Mike's Random Car Facts for Today

Luxury (and some non Luxury) Car Names - Part 1

I recently realized that a lot of people don't realize that car names that have a lot of numbers in them usually mean something.  They can tell you soemthign as simple as how many doors they have or tell you if they're a sports car or how big their engines are just by the name!

For example:

BMW

BMW 3 Series.  For most  BMWs, the 3-5-6-7 tells you how good the car is.  The higher the number the better the car.  The odd numbers tell you that the car is a sedan, but some have 2 door versions.  All even numbers are only coupes, which currently includes the Z4 and the 6 series. 

The number afterward, like 330, 545, 750 usually tells how big the engine is in terms of liters. 

A 330 has a 3.0 liter engine, the 545 has a 4.5 liter engine and the 750 has a big 5.0 liter engine. 
All the Xs are SUVs, the X meaning more extreme or Cross country use.

All Zs are small coupes.

All Ms are the enhanced performance versions.

One exception to these rules is the new 325, it actually has a 3.0 liter engine.  Why? I have no idea.
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Mercedes Benz
Mercedes has a similar type: but they use letters and numbers. 

For sedans: C-Class is the lowest, then there is the E-Class, then it gets fuzzy since they have S-Class, CLS-Class, for the coupes they have the SLK, the CLK, SL-Class.  SUVs are the ML-Class and the G-Class. For minvan like thingie, they have the R-Class, Thats not counting the AMG line which is their performance line.   

In general, the same number scheme works here like it does with BMW. 
So the C230 has a 2.3 liter engine, a small one while an E500 has a whopping 5 liter engine.  The SLK350 has a 3.5 liter engine and so one.

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Lexus is another brand that uses the engine size thing in its name.

Lexus cars are all 2 letter codes with a 3 digit designation.

The letters show what type of car it is while the numbers show the engine size.  A lot of the numbers that are the same usually mean the same engine.

For example, the ES330 is the elegant sedan (I made these two words up, but its generally true) and has the common 3.3 liter engine which it shares with the RX330  (Rugged Xrossover). For the sedans, there is the LS430 (Luxurious Sedan) with the 4.3 liter engine as well as the GS300 and the GS430 (Grand Saloon, Saloon is soem weird word they use for a nice sedan in Japan and Korea). Rounding out the bottom end of the sedans is the IS250 and the IS350 which is like the Intense Sport again with the 2.5 and 2.5 liter engines respectively. 

The hybrid is the RX400h, which has a unique 4.0 liter engine with an electric assist motor. 

For the SUVs, there is the GX470 which is a semi super luxury SUV that has the same 4.7 liter that is in the LX470, basically a super nice Toyota Land Cruiser. 

The SC430 is basically Super Coupe with a 4.3 liter engine, just like the LS430 and the GS430.

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Infiniti makes it just as easy by providing a few vehicle lines like Lexus and the size designation as well.

G - Midsize sedan, comes in 35 designation that means 3.5 liter engine.
M - Mid to upper midsize luxury sedan, comes in both 35 and 45 designation.  Similar 3.5 liter as the G35 and larger 4.5 liter available.
Q - Large luxury flagship car comes in the 45 or 4.5 liter designation.
FX - All Xs mean SUV.  Like the M, this comes in 35 and 45 designations. 
QX - The monster SUV built on the Nissan Armada platform. The full name is QX56, guess how big this engine is?

To be continued.