in the packaging offered. This is probably the greatest differentiator between what might be considered an economy car and one that is a luxury vehicle. Comfort doesn’t simply mean the best seat materials and most supportive seats, but also other factors. Higher class vehicles have more sound insulation to keep the road noises outside of the cabin. This isn’t something you’ll find in the lower-class cars. When it comes to comfort, you’ll get what you pay for in your car.

The Drive is Made Better

Another aspect of creating comfort in the luxury vehicle you drive is found in the driving systems of the vehicle. This means you’ll find a suspension that offers a smooth ride over potholes, road abrasions, and bumps. Some luxury models have suspension systems that use cameras and sensors to understand the road ahead and give you a ride that’s uninterrupted by issues with the road. These cars also offer more dynamic steering to make them performance cars. Consider the BMW models and how athletic they are; these vehicles are made to tear up the curves out on the highway.

Climate and Positioning for a Luxurious Feeling

The place you sit and how you feel in the car is another aspect of comfort you’ll find in luxury cars and not as often in economy vehicles. Many upper-class cars offer power seats, heated steering wheels, and heated seating as part of the basic package. If you drive a Hyundai Accent or Nissan Versa, you’ll be hard-pressed to find these items in these cars at all. The comfort factor is a huge difference between the mainstream vehicles and those that wear the luxury badges.

Put Those Old Thoughts to Rest

There was a school of though that put the differences between economy and luxury cars at the number of features each one offered. With economy vehicles offering fewer features, the car would offer better overall fuel consumption. Luxury cars did just the opposite because they had more features. This is no longer the case. In fact, the old idea that using a manual transmission helps save on fuel is also gone. Today, most features are electronic and add very little to the weight of the car, which means added features seldom impact the overall fuel mileage of a vehicle.

Of Course, Price is an Issue

Even today, you’ll pay a higher price for a car wearing a luxury badge compared to those with mainstream logos on them. Thankfully, most of the days of automakers using the exact same car across four or more brands is gone. Although some platforms are shared from luxury to mainstream models, the vehicles that come from these shared platforms are extremely different. A recent example is the found in the Hyundai family. The Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60 all share the same platform, but these three electric SUVs are extremely different from each other.

Why Should You Choose a Luxury Car?

If you want to enjoy the benefits of added comfort, better driving dynamics, more high-class features, and the quality that comes with the names of BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, etc. you’ll want to enjoy a luxury car. These heritage names still ring true with respect, opulence, and quality when mentioned. There’s no substitute for driving across the country in a luxury vehicle compared to what you might find if you stuck with a mainstream model. If you want high class comfort, you know where to go.

What About the Economy Car?

In today’s market, there isn’t anything that is truly an economy car. That’s probably a good thing since most were small, unimaginative, and offered very few safety features. While the lines between what could be an economy car and the luxury cars offered aren’t gone, they are blurred compared to previous generations. You can have a wonderful package of features in a mainstream car and enjoy the affordable price and impressive qualities offered, but if you want to drive a car with class and style, you’ll want to move upmarket and find the right luxury car for your driving pleasures.