Lexus is debuting a new sport coupe concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, from which an upcoming production version won’t be much of a departure. Lexus promises it to be a fun car to drive, with a secondary focus on design.
Audi’s newest beneficiary of e-tron technology will come in the form of a 1+1 concept car scheduled for debut in Frankfurt. The urban concept, features a compact design, freestanding wheels, and a sliding roof, and will be powered by two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery.
For some time now we’ve been doing brief, direct comparisons of test cars at the request of our readers. Naturally, anyone considering a car will have a short list of other cars that are considered competitive. We think the information requested has been helpful, so we’re formalizing the idea in a new series called Showdown. This is the first article in this series, so let us know what you think, in comments.
Someone shopping for a convertible around the $40k mark would probably have at least one of these cars in mind. Since these three cars are full of surprises, we thought it would be useful to cover them in Showdown format as a way of highlighting the choices buyers face. Note that to keep these three cars within shouting distance of each other, we tested the Mustang GT Premium with manual transmission against the base G37 and the base 328i convertible (which was only available for test with an automatic).