Yardstick Car From Across the World

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I was thinking about this earlier today while reading Car and Driver's comparison test of the Rolls Royce Phantom and the Mercedes-Benz S600...

What are the "Yardstick Cars" from your part of the world?

Here in the US:

Small Cars: Honda Civic or VW Golf/Rabbit & Jetta
Mid-Size: Honda Accord or Toyota Camry
Full-Size: Chrysler 300

Small-Lux: Audi A3
Mid-Lux: BMW 3-series
Full-Lux: BMW 5-series
Ultra-Lux: Mercedes S-Class

Small-Sports: Mazda MX5
Mid-Sports: Ford Mustang GT

Sports Coupe: Chevrolet Corvette or Porsche 911 (depends on comparison)
Sport Sedan: BMW M5

Truck: Ford F-150
SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe or Ford Explorer (depends on comparison)
 
My list:

Small Cars: Honda Civic
Mid-Size: Honda Accord
Full-Size: Chrysler 300

Small-Lux: Acura TSX
Mid-Lux: Audi A4/BMW 3-series
Full-Lux: BMW 5-series
Ultra-Lux: Audi A8

Small-Sports: Honda S2000
Mid-Sports: Ford Mustang GT
Sports Coupe: Chevrolet Corvette or Porsche 911 (depends on comparison)
Sport Sedan: BMW M5

Truck: Ford F-150
SUV: Ford Explorer
 
YSSMAN
...
Small Cars: Honda Civic or VW Golf/Rabbit & Jetta
Mid-Size: Honda Accord or Toyota Camry
...
Small-Lux: Audi A3
Click to expand...
From my perspective:

Small cars: Mazda3
Mid-size: Accord, no contest here
Small-Lux: Acura TSX
 
Benchmark car that all in it's class are compared to.
 
Yardsticks by our (sports-car-enthusiast) standards, or yardsticks by generic Joe Smith standards?

(I know, I’m a PITA. ;))
 
Small Cars: 2006 VW Golf GTi
Mid-Size: 2006 Lexus IS
Full-Size: 2005 BMW M5

Economic Sports: Honda S2000
Sports Coupe: BMW M3
Pure Sports: Porsche 997 GT3 RS
Supercars: Ferrari Enzo

Truck: Ford F-150
SUV: Subaru B9

*Total sports here, no other features considered... :)
 
These car's arn't the fastest in their group, or the best imo, they're what I see similar car's being compared to most often, and are on sale now.

City car - Not sure, there's a lot of choice.
Hot hatch - VW Golf GTi
Mid sized saloon - BMW 3-series
Cheap roadster - Mazda MX-5
Sport's saloon - Audi RS4
Sports coupe - BMW M3
Sports roadster - Porsche Boxster
Estate - Probably the Audi S4 or S6 Avant.
High performance sportscar - Porsche 911
Luxury saloon - BMW 7 series
Supercar - Ferrari F430
 
I'm going to break it down in 2 sections--My bias and almost no-bias down to one choice each.

My Bias:
Small Cars: Ford Focus, Nissan Sentra, & Toyota Corolla
Mid-Size: Ford Fusion/Mazda6, Jaguar X-Type, & Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
Full-Size: Nissan Maxima & Toyota Camry

Small Luxury: Audi A3
Mid Luxury: Infiniti G35 saloon & BMW 3-series saloon
Full Luxury: Infiniti M45, Jaguar XJ, & Audi A6
Ultra Luxury: Audi A8 & BMW 7-series (V12 model only)

Small Sports: VW Golf GTI, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, & Scion tC
Mid-Sports: Nissan 350Z, VW Golf R32, & Merc C230 Kompressor
Ultra Sports: Chevrolet Corvette C6
GT car: Merc SL600 & Ford GT

Sports Coupe: Mustang GT & Pontiac GTO (used)
Cheap Sport Saloon: Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi EVO IX, & Nissan Altima SE-R
Luxury Sport Saloon: Jaguar S-Type R, Audi RS4, & BMW M3
Truck: Nissan Titan, Ford F150, & Toyota Tundra
Mid-SUV: Ford Freestyle Limited AWD (it's more of a crossover), Subaru Forester XT, & Nissan Murano SE
Large SUV: None
Luxury SUV: VW Touareg & Saab 97x

Little or no Bias and down to one choice each:
Small Cars: Honda Fit
Mid-Size: Jaguar X-Type
Full-Size: Toyota Camry

Small Luxury: Audi A3
Mid Luxury: Infiniti G35 saloon
Full Luxury: Audi A6
Ultra Luxury: Audi A8

Small Sports: VW Golf GTI
Mid-Sports: Nissan 350Z
Ultra Sports: Chevrolet Corvette C6
GT car: Merc SL500

Sports Coupe: Mustang GT
Cheap Sport Saloon: Subaru WRX
Luxury Sport Saloon: Jaguar S-Type R
Truck: Ford F150
Mid-SUV: Subaru Forester XT
Large SUV: Toyota Highlander
Luxury SUV: VW Touareg
 
City Car: Honda Fit
Small Car: Honda Civic
Mid-Size: Camry...how can you not benchmark the best selling car?
Full-Size: Some Beemer

Mid Luxury: Maybe a G35?
Full Luxury: Some Beemer
Ultra Luxury: Rolls or Bently

Small Sports: Probably the SRT-4...cheap power
Mid-Sports: WRX STi
Sports: Chevrolet Corvette C6
GT car: Still couldn't tell you what the hell this is, but some Benz

Sports Coupe: Probably a Miata or Boxter
Sport Sedan: BMW M3
Luxury Sport Sedan: Some big Benz AMG model
Truck: Toyota Tundra or F-150
Mid-SUV: Whatever Toyota builds
Large SUV: Tahoe/Suburban/GMT900 based SUV's
Luxury SUV: Some Lexus
 
...Glad to get some answers

I generally apply the term "yardstick car" to a vehicle that baisicly is what you judge all car's in it's class by. Often times the Corvette is the car by which it seems all measurements are taken here in the US, often times with the Porsche 911 in a close second. It seems I can't ever read a review of a mid-size car without the mention of the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry atleast once, and the same can be said of a roadster review without the MX5.

I was interested in seeing how different it would be in Europe, Asia, Australia, etc... As L4S pointed out, it doesnt seem too radically different...
 
Ah, okay. In that case:

Small car: Honda Civic
Midsize car: Toyota Camry, Honda Accord
Large car: None really, except maybe Toyota Avalon

Midsize luxury car: BMW 3-series
Large luxury car: Various BMW/Audi models

Truck: Ford F-150 (seems everybody agrees on this one)
SUV: Honda Pilot/Chevy Tahoe
 
Whatever they are still a sporty coupe. Car classifications are retarded.
 
A car with two doors is a coupe in my opinion...my Blazer is a coupe.
 
The word coupe referrs most directly to a car's roof, an SUV or truck cannot be a coupe, it's not a car. A cabriolet cannot be a coupe, a saloon car cannot be a coupe, an estate cannot be a coupe, they don't have a coupe's roof. It'd be like me saying you Blazer is a saloon, it is actually infact, closer to a saloon than a coupe, but that's still wrong. In fact, saying the MX5 is a coupe is saying black is white, not just wrong, but opposite.
 
BlazinXtreme
A car with two doors is a coupe in my opinion...my Blazer is a coupe.
Click to expand...

You could call your Blazer a motortrike if you wanted - doesn't mean you're right ;)
 
Once again car classifications are to much of a grey area, but to settle this how about I just change Boxter to Caymen since they are similar.
 
Classifications for body style arn't grey area's, performance classification's can be, mainly in the sportscar, supercar and GT classes, some sportscar's these day's are close to supercar's and vice versa, and some supercar's and GT's are getting confused as well.
 
Meh anything that's a fast car is a sports car, I just go buy what the insurence classifies cars for the most part...although they think I drive a station wagon, which I guess is fair since it doesn't have the GVW of the S-10.
 
I don't think the general classification of most cars are hard to grasp, but there are some models that cross lines and confuse the hell out of some people.

Roadster: Small, two seat convertable. MX5, Solstice, etc.

Coupe: Two doors, usually seats four or five. GTO, Camaro, G35 SC, etc...

GT: Larger than a coupe, still has two doors. IMO, must seat atleast four. Ferrari 612, Bentley Conti-GT, Mercedes SL, etc.

Sports Car: An extension of the coupe, higher performance, often two seaters (sometimes four). I generally would place the regular-grade Corvette and 911 here, along with cars like the Mazda RX8 and Nissan 350Z. A blanket term given to high-performance cars.

Supercar: The next step from sports car, think in terms of the F430, Gallarado, GT, Z06, etc...

Ultimates: These are the top-line models, halo cars for an entire industry. This segment would be dominated by the Veyron, SLR, LP460, Enzo, Carrea GT, etc.
 
Here in the land down under:

Small Cars: Toyota Corolla
Mid-Size: Mazda 3
Full-Size: Holden Commodore

Mid-Lux: BMW 3-series
Full-Lux: Holden Calais/Statesmen
Ultra-Lux: Mercedes of any description

Small-Sports: Mazda MX5
Mid-Sports: Ford XR6 Turbo

Sports Coupe: HSV GTO
Sport Sedan: HSV Clubsport R8

Truck/Ute: Toyota Hilux/Holden SS ute
SUV: Toyota Landcruiser
 
Small Cars: Honda Civic
Mid-Size: Toyota Camry
Full-Size: Chevrolet Impala (disregarding that nobody buys it, a Ford Crown Victoria)

Small-Lux: Audi A4
Mid-Lux: BMW 3-series
Full-Lux: Mercedes E-Class
Ultra-Lux: Rolls Royce Phantom

Small-Sports: Mazda Miata
Mid-Sports: Ford Mustang

Sports Coupe: Porsche 911
Sport Sedan: BMW M3/Subaru Impreza STI

Truck: Ford F-150
SUV: Ford Explorer
Minivan: ? Dodge Grand Caravan




Well there's my list. But perhaps we should have one that says what the standards are for US/European/Japanese cars.
 
The Ford Explorer is a bad vehicle to benchmark in my opinion, you would be better off with a Honda or Toyota mid sized SUV.
 
Here in Southeast Asia:

Subcompact:
Honda Jazz / City (Fit hatchback/sedan) - sedan version sells well, hatchback a bit expensive

Hyundai Getz - much cheaper, good value for money, terrific diesel version

Compact:
Ford Focus/Mazda3 - just because there are features standard on the Ford that the new Civic lacks

Honda Civic Sedan - just for the engine technology. Focus/Mazda3 suspension, steering, handling and amenities still better. It'll still sell the Ford/Mazda twins a million to one, though... :grumpy:

Midsize:
Honda Accord / Toyota Camry - unfortunately. We don't get the V6 Mazda6 here, or the new Altima or Maxima (we still get the old Maxima)

Full-sized:
(errh... no cheap full-sizers here)

Compact SUV:
Honda CRV - sales leader, as always... RAV4 update is still too new, and kind of expensive
Nissan X-Trail - tech leader, shame Nissan doesn't want to sell them in the US.

Midsized SUV:
Toyota Fortuner - you don't have it there... it's based on a low-tech ladder frame engineered in Thailand and doesn't handle or ride as well as, say, an Explorer. It sells like hotcakes because of the swoopy design, but it's got a respectable selection of modern diesels, as compared to the anemic truck engines in most midsizers here, including the American ones.

Full-sized SUV
Ford Expedition - in terms of both sales and features. Not terribly modern, but people buy them like hotcakes.

Luxury Compact:
BMW 1 / 3 series - both in terms of features and sales. Don't really like the 1, but they're everywhere.

Luxury Midsize:
BMW 530d - good seller, great engine
Audi A6 - getting good press

Luxury Full-sized:
BMW 7-series - still unmatched, still better rear accomodation than new S-class... apparently, looks don't matter here.

Luxury SUV:
Porsche Cayenne - would have said X5, as it's my personal benchmark despite the "old" styling... still, can't deny that the Cayenne is the "in" thing with the rich crowd, nowadays.

Affordable Sports Cars:
...errh... we only have the Tiburon. It's closest direct competitors were the Mazda MP3 (out of production) and the current Mazda6, which is a four door. Our market sucks.

Sports Cars:
...are you kidding? Good-selling sportscars only shift a handful of units a year. That said, the 350Z, WRX and Evo are popular, while the RX8 is a rarity due to the lack of official imports.
 
I'd say...

Small Cars: Ford Fiesta
Mid-Size: Ford Focus
Full-Size: Ford Mondeo

Small-Lux: BMW 120i
Mid-Lux: Audi A4
Full-Lux: BMW 5 Series
Ultra-Lux: Mercedes S-Class

Small-Sports: Mazda MX-5
Mid-Sports: Porsche Boxster

Sports Coupe: Porsche 911
Sport Sedan: BMW M3

Truck: No idea, not my thing.
SUV: Porsche Cayenne probably.
 
niky
Here in Southeast Asia:

Subcompact:
Honda Jazz / City (Fit hatchback/sedan) - sedan version sells well, hatchback a bit expensive

Hyundai Getz - much cheaper, good value for money, terrific diesel version

Compact:
Ford Focus/Mazda3 - just because there are features standard on the Ford that the new Civic lacks

Honda Civic Sedan - just for the engine technology. Focus/Mazda3 suspension, steering, handling and amenities still better. It'll still sell the Ford/Mazda twins a million to one, though... :grumpy:

Midsize:
Honda Accord / Toyota Camry - unfortunately. We don't get the V6 Mazda6 here, or the new Altima or Maxima (we still get the old Maxima)

Full-sized:
(errh... no cheap full-sizers here)

Compact SUV:
Honda CRV - sales leader, as always... RAV4 update is still too new, and kind of expensive
Nissan X-Trail - tech leader, shame Nissan doesn't want to sell them in the US.

Midsized SUV:
Toyota Fortuner - you don't have it there... it's based on a low-tech ladder frame engineered in Thailand and doesn't handle or ride as well as, say, an Explorer. It sells like hotcakes because of the swoopy design, but it's got a respectable selection of modern diesels, as compared to the anemic truck engines in most midsizers here, including the American ones.

Full-sized SUV
Ford Expedition - in terms of both sales and features. Not terribly modern, but people buy them like hotcakes.

Luxury Compact:
BMW 1 / 3 series - both in terms of features and sales. Don't really like the 1, but they're everywhere.

Luxury Midsize:
BMW 530d - good seller, great engine
Audi A6 - getting good press

Luxury Full-sized:
BMW 7-series - still unmatched, still better rear accomodation than new S-class... apparently, looks don't matter here.

Luxury SUV:
Porsche Cayenne - would have said X5, as it's my personal benchmark despite the "old" styling... still, can't deny that the Cayenne is the "in" thing with the rich crowd, nowadays.

Affordable Sports Cars:
...errh... we only have the Tiburon. It's closest direct competitors were the Mazda MP3 (out of production) and the current Mazda6, which is a four door. Our market sucks.

Sports Cars:
...are you kidding? Good-selling sportscars only shift a handful of units a year. That said, the 350Z, WRX and Evo are popular, while the RX8 is a rarity due to the lack of official imports.
Click to expand...



Thats your part of SEA...

In my place, I'll leave out the national makes as they are mostly crap and these are the best sellers or/and most desirable:

Small cars: Honda Jazz

Small sedan: Corolla altis but now civic as its newer.

Big sedan: Accord camry in a tie.

Small luxury sedan: 3-series

Big Lux sedan: 5-series

High end lux sedan: S-class

Low end SUV: CRV, X-trial

Mid range SUV: Toyota Fortuner aka poor man's harrier LOL

Lux SUV: Toyota harrier/ Lexus RX

Super Low low low low end MPV: Toyota avanza

Big sized, cheap MPV: Toyota innova

Lux MPV: Toyota Previa

Supersized MPV: Toyota Alphard (Nissan Elgrand is close but lack of small engine and high price is againts it but is my favorite)

Pick-up: Toyota Hilux

Sports cars, hot hatches...: Available but sold thru importers so exact numbers are not available.... VW Golf GTi, RX8, Evo, imprezas all seem to be selling quite okay.. and oh yah, the MINI.

Then there are also those super high end cars like: Merc M-class, X5, Cayeene that sells in low numbers.

In Malaysia, I would safely say Toyota rules...
You could take an idian ambassador and slap on a toyota badge and most prolly poeple will flock to the showrooms still :dopey:
 

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