View allAll Photos Tagged overachieve
Our time is simply wonderful, we are emanzipated women who may do with our bodies and faces whatever we fancy, we may enjoy virtual reality, let Artificial Intelligence do the no fun bits, get the face we always wanted, do outrageous things as usually only blokes would do and feel ever so overachieving, right .... RIGHT??! or ...
August 11, 2011 - Kearney Nebraska US
Only a few final captures of this day. Was trying out this new cam and I wanted to check out if I could get some quality pics that evening. I think I overachieved my own wishes!
*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***
Copyright 2011
Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography
All Rights Reserved
This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.
#ForeverChasing
#NebraskaSC
Visit my Photostream Archive (On Flickr) of Severe Weather
Taken at Wilmette Park Beach Illinois.
Explored 3/12/12 # 67
Featured in chicagoist.com/2012/03/13/todays_weather_overachieving.php
Please View On Black
An overachieving pollinator!
On a Chaparral Mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus)
Carlsbad, CA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
P4260221
August 11, 2011 - Kearney Nebraska US
Only a few final captures of this day. Was trying out this new cam and I wanted to check out if I could get some quality pics that evening. I think I overachieved my own wishes!
*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***
Copyright 2011
Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography
All Rights Reserved
This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.
#ForeverChasing
#NebraskaSC
Visit my Photostream Archive (On Flickr) of Severe Weather
Let's be honest: how many Americans know verses 2,3, or 4 of our National Anthem- let alone 158 in Greece?!?! Way to over-achieve Greece. Well-played.
When I was a kid my mother gave me a book of true facts for Christmas and I was instantly fixated on random, useless trivia and true facts. I used to read the Trivial Pursuit cards on road trips (nerd alert), and to this day I still have a passion for the unusual and bizarre factoids.
Theme: Random Facts
Year Fifteen Of My 365 Project
West Tennessee's Fulton Turn (T92) departs its namesake city one grade crossing north of the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, headed for the ex-GM&O Iselin yard at Jackson, TN. In the lead are ex-CR B23-7s #3172 and #4072, followed by ex-SP B30-7 #7855, which came to the WTNN via the Nashville and Eastern. First time I've seen the 7855 on a train.
Note the NS-style station sign for Fulton Junction; former crossing of two IC lines. NS purchased the Fulton - Jackson - Corinth line from ICG in 1988 and leased it to the WTNN in 2001. Unfortunately, the deactivated NS signal is hidden by an overachieving tree...and I forgot to bring a chain saw.
We walked north from Quileute R. carefully dodging high tide waves on the upper beach that repeatedly pressed us against and beyond a jumble of oversized driftwood. The receding tide finally allowed a safe tripod shot on the beach when we reached "Hole in the wall". A fading winter day made the softness of longer exposures easy.
Washington beaches feature solitude, fir-topped sea stacks, and massive old-growth logs; the logs are borne on the backs of overachieving NW rivers to the Pacific from Olympic old-growth forests.
"It wasn't just Calgary's first significant snowfall of the season on Saturday (22 October 2022), it was Alberta's. It was a memorable event as the system overachieved in parts of the province.
Snowfall records, which began in 1881 were broken at Calgary International Airport. The area reported a one day total of 19 cm on Saturday, October 22, setting a new record for this day. The entire snowfall event total for Calgary -- from Friday night to Sunday morning -- has been reported as 23 cm." From the Weather Network.
www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/photos-major-ci...
All photos were taken though my back window at home. Still healing from my trip and fall six weeks ago, so have no desire to venture out on snow and ice!
"It wasn't just Calgary's first significant snowfall of the season on Saturday (22 October 2022), it was Alberta's. It was a memorable event as the system overachieved in parts of the province.
Snowfall records, which began in 1881 were broken at Calgary International Airport. The area reported a one day total of 19 cm on Saturday, October 22, setting a new record for this day. The entire snowfall event total for Calgary -- from Friday night to Sunday morning -- has been reported as 23 cm." From the Weather Network.
www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/photos-major-ci...
All photos were taken though my very dirty back window at home. Still healing from my trip and fall six weeks ago, so have no desire to venture out on snow and ice! So, another six or seven months of this, sigh. Roll on next spring!
- www.kevin-palmer.com - My expectations and motivation were both low. Because of the slow solar wind speed, I didn’t think there would be much more than a boring green glow. Certainly it wouldn’t be as good as the show a couple weeks ago. But I couldn’t help taking a look anyway from a random road on the edge of town. This solar storm had a magnetic field pointing strongly southward for many hours, which helped it overachieve. Most of the time when I capture red auroras, the colors are subvisual. But this time the reds were very visible to the naked eye. The northern lights may appear any time of night, or even all night long in this case. But on average I find midnight-1AM to have the best views, so I always try to stay out until that time.
An overachieving pollinator!
Torrey Pines State Park, San Diego, CA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
1aaaP1010088
We walked north from Quileute R. carefully dodging high tide waves on the upper beach that repeatedly pressed us against and beyond a jumble of oversized driftwood. The receding tide finally allowed a safe tripod shot on the beach when we reached "Hole in the wall". A fading winter day made the softness of longer exposures easy.
Washington beaches feature solitude, fir-topped sea stacks, and massive old-growth logs; the logs were borne on the backs of overachieving NW rivers to the Pacific from Olympic old-growth.
This small, yet overactive and overachieving sunrise cumulus cloud towered well above its neighbors, though its bark was far worse than its non existent bite.
8-19-2017
Near Vandalia, IL
The constant need to fix and complete the nest. They never stop retrieving sticks. This bird may have overachieved.
The Swiss can't have just regular cones. Theirs are Red and white with little machined aluminium collars for sign holding.
Eva: Why are we wearing the hats?
Julia: It's my birthday!
Eva: That is only a partial explanation. You never wore a hat for my 11th birthday in February.
Julia: That's because there was no cake then.
Eva: Is there cake now?
Julia: Sure is. Mom's going to light the candle and then everyone will sing and bring over the cake.
Eva: Awesome. But I honestly have mixed emotions about this.
Julia: Why's that.
Eva: I like you and I like cake. But, I'm wondering why there wasn't cake for my birthday.
Julia: Acknowledged. But, can you just wear the hat and smile while they bring over the cake?
Eva: I will wear the hat. But, I'm not going to smile because of my seriously mixed emotions about the lack of cake for my birthday.
----------
Bruno always showed up in every birthday cake photo. He was never invited, but always made it into the frame for the photo. Eva either overachieved or underachieved on the photo op. I can't decide which.
There is other exciting news this week, but I'll share that with Aggie's pic.
A photogenic shelf cloud and Whale's Mouth passes over Cayuga, Ontario. I managed some good pictures on this overachieving storm event.
The same heat that is making me wish for death is driving the vinca into overachieving. I really resent that.
A photogenic shelf cloud and Whale's Mouth passes over Cayuga, Ontario. I managed some good pictures on this overachieving storm event.
I made a write up here: antonfalco.substack.com/p/impromptu-photogenic-storm-in-s...
"It wasn't just Calgary's first significant snowfall of the season on Saturday (22 October 2022), it was Alberta's. It was a memorable event as the system overachieved in parts of the province.
Snowfall records, which began in 1881 were broken at Calgary International Airport. The area reported a one day total of 19 cm on Saturday, October 22, setting a new record for this day. The entire snowfall event total for Calgary -- from Friday night to Sunday morning -- has been reported as 23 cm." From the Weather Network.
www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/photos-major-ci...
All photos were taken though my back window at home. Still healing from my trip and fall six weeks ago, so have no desire to venture out on snow and ice!
August 11, 2011 - Kearney Nebraska US
Only a few final captures of this day. Was trying out this new cam and I wanted to check out if I could get some quality pics that evening. I think I overachieved my own wishes!
*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***
Copyright 2011
Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography
All Rights Reserved
This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.
#ForeverChasing
#NebraskaSC
Visit my Photostream Archive (On Flickr) of Severe Weather
Rajah and Merlin playing around -Taken by Jessica
Rajah Passed away on 10/7/2012 may he rest in peace
@ninjam83
Featured in this article:
www.asylum.com/2010/05/28/overachieving-doorman-takes-dow...
blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/02/too-popular-to-b...
Consumerist Article Link:
consumerist.com/2010/10/its-probation-for-man-who-punched...
Huffington post :
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/cat-surprises-dog-siame...
Uses on TUMBLR
wordsmyroommatehates.tumblr.com/post/7886062126/topkuss-p...
The year I was retiring I was told by the administration that I had been selected by the senior class to give their Backaloriate speech. Hell, I didn’t even know how to spell Baccalaureate, but I gave the administration rough drafts of three possible speeches. They told me they were all inappropriate for the occasion and asked if I’d consider writing another. I told them I doubted that I’d ever write one they would accept and told them to find someone else. They found my department head who delivered a most excellent speech. Here is the rough draft of my speech number 2:
In 1980, I was sitting in a downtown bar talking to a colleague when he asked me how many years I had been teaching. I told him ten. He then pointed out that after ten years at any job the effectiveness of anyone becomes inversely proportional to the number of years they remain at that job. When the administration informed me that far too many of you voted for me to give the address at this year’s Baccalaureate my first thought was that this great honor had come twenty-two years too late. And you can slide an awfully long way down the slippery slope to total ineffectiveness in twenty-two years.
In college one of the many courses I did poorly at was Speech. On the first day of class the instructor took out an egg timer and informed us that if we wanted a good grade we would have to turn the egg timer to five minutes before beginning our speech and finish before it did. He went on to explain why the Gettysburg Address was such an important document. The guest speaker that day spoke for three hours and no one remembers a word he said while Ol’ Abe spoke for three minutes and everyone has to try to remember what he said whether they want to or not.
When I sat down to write this speech I wasn’t sure I could pull it off because, well, twenty-two years is a long time to be sliding down that slippery slope. Then I thought, what am I worried about? I’d just do what more than a few of my former students did in my class. I’d wait until the last minute and just rip off someone else’s work. So here goes.
No score and eighteen years ago your parents brought forth on this continent a new child conceived in the knowledge that Title IX and “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” had forever changed the meaning of the words “all men are created equal” and dedicated to the wisdom that “There is no i in team.”
Now we are engaged in Senior Week secure in the knowledge that any child so conceived and dedicated can surely graduate. We have come to dedicate a portion of this week to the handing out of scholarships. For people have given some of their money, often in loving memory of those who were taken from us too soon, that some of you might not have to give so much of yours. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do so.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow these halls. Those of you who overachieved, those of you who worked to your potential, and those of you who beat the system, have consecrated it far above our powers to add or subtract. The world will little note nor long remember what I said here, but you can never forget what you did here. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that we take increase devotion to that cause for which your parents have given every ounce of will power they possess; that we here highly resolve that these years shall not have been in vain; that you will manage to get a job and find some place else to live.
Photo taken during my Photography Class Self Portrait Assignment in Stonington High School, Stonington, CT
- www.kevin-palmer.com - My expectations and motivation were both low. Because of the slow solar wind speed, I didn’t think there would be much more than a boring green glow. Certainly it wouldn’t be as good as the show a couple weeks ago. But I couldn’t help taking a look anyway from a random road on the edge of town. This solar storm had a magnetic field pointing strongly southward for many hours, which helped it overachieve. Most of the time when I capture red auroras, the colors are subvisual. But this time the reds were very visible to the naked eye. The northern lights may appear any time of night, or even all night long in this case. But on average I find midnight-1AM to have the best views, so I always try to stay out until that time.
August 11, 2011 - Kearney Nebraska US
Only a few final captures of this day. Was trying out this new cam and I wanted to check out if I could get some quality pics that evening. I think I overachieved my own wishes!
*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***
Copyright 2011
Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography
All Rights Reserved
This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.
#ForeverChasing
#NebraskaSC
Visit my Photostream Archive (On Flickr) of Severe Weather
This is one of the stalks growing out of a succulent plant growing in our garden. I clipped the stalk and brought it inside to photograph with lights, where its cool. The plant itself looks like some form of overachieving cabbage, and is extremely colorful. Someday when it's cool and shady, and not 100 degrees, I'll photograph the plant itself.
Strobist info: Lit very simply with a YN560-II in a 24 inch softbox camera left and behind the plant at about 10 o'clock. For fill light I held a 32 inch reflective disc, camera right at 5 o'clock pointed at the dark areas of the plant. The strobe in manual mode was triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N.
This is a simple setup that anyone can do and the total cost of the flash, triggers, softbox, reflector and light stand was around $225. On days when you can't go to the Grand Canyon, it's nice to be able to put interesting, yet simple, light on things from around your own house. This stuff isn't hard, but it could transform your photography.
If you like pictures of cactus and succulents, you might not hate my Cactus and Succulents set. That set can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157633383093236/...
Other plants, flowers, fruit or thingys that I've photographed using strobes can be seen in my Strobe Lit Plant set. In the description for that set, I list resources that I've used to learn how to light with off camera flash, and the equipment that I use. www.flickr.com/photos/9422
shown with camo brown backing and gloss acrylic finish in holder and ready for sale. not that I plan on actually having a sale or show.
I know the 55-250 isn't premium glass or even a true macro but I've always been pleased with how it overachieves, especially in superb natural light.
"Whatever you do, or dream you can do - begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." Johann Goethe
I watched this overachieving Northern Mockingbird carrying this stick towards its nesting site. The stick was at least twice as long as the bird. The nest was in a large shrub with very dense foliage. I didn't think there was any way the bird could maneuver the stick past all the exterior foliage and into the middle of the shrub, where its nest was. The bird twisted and turned the stick in all different directions and after about ten minutes, managed to get the stick inside the shrub. I was impressed.
From the archives.
The pattern was getting too polite. The wires cut through it and give the image something to push against. They add rhythm and a sense of place without turning it into a postcard.
writingwithcolor: Before you say, Write your own! – let me tell you that we do. But this page is a resource for writers, so we thought writers might want to know what kinds of representation would make us more likely to get excited about your book. We don’t speak for everyone in our demographic, just ourselves, but we hope this post gives you some cool writing ideas. Note: This is additional info writers can keep in mind when writing characters of those backgrounds. We believe it’s a good thing to ask the people you’re including what they’d like to see. Actually hearing from misrepresented and underrepresented people and asking us what we’d like to see of ourselves is much better than unthinkingly tossing characters into tired tropes or reinforcing stereotypes that do us harm. Colette (Black): More Black people doing shit! Going on adventures, riding dragons, being magical! More Black characters in prominent roles in fantasy + sci-fi and historical settings and not always and only as slavess. These stories are important, but they’re NOT our only stories. We were kings and queens too. Let us wear the fancy dresses for a change instead of the chains, damn it! More Black girls being portrayed as lovely and treasured and worth protecting. More Black girls finding love. More Black girls in general who aren’t relegated to arc-less, cliche “Sassy best friends” and “strong black women.” More positive, dynamic roles of Black men (fathers, brothers, boys…) More positive, dynamic family roles of Black families as a whole, families that are loving and supportive and there. More Black people from all socioeconomic classes. More Black characters that don’t rely on the stereotypes that the media is currently going full force to reinforce. Yasmin (Arab, Turkish): More Arabs who aren’t token characters. I want to see Arabs normalised in literature. Arab teenagers in high school, Arab young adults behind on their taxes, Arab dads who cook amazing food, Arab moms who refuse to soften their tongue for others. Arabs who aren’t mystical fantasy creatures from another planet. Arabs in YAs and in dramas and nonfiction and comedies and children’s books. We are human just like everyone else, and I’d like to see that reflected in literature. Often we are boxed into very specific genres of literature and made to feel ostracised from the rest. Let’s see some change! Alice (Black, biracial): I’m hoping for more Black and biracial (mixed with Black) leading characters in all genres, but mainly in SF/F who fall outside of the stereotypes. Characters I can relate to who love, cry and fight for their ideals and dreams. It would be great if their race would play an active role in their identities (I don’t mean plot-related). Some intersectionality with sexuality and disability is also sorely missed, without it becoming a tragedy or it being seen as a character flaw. More mixed race characters who aren’t mixed with some kind of monster, fictional race or different species. Dystopias about problems usually faced by poc having actual poc protags, without all the racial ambiguity which always gets whitewashed. Shira (Jewish): More Jewish characters who feel positively about their Judaism and don’t carry it around as a burden or embarrassment. While the latter is definitely a real part of our experience due to anti-Semitism and all we’ve been through as a people, the fact that it overrepresents us in fiction is also due to anti-Semitism, even internalized. (Basically, Jews who don’t hate Judaism!) More brave, heroic characters who are openly Jewish instead of being inspired by the Jewish experience and created by Jews (like Superman) or played by Jews (Captain Kirk) but still not actually Jewish. I’m tired of always being Tolkien’s Dwarves; I’d like a chance to play Bard, Bilbo, or even Gandalf’s role in that kind of story. Elaney (Mexican): While we’re discussing what sort of representation we’d like to see, I am using the word “latinista” and I want to quickly address that since you may have not seen it before: “-ista” is a genderless suffix denoting someone is from an area (“Nortista”, a northerner), or who practices a belief (“Calvinista”, a calvinist), or a professsion (you’ve heard ‘barista’). I find it more intuitively pronounceable than “latinx” and also more friendly to Spanish, French, and Portugueze pronunciation (and thus more appropriate), personally, so I invite you to consider it as an alternative. If you don’t like it, well, at least I showed you. 1. I want legal Latinista immigrants. The darker your skin is down here, the more likely you are to be assumed to be illegal by your peers, and I want media to dilute this assumption so many have of us. 2. I want Latinistas who are well educated, not just smart, and I mean formally educated, with college degrees, professional skillsets, and trained expertise. Being in fields which do not require a formal degree is no less legitimate of a lifestyle than being in a field which requires a PhD, but I want you to consider when casting your Latinista character that We, as a people, are assumed to be little more than the drop-out and the janitor by our peers, and People Of Color in scientific fields are mistaken as assistant staff rather than the scientists that they are. I want media to dilute this assumption. 3. I want Latnistas who are not marketed as “Latin American” but as their actual country of origin, because “Latin America” is a conglomerate of individual entities with their own, distinct cultures and if you are, for example, Cuban, then Mexican characters may appeal to you but they don’t have the same relatability as fellow Cuban characters. Wouldn’t you be a little more interested, too, to pick up a book that’s about a character who lives where you do rather than about a character who lives somewhere in general? 4. I want rich or well-to-do Latinistas. Looking back, I notice that several of the character concepts that have been bounced off of us with regards to Latinista characters incorporate poverty despite an astronomical and diligent work ethic. I don’t think this is on purpose but I do think that it is internalized because so often the stereotype of us is poor and uneducated in a vicious cycle (uneducated because we’re poor, poor because we’re uneducated) and I think that there should be more media to dilute this. Lastly, I personally do not want these tropes to be explored and subverted by people, I want them to be avoided entirely because I feel that normalizing positive representation rather than commenting on negative representation is far more beneficial and validating to the people these works are supposed to help and represent. We don’t need sympathy, we need empathy! Jess (Chinese, Taiwanese): Stories that don’t center around the identity of being Chinese-American. That doesn’t mean “erase any references to protag’s Chinese identity” but I’d definitely like stories that have us go on awesome adventures every now and then and don’t have the Chinese character being all “I AM CHINESE” from beginning to end. Please round out the Chinese migrant parents instead of keeping them as strict and/or traditional. PLEASE. I could go into how my parents and the Chinese aunties and uncles here are so awesome, seriously, and we need more older Chinese migrant characters who are awesome and supportive and just people. Also! EAST ASIAN GIRLS WHO AREN’T SKINNY AND/OR PETITE. Please. PLEEEEEASE. And more stories about Taiwanese and Chinese folks who aren’t in bicoastal regions (the Midwest, the Plains, etc.) WE EXIST. More Chinese-Americans who aren’t necessarily Christian. Maybe it’s because of the books I’ve wound up reading, but there seems to be this narrative of Chinese migrants joining churches and converting when they’re in the US. This doesn’t mean I want less Chinese-American Christians in fiction, mind: I’d also just like to see more Chinese families in the US who are Buddhist or who still keep up with the traditions they learned from their homelands, like me, without having it considered in the narrative as ~old fashioned~ or ~ancient~ or ~mystical~. Tangentially, when writing non-Christian Chinese families, I’d rather people keep the assumption of Communism being the underlying reason why far, far away. I have been asked in the past if Communism was why my family didn’t go to church, and needless to say, it’s really, really offensive. Stella (Korean): I’d love to see more Korean (and Asian-American) characters that don’t perpetuate the super-overachieving, stressed-out, only-cares-about-succeeding Asian stereotype. These Koreans exist (I would know; I went to school with quite a few of them) but they don’t represent all of us. I want to see more Korean characters solving mysteries, saving the world and having fun. More Koreans that aren’t pale, petite, and a size 2. Not all of us have perfect skin or straight black hair or monolids. And some of us love our short legs, round faces and small eyes! And fewer stoic&strict Korean parents, please. So many of us grew up with loud, wacky, so-embarrassing-but-endearing parents! Recently, there’s been quite a few novels with Korean American female protags (particularly in the YA section) that deal with being in high school, dealing with strict parents, getting into college, and boys. Lots of boys! I think it’s awesome that there are more books with KA protags, and I’m so so so glad they’re out there. But I also recognize that those are definitely not the kind of books I would have read as a teenager, and it’s not the kind of book I want to read now. I want to see more Korean characters that are queer, trans, ace, bisexual. More Korean characters that are disabled or autistic or have mental illnesses. More Korean characters in fantasy, SFF, mystery! Heck, space operas and steampunk Westerns. I want it all! :DDDD A lot of Korean-Americans struggle with their identity. It’s hard to balance things sometimes! But I’d love to see more stories that *aren’t* overtly about Korean-Americans dealing with their racial identity or sexual orientation, but stories about Koreans saving princesses and slaying trolls and commandeering spaceships. I want a plot that doesn’t center on Korean-American identity, but on a Korean-American character discovering themselves. White characters get to do it all the time; I want Korean characters to have a turn. And honestly, I just want to see more Asians in media, period. South Asians, Southeast Asians, Central Asians! Thai, Hmong, Tibetan, Filipino, Vietnamese characters. Indian characters! There’s so much diversity in Asia and among Asian diaspora. I want us to be more than just ~~mystical~~ characters with ancient wisdom and a generic Asian accent. We’ve got boundless oceans of stories within ourselves and our communities, and I can’t wait for them to be told. I would also love to see more multiethnic Asian characters that are *not* half white. It seems to be the default mixed-race Asian character: East Asian and white. But so many of my friends have multiethnic backgrounds like Chinese/Persian, Thai/Chinese or Korean/Mexican. I have Korean friends who grew up in places like Brazil, Singapore and Russia. Did you know that the country with the largest population of Koreans (outside of Korea) is actually China? And while I’m at it, I’d love to see more well-translated works from Asia in the US. Like, how awesome would it be to have more science fiction, fantasy, and historical novels from Asia that are easily accessible in English? SUPER awesome!! Kaye (Muslim): I am so hungry for Muslim representation, because there is so little of it. You can see one or two (YA) titles I currently think or have heard are good representation on the shelves - notably, Aisha Saeed’s Written in the Stars - on an AMA I did the other day for /r/YAwriters. However, I’d just love to see stories where Muslim characters go on adventures like everyone else! I’ve been saying recently that I’d LOVE to see a cozy mystery. Or a series of Muslim historical romances a la Georgette Heyer (there are a LOT of Muslim girls who love romances, and I’m just starting to get into the genre myself!). I’d love to see Muslim middle grade readers get girls who find secret passages, solve mysteries, tumble through the neighborhood with their dozen or so cousins. I have a lot of cousins and thus I always have a soft spot for cousins. And siblings. I’m looking forward to Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham because Jen is writing Scarlett as a detective a la Veronica Mars. And she’s Somali-American. How cool is that?! Let’s see some classic road trip YA with Muslims. Let’s see comedies with quirky characters - for instance, I know one or two tween Muslim girls who are driving their moms MAD by suddenly turning vegetarian and refusing to touch the celebratory biryani at family Eid parties, who join relevant societies at their schools and start preaching to their extended families about the benefits of going vegetarian and all the funny little interactions that are involved with that. Let’s have a story with some wise-cracking African American Muslim girls. My cousin is a niqaabi who loves YA and hates that she doesn’t see herself in it. Let’s see some stories with teen niqaabis! Let’s explore the full, joyful spectrum of diversity in Islam. Let’s have stories where we talk about how one word in Bengali is totally different in another language, and one friend is hilariously horrified and the other friend doesn’t know what he/she said. (True story.) I want to see joy. I want to see happiness. Being a woman of color and a hijaabi often means facing so many daily, disheartening scenarios and prejudice and hatefulness. So many of the suggested tropes recently in the inbox focus on trying to force Muslim characters into beastly or haraam or just sad and stereotypical scenarios. I know that writers are better and have bigger imaginations than that. You want angst? Push aside the cold, unkind, abusive Muslim parents trope. Let’s talk about the Muslim girls I know who have struggled with eating disorders. Let’s talk about Islamophobia and how that is a REAL, horrible experience that Muslim kids have to fear and combat every day. Let’s approach contemporary angst without the glasses of the Western gaze and assumptions about people of the Islamic faith on. We can have Muslim novels that focus on growing pains like Sarah Dessen and Judy Blume (and speaking of that, my “auntie” who used to teach in a madrasah used to press Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret on the Muslim girls she knew because of how Margaret approached growing up and had concerns about her faith and her relationships, etc.) Having Shia friends, I would like to see more stories that aren’t just assumed to be Sunni. How about stories about Su-Shi kids, too? (Sunni and Shia - the name always surprises me!) Let’s see some Muslim-Jewish friendships. Because they exist. And of course, I always, always hunger for Muslim voices first. Because it’s so important to have these voices there, from the source, and some of the issues with answering here at WWC is how people seem to be approaching certain tropes that a Muslim writer could explore with the nuance and lived experience of their faith behind it.
popcorn and i have a love/hate relationship.. very seldom do i enjoy eating it. but i will say that i do love my popcorn container. (:
today is wednesday which means today i had my digital animation class in the morning. my prof asked the class if anyone has completed the 3 chapters worth of tutorials that are due next week and if anyone has started working on our "under the sea" animation.. i said yes to everything and overheard someone's remark of "overachiever" which was directed towards me. i'm sorry but i do not think being smart and getting ahead in my work so that i do not fall behind should be considered as overachieving.. i'm proud of myself that i am much farther ahead than everyone else.
also, today i went and bought a bunch of candy for my annoying sweet tooth and the total came out to exactly $6.66... creeped me out !!
hopefully i will find some 110 film soon! can't wait! (:
may i also add that i hit 3000+ !! woo! thanks for the views everyone!
This is a succulent plant from out garden. I don't know it's botanical name, but to me, it looks like an overachieving cabbage.
Strobits info: Simple lighting with one YN560-II in a 24 inch pot, camera left, and a large silver reflector disk, camera right for fill. The flash, in manual mode, was triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N.
Strobist info: I placed the pumpkin on a piece of black cloth. The main light was a YN560-II in a 24 inch softbox, camera left at 9 o'clock, for fill light I handheld a small mirror camera right at 4 o'clock, and for for a little kicker, I positioned a Strobie 130 in a Honl grid behind and to the right of the pumpkin at 2 o'clock. The strobes, in manual mode, were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N.
Other plants, flowers, fruit or thingys that I've photographed using strobes can be seen in my Strobe Lit Plant set. In the description for that set, I list resources that I've used to learn how to light with off camera flash, and the equipment that I use. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157628079460544/
If you like pictures of cactus and succulents, you might not hate my Cactus and Succulents set. That set can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157633383093236/...
~
The other day, we were strolling around our historical town in North Carolina. One building had a plaque proclaiming that it was built in 1828, or thereabouts. We call that 'history' here in the States, and while interesting to some, it just doesn't seem very old when you compare it to a place like Burg Blankenstein.
Climbing up the steps and through the stone passageways of this medieval castle in Hattingen, Germany, I ran my hand along the rough wall, feeling the natural textures, the divots, and the roughness brought on by centuries of wear and use. I had to wonder how many people passed this way over the ages, how they dressed, what their lives must have been like.
From the top of the tower, there is a commanding view over the valley of the Ruhr River to the hills and fields beyond. It must have been a great place to watch for interlopers. We spent some time at the top, watching a shepherd in the field far below, moving his flock along the greenway aided by some hyperkinetic, overachieving border collies. I could imagine Lords and Nobles standing atop the tower in the morning mist, enjoying a cappuccino and playing "Master of All I Survey."
Construction of Burg Blankenstein began in 1227. The castle was ready in 1243, but was finished over the course of 200 years by the Counts of the Mark. In 1425, Blankenstein was one of the most important castles in the county. In 1614, shortly before the Thirty Years' War, it was occupied by Spanish troops. Over the years since then, the castle fell into disrepair, was ordered to be demolished, became a factory, and now houses a restaurant and reception hall.
You run your hands along the stone walls. You can feel century upon century under your fingertips. Ancient history.
Yeah, we could live there. Beautiful place.
~
Sony NEX 7, handheld at 18mm, three exposures +/-2 EV processed in PS CC, OnOne, and Nik Collection.
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Why is the all-new Alfa Romeo considered Premium?
Premium means something “of superior value, out
of the ordinary”...like an Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce.
Alfa Giulia is The Big Test Winner MOTORtrend!
GIULIA VS. 330I VS. A4 VS. C300 VS. ATS VS. XE VS. IS VS. S60
Who Makes the Best Compact Luxury Sports Sedan?
MOTORtrend looked at the whole picture, including price, depreciation, reliability, dealer experience, safety, infotainment features, and cargo- and passenger-carrying capacity. But given the nature of this category, subjective criteria also come into play, so things such as styling, brand image, overall appeal, and driving enjoyment are major factors in this test.
Every year, a half-million Americans are willing to pay a substantial premium for the experience of owning, driving, and of course being seen in one of these premium cars.
Our entry criteria were simple: a modest-down-payment, $399/month lease for 36 months, four doors, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The contenders: the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4 2.0TQuattro, BMW 330i, Cadillac ATS 2.0T, Jaguar XE 25t, Lexus IS 200t F Sport, Mercedes-Benz C300, and Volvo S60 T6 R-Design.
Ride & Handling
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Hit: Driving experience
The single most important attribute of a luxury sport sedan is the driving experience. It must handle like a four-door sports car, but it must also ride acceptably well for a luxury car. Nailing that balance is no easy task, and many came up short.
The biggest disappointment came from the BMW, which created the benchmark for this segment three decades ago. We’ve long criticized the latest 3 Series for being too soft, and this latest update hasn’t addressed that. The ride is comfortable, yes, but at the expense of handling, which no longer feels as sharp or focused. Rather than the class leader, it’s class generic.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Alfa. It was the nearly unanimous driver’s favorite, simultaneously a marvelous car to drive fast and still a comfortable commuter. The steering is quick, responsive, and talkative. The chassis responds perfectly to every input while muting every bump. More than any car here, it put the sport in sport sedan without suffering a jarring ride as a trade-off. A close second to the Alfa is the Cadillac, which got the vote from the lone dissenter. But its equally phenomenal chassis and steering were offset by a less luxurious ride quality.
Similar ride and handling trade-offs were the rule among the Lexus, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Audi. The Lexus handles nicely and rides well, but its portly curb weight made it feel heavy and dulled its responses. The Jaguar and Mercedes handled very well, but rubber-band tires and stiff shocks hurt their ride quality. The Audi both handled and rode very well, but the experience was very isolated and disconnected from the road. Many an editor likened it to a driving simulator.
The Volvo, which once overachieved in this category, felt a generation behind. The heaviest car here, its weight was a constant presence in corners despite the all-wheel drive’s best efforts to yank it out of the corner and down the straight. The steering was full of vibration from the all-wheel drive, and the ride wasn’t spectacular. In a hot segment, it’s just out-classed.
Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
Miss: Lack of passion
Performance
BMW 330i
Miss: Enjoyment—doesn’t do what the design suggests
Given the range of vehicles you could lease at this price, your decision to go with a sport sedan suggests you value performance. As such, this attribute likely weighs heavily on your purchase priorities. It’s the bedrock attribute of this segment.
The BMW 3 Series defined this segment and ruled it for decades, but in this test, it comes up average. It’s slightly above midpack in acceleration but among the worst in braking and just average in our instrumented handling tests. Still, judges praised its linear acceleration, minimal turbo lag, and excellent transmission programing.
If you want absolute performance at this price point and fuel economy, look no further than the Audi. A sleeper, the conservatively styled A4 is the quickest both in a straight line and around our figure-eight test. Its dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive give it a performance and traction edge off the line. But beyond 60 mph the Alfa’s best weight-to-power ratio and shortest gearing deliver the best performance, reaching 100 mph 1 second quicker and finishing the quarter-mile 3.3 mph faster than the Audi. Likewise, the Mercedes, with its Sport package, equals the Audi’s best-in-class figure-eight performance while stopping shorter. The Alfa’s figure-eight performance was severely handicapped by its overly aggressive stability control, which couldn’t be defeated.
The Cadillac comes up surprisingly short given its second-most powerful engine and second-lightest curb weight. We attribute this to its tallish first gear and somewhat lazy transmission. The Jaguar’s second-shortest gearing compensates for its second-worst weight-to-power ratio to produce solidly midpack performance.
The Lexus earned its slowest straight-line performance fair and square with the second-highest curb weight (despite being only rear-wheel drive) and the second-least powerful engine. It just felt overburdened. What the Lexus lacked in power, though, it made up for in handling.
Then there’s the odd case of the Volvo. A turbocharged and supercharged T6 variant rather than the directly comparable turbocharged T5 we requested, it was the most powerful in the test and blessed with all-wheel drive and the R-Design sport package, not to mention a Polestar engine software upgrade. It was also, however, the heaviest. As such, it was third-quickest to 60 mph and stopped second-shortest, but it was slowest on the figure eight by a good margin.
Efficiency
Jaguar XE 25t
Miss: Interior quality, design, and ergonomics
Gas is pretty dang cheap right now, but it won’t always be. Even when it’s cheap, it’s still an expense. There’s also an expectation of good fuel economy that comes with a downsized engine. After all, you want some payback when you give up horsepower and torque.
According to the EPA’s standardized lab test, these vehicles all return very similar fuel economy. Going by window stickers alone, we see most get around 23/32/26 mpg city/highway/combined. The Jaguar fares the worst, posting 21/30/24 mpg rating. The Mercedes just beats out the Alfa and the Audi by returning a best-in-test 24/34/28 mpg city/highway/combined. As you can see, it’s not a broad spread.
Here, our Real MPG partnership with Emissions Analytics is invaluable. In real-world testing, the Mercedes fell 2 mpg short across the board, abdicating its top spot. The Jaguar redeemed itself in city and combined ratings, and the Lexus dropped to a worst-observed 20.4/31.1/24.2 mpg city/highway/combined. Meanwhile, the Alfa soared with an observed 28.2/37.9/31.8 mpg city/highway/combined, well above its EPA estimates in all categories. We must caution, however, that our Alfa Romeo and Lexus were preproduction units, and both could show different results once their final software calibrations are made.
Cockpit/Cabin
Much of what makes a luxury sedan is its interior. After all, it’s the place where you spend time and the part of the car you spend the most time looking at, touching, listening to, and interacting with.
Regardless of the metrics used to score such subjective criteria, the Mercedes comes out on top. The elegant design and top-quality tactile materials made it a unanimous favorite among the judges. It also scored high marks in quietness, comfort, and rear-seat space. It was let down slightly by a cut-rate Garmin navigation system integrated into the otherwise all-Mercedes infotainment system.
The Audi also was well-received by the judges. The technical superiority was obvious; its virtual cockpit digital dash looked like something out of the future and offered features and functionality no competitor could match. We were also impressed with its impeccable build quality and excellent materials. It took demerits for a slightly tight rear seat, somewhat sterile design (apart from the dash), and slightly louder interior than we’d prefer.
Lexus came in a strong third, with high marks for build quality, materials, and interior quietness. Its design was controversial, and the rear seat was a bit cramped, but the seats were lauded for their comfort and support. The infotainment system and its finicky joystick interface earned unanimous scorn, even from the most generous judge. Even dismissing the controller, the system itself looks old and outdated, and it isn’t especially intuitive.
Other cars let down by their infotainment systems were the Cadillac and Jaguar. Although Cadillac’s CUE system is the best iteration to date, many of the judges still found the touch-sensitive controls difficult to use while driving and not always responsive. The Jaguar, also sporting its best infotainment system in years, drew complaints for being unintuitive and for crashing on several editors. Both cars were also hammered for their nearly unusable rear seats and rather dull interior designs.
The Volvo and BMW, meanwhile, were complimented for their comfort and decently sized rear seats but criticized for their dated interior designs and average materials quality. The BMW clawed some points back with its ergonomics, and the Volvo did, as well, because of its excellent seats. The BMW took hits for its incomprehensible Apple CarPlay integration, and the Volvo was dinged for its loud interior, especially for admitting rough engine noise into the cabin.
Lexus IS 200t F Sport
Miss: Front-end styling, acceleration
Then there’s the Alfa. Praised for its interesting and stylish interior design, it took knocks for its wonky ergonomics. We liked its decently large rear seat and comfortable front seats, but we took issue with the fit and finish and some cheaper materials.
Safety
Volvo S60 T6
Miss: Age. It just feels old.
As it was with fuel efficiency, our competitors are evenly matched in both government and insurance industry crash tests. No competitor scored lower than four stars out of five in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s testing or Good in an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test. (IIHS scores range from Poor to Good in crashworthiness testing and from Basic to Superior in crash-prevention systems.) Still, there are details to be examined here.
We should note before going forward that neither the Alfa Romeo nor Jaguar have yet been tested by either U.S. agency. The cars have been crash tested by their manufacturers and the results accepted by the NHTSA, so they can be sold in the U.S. Both cars also received five out of five stars in Europe’s Euro NCAP crash testing. We should also note that some data used here comes from the 2015 and 2016 model years, but the vehicles in question have not changed substantially between then and the current model year.
As you might expect, the Volvo came out on top of a very competitive field. The company, which stakes its reputation squarely on safety, had perfect scores in every crash test and top marks in the IIHS’ tests for seats and crash avoidance systems, as well as high marks in IIHS tests for headlights and LATCH child seat anchors. It is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, along with the Audi and BMW.
Among the rest of the pack, only the Volvo and Cadillac achieved a five-star front crash rating from NHTSA. The rest received four stars. All but the Mercedes-Benz received a five-star rollover rating from the NHTSA—the C300 scored four stars. Every competitor received five stars overall from NHTSA.
The IIHS hasn’t completed all tests on every competitor. In crash-prevention testing, the BMW and Lexus were the only two tested cars to receive an Advanced rating on their crash-avoidance systems. The rest received Superior grades. The Cadillac and Mercedes received Poor ratings for their headlights, and the rest tested received an Acceptable rating.
Value
Mercedes-Benz C300
Miss: Stiff ride with sport package
Because you’ll be paying the same lease price on all these competitors, value requires a different measurement. After all, no one wants to pay the same for a lesser car. How you define value is up to you, but for the purpose of this comparison, we’ve framed it as the content and performance you get for your $399 monthly payment. (And because many people buy out their leases, sticker price and retained value matter even in a leasing context.)
On this metric, the Audi shines brightest. Although its purchase price is on the higher end of the group, the return on investment is high. The Audi boasts the highest performance in our instrumented testing while also offering far more features than the rest. With price equalized, there’s no questioning the Audi’s dominance in the amount of car you get for the money. The Alfa scores high on performance and boasts the cheapest purchase price as-tested but has fewer features.
In the middle of the pack, the Jaguar offers quite a few features but is let down by low performance scores and a high as-tested price. The Lexus lands in a similar boat, but boasts a better as-tested price. The BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes all offered a similar balance of performance and content. Cadillac, Mercedes, Lexus, and Volvo all sent cars equipped with sport handling packages, potentially in lieu of other content for the same money. BMW and Cadillac also tend to charge extra for features others include standard.
The Volvo stands out as a difficult case. Because a T6 R-Design was supplied, it carries the highest starting price and second-highest as-tested price, but it also snuck in a supercharged and turbocharged engine with by far the highest horsepower and torque output. As such, it performed well in testing and had high feature content. But at a $399 lease price, you’d actually get a T5 Inscription Platinum and give up the performance advantage.
Cost of Ownership
Time is a luxury and therefore so is reliability; no one wants to spend extra time at the dealer.
Unfortunately, the information on the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia is incomplete. Having returned to the U.S. market only recently, there simply is no empirical data regarding reliability, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on an Alfa Romeo—although past models have taken slings and arrows in European quality ratings. We’ve calculated values for those categories based on information from multiple sources, and we took an average of costs for the rest of the competitors.
Per our partners at Intellichoice, the Cadillac is the car whose lease you might consider buying out. Although not the cheapest in any category, low costs across the board keep the Cadillac’s five-year cost of ownership to $45,592. Conversely, the Lexus suffers high insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, giving it the highest five-year cost at $52,254.
There’s also the matter of complimentary scheduled maintenance. Sometimes it’s baked into the lease price, sometimes the manufacturer eats the cost as an incentive that changes from year to year based on the marketing department’s whim. At present, Jaguar offers five years/60,000 miles of free maintenance; BMW, Cadillac, and Volvo offer three/36,000 miles, and Lexus gives the first two services in the first year for free. Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Mercedes still charge for routine maintenance.
We would also point out that the difference between the most and least expensive car to own over five years is less than $7,000, illustrating again just how evenly matched the competitors are.
Conclusion
We considered every facet of these nine cars. We debated long and hard over how to weigh each category, given the values of buyers in this class. We wrestled with reputations and missing data, balanced the marketing and hype, and noted the differing expectations and priorities between leasing and buying.
However, in a class where passion, prestige, and performance often take precedence over cold hard facts and logic, we follow our hearts as much or more than our heads.
As a result, the back of the pack is populated exclusively by older models who have seen the segment pass them by.
The Volvo, which finished in second place the last time around, is showing its age. Far and away the oldest car in the test, it was outclassed at nearly every turn. Thoughtful updates have kept it on life support, but a new engine is no substitute for the comprehensive updates needed to make the S60 truly competitive, and the all-new car can’t come soon enough.
The BMW 3 Series easily won our last Big Test in this class, but even with a recent refresh we found it lacking. It led no categories and inspired little love from the judges, except for its zingy engine. The pressure is on Bavaria to up the next edition’s game if it wants to improve on its seventh-place finish here.
Cadillac ATS 2.0T
Miss: Rear seat
The Cadillac and Jaguar fought fiercely for position in the middle of the pack, with the American just edging out the Brit. Both cars drove wonderfully, but both were kneecapped by penned-in rear seats. The deciding factor ended up being the Jag’s glitchy infotainment system.
An excellent all-around performer, the Mercedes-Benz C300 is by far the most luxurious car here while still offering serious performance credentials. If its options packages were more value-oriented and the Sport edition carried a more luxurious ride, it might’ve managed the silver instead of bronze. It’s a similar story for the fourth-place Lexus, which punched above its weight class on many fronts but couldn’t overcome a weak engine and infuriating infotainment system.
Finishing in an honorable second place is the Audi A4. On paper the Audi wins in terms of features and space, while matching the Alfa’s objective performance, but a sterile personality and a sense of isolation from the driving experience kept it out of first place. If you aren’t willing to try the Alfa until all the data is in, the Audi is an excellent second option.
But because lease deals are a temporary fling, a shopper has the luxury of making make a decision with as much emotion as pragmatism. By that measure, the Alfa Romeo Giulia stacks up well in every category. Its incredible performance and driving experience make it the easy choice for us. We’re willing to look past the reliability question marks to experience the passion this Italian delight delivers. Without question, if it were our money, this would be the car we’d pick.
8TH PLACE: S60 T6
Stylish and safe, the Volvo can’t escape its long-past sell-by date. It’s an old car in a hyper-competitive class, and it just can’t keep up anymore.
7TH PLACE: BMW 330I
How the mighty have fallen. The reigning winner and standard-bearer of the class suffers from old age, dulled dynamics, and a lack of personality.
6TH PLACE: JAGUAR XE 25T
A new standard in the sporty-handling versus refined-ride equation, the Jaguar was undone by its tiny back seat, boring interior styling, and buggy infotainment system.
5TH PLACE: CADILLAC ATS 2.0T
The best sport sedan chassis in the class is let down by a useless back seat and barely acceptable infotainment system.
4TH PLACE: LEXUS IS 200T F SPORT
A good all-around performer, the weighty Lexus is underserved by its overstressed engine, unintuitive infotainment system, and polarizing styling.
3RD PLACE: MERCEDES-BENZ C300
The most luxurious of the field, the Mercedes needs to improve its ride quality and improve the value proposition of its pricing.
2ND PLACE: AUDI A4 2.0T QUATTRO
Smart, practical, sophisticated, and something of a Q-ship, the Audi quietly crawled its way up the podium but lacked the personality to take the top spot.
1ST PLACE: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA
Efficient, economical, quick, safe, and without question the most fun to drive, the Giulia is a car we’re willing to gamble on despite its reliability legacy and lack of cost-of -ownership data.
Premium means something “of superior value, out
of the ordinary”...like an Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce.
Alfa Giulia is The Big Test Winner MOTORtrend!
GIULIA VS. 330I VS. A4 VS. C300 VS. ATS VS. XE VS. IS VS. S60
Who Makes the Best Compact Luxury Sports Sedan?
MOTORtrend looked at the whole picture, including price, depreciation, reliability, dealer experience, safety, infotainment features, and cargo- and passenger-carrying capacity. But given the nature of this category, subjective criteria also come into play, so things such as styling, brand image, overall appeal, and driving enjoyment are major factors in this test.
Every year, a half-million Americans are willing to pay a substantial premium for the experience of owning, driving, and of course being seen in one of these premium cars.
Our entry criteria were simple: a modest-down-payment, $399/month lease for 36 months, four doors, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The contenders: the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4 2.0TQuattro, BMW 330i, Cadillac ATS 2.0T, Jaguar XE 25t, Lexus IS 200t F Sport, Mercedes-Benz C300, and Volvo S60 T6 R-Design.
Ride & Handling
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Hit: Driving experience
The single most important attribute of a luxury sport sedan is the driving experience. It must handle like a four-door sports car, but it must also ride acceptably well for a luxury car. Nailing that balance is no easy task, and many came up short.
The biggest disappointment came from the BMW, which created the benchmark for this segment three decades ago. We’ve long criticized the latest 3 Series for being too soft, and this latest update hasn’t addressed that. The ride is comfortable, yes, but at the expense of handling, which no longer feels as sharp or focused. Rather than the class leader, it’s class generic.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Alfa. It was the nearly unanimous driver’s favorite, simultaneously a marvelous car to drive fast and still a comfortable commuter. The steering is quick, responsive, and talkative. The chassis responds perfectly to every input while muting every bump. More than any car here, it put the sport in sport sedan without suffering a jarring ride as a trade-off. A close second to the Alfa is the Cadillac, which got the vote from the lone dissenter. But its equally phenomenal chassis and steering were offset by a less luxurious ride quality.
Similar ride and handling trade-offs were the rule among the Lexus, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Audi. The Lexus handles nicely and rides well, but its portly curb weight made it feel heavy and dulled its responses. The Jaguar and Mercedes handled very well, but rubber-band tires and stiff shocks hurt their ride quality. The Audi both handled and rode very well, but the experience was very isolated and disconnected from the road. Many an editor likened it to a driving simulator.
The Volvo, which once overachieved in this category, felt a generation behind. The heaviest car here, its weight was a constant presence in corners despite the all-wheel drive’s best efforts to yank it out of the corner and down the straight. The steering was full of vibration from the all-wheel drive, and the ride wasn’t spectacular. In a hot segment, it’s just out-classed.
Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
Miss: Lack of passion
Performance
BMW 330i
Miss: Enjoyment—doesn’t do what the design suggests
Given the range of vehicles you could lease at this price, your decision to go with a sport sedan suggests you value performance. As such, this attribute likely weighs heavily on your purchase priorities. It’s the bedrock attribute of this segment.
The BMW 3 Series defined this segment and ruled it for decades, but in this test, it comes up average. It’s slightly above midpack in acceleration but among the worst in braking and just average in our instrumented handling tests. Still, judges praised its linear acceleration, minimal turbo lag, and excellent transmission programing.
If you want absolute performance at this price point and fuel economy, look no further than the Audi. A sleeper, the conservatively styled A4 is the quickest both in a straight line and around our figure-eight test. Its dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive give it a performance and traction edge off the line. But beyond 60 mph the Alfa’s best weight-to-power ratio and shortest gearing deliver the best performance, reaching 100 mph 1 second quicker and finishing the quarter-mile 3.3 mph faster than the Audi. Likewise, the Mercedes, with its Sport package, equals the Audi’s best-in-class figure-eight performance while stopping shorter. The Alfa’s figure-eight performance was severely handicapped by its overly aggressive stability control, which couldn’t be defeated.
The Cadillac comes up surprisingly short given its second-most powerful engine and second-lightest curb weight. We attribute this to its tallish first gear and somewhat lazy transmission. The Jaguar’s second-shortest gearing compensates for its second-worst weight-to-power ratio to produce solidly midpack performance.
The Lexus earned its slowest straight-line performance fair and square with the second-highest curb weight (despite being only rear-wheel drive) and the second-least powerful engine. It just felt overburdened. What the Lexus lacked in power, though, it made up for in handling.
Then there’s the odd case of the Volvo. A turbocharged and supercharged T6 variant rather than the directly comparable turbocharged T5 we requested, it was the most powerful in the test and blessed with all-wheel drive and the R-Design sport package, not to mention a Polestar engine software upgrade. It was also, however, the heaviest. As such, it was third-quickest to 60 mph and stopped second-shortest, but it was slowest on the figure eight by a good margin.
Efficiency
Jaguar XE 25t
Miss: Interior quality, design, and ergonomics
Gas is pretty dang cheap right now, but it won’t always be. Even when it’s cheap, it’s still an expense. There’s also an expectation of good fuel economy that comes with a downsized engine. After all, you want some payback when you give up horsepower and torque.
According to the EPA’s standardized lab test, these vehicles all return very similar fuel economy. Going by window stickers alone, we see most get around 23/32/26 mpg city/highway/combined. The Jaguar fares the worst, posting 21/30/24 mpg rating. The Mercedes just beats out the Alfa and the Audi by returning a best-in-test 24/34/28 mpg city/highway/combined. As you can see, it’s not a broad spread.
Here, our Real MPG partnership with Emissions Analytics is invaluable. In real-world testing, the Mercedes fell 2 mpg short across the board, abdicating its top spot. The Jaguar redeemed itself in city and combined ratings, and the Lexus dropped to a worst-observed 20.4/31.1/24.2 mpg city/highway/combined. Meanwhile, the Alfa soared with an observed 28.2/37.9/31.8 mpg city/highway/combined, well above its EPA estimates in all categories. We must caution, however, that our Alfa Romeo and Lexus were preproduction units, and both could show different results once their final software calibrations are made.
Cockpit/Cabin
Much of what makes a luxury sedan is its interior. After all, it’s the place where you spend time and the part of the car you spend the most time looking at, touching, listening to, and interacting with.
Regardless of the metrics used to score such subjective criteria, the Mercedes comes out on top. The elegant design and top-quality tactile materials made it a unanimous favorite among the judges. It also scored high marks in quietness, comfort, and rear-seat space. It was let down slightly by a cut-rate Garmin navigation system integrated into the otherwise all-Mercedes infotainment system.
The Audi also was well-received by the judges. The technical superiority was obvious; its virtual cockpit digital dash looked like something out of the future and offered features and functionality no competitor could match. We were also impressed with its impeccable build quality and excellent materials. It took demerits for a slightly tight rear seat, somewhat sterile design (apart from the dash), and slightly louder interior than we’d prefer.
Lexus came in a strong third, with high marks for build quality, materials, and interior quietness. Its design was controversial, and the rear seat was a bit cramped, but the seats were lauded for their comfort and support. The infotainment system and its finicky joystick interface earned unanimous scorn, even from the most generous judge. Even dismissing the controller, the system itself looks old and outdated, and it isn’t especially intuitive.
Other cars let down by their infotainment systems were the Cadillac and Jaguar. Although Cadillac’s CUE system is the best iteration to date, many of the judges still found the touch-sensitive controls difficult to use while driving and not always responsive. The Jaguar, also sporting its best infotainment system in years, drew complaints for being unintuitive and for crashing on several editors. Both cars were also hammered for their nearly unusable rear seats and rather dull interior designs.
The Volvo and BMW, meanwhile, were complimented for their comfort and decently sized rear seats but criticized for their dated interior designs and average materials quality. The BMW clawed some points back with its ergonomics, and the Volvo did, as well, because of its excellent seats. The BMW took hits for its incomprehensible Apple CarPlay integration, and the Volvo was dinged for its loud interior, especially for admitting rough engine noise into the cabin.
Lexus IS 200t F Sport
Miss: Front-end styling, acceleration
Then there’s the Alfa. Praised for its interesting and stylish interior design, it took knocks for its wonky ergonomics. We liked its decently large rear seat and comfortable front seats, but we took issue with the fit and finish and some cheaper materials.
Safety
Volvo S60 T6
Miss: Age. It just feels old.
As it was with fuel efficiency, our competitors are evenly matched in both government and insurance industry crash tests. No competitor scored lower than four stars out of five in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s testing or Good in an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test. (IIHS scores range from Poor to Good in crashworthiness testing and from Basic to Superior in crash-prevention systems.) Still, there are details to be examined here.
We should note before going forward that neither the Alfa Romeo nor Jaguar have yet been tested by either U.S. agency. The cars have been crash tested by their manufacturers and the results accepted by the NHTSA, so they can be sold in the U.S. Both cars also received five out of five stars in Europe’s Euro NCAP crash testing. We should also note that some data used here comes from the 2015 and 2016 model years, but the vehicles in question have not changed substantially between then and the current model year.
As you might expect, the Volvo came out on top of a very competitive field. The company, which stakes its reputation squarely on safety, had perfect scores in every crash test and top marks in the IIHS’ tests for seats and crash avoidance systems, as well as high marks in IIHS tests for headlights and LATCH child seat anchors. It is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, along with the Audi and BMW.
Among the rest of the pack, only the Volvo and Cadillac achieved a five-star front crash rating from NHTSA. The rest received four stars. All but the Mercedes-Benz received a five-star rollover rating from the NHTSA—the C300 scored four stars. Every competitor received five stars overall from NHTSA.
The IIHS hasn’t completed all tests on every competitor. In crash-prevention testing, the BMW and Lexus were the only two tested cars to receive an Advanced rating on their crash-avoidance systems. The rest received Superior grades. The Cadillac and Mercedes received Poor ratings for their headlights, and the rest tested received an Acceptable rating.
Value
Mercedes-Benz C300
Miss: Stiff ride with sport package
Because you’ll be paying the same lease price on all these competitors, value requires a different measurement. After all, no one wants to pay the same for a lesser car. How you define value is up to you, but for the purpose of this comparison, we’ve framed it as the content and performance you get for your $399 monthly payment. (And because many people buy out their leases, sticker price and retained value matter even in a leasing context.)
On this metric, the Audi shines brightest. Although its purchase price is on the higher end of the group, the return on investment is high. The Audi boasts the highest performance in our instrumented testing while also offering far more features than the rest. With price equalized, there’s no questioning the Audi’s dominance in the amount of car you get for the money. The Alfa scores high on performance and boasts the cheapest purchase price as-tested but has fewer features.
In the middle of the pack, the Jaguar offers quite a few features but is let down by low performance scores and a high as-tested price. The Lexus lands in a similar boat, but boasts a better as-tested price. The BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes all offered a similar balance of performance and content. Cadillac, Mercedes, Lexus, and Volvo all sent cars equipped with sport handling packages, potentially in lieu of other content for the same money. BMW and Cadillac also tend to charge extra for features others include standard.
The Volvo stands out as a difficult case. Because a T6 R-Design was supplied, it carries the highest starting price and second-highest as-tested price, but it also snuck in a supercharged and turbocharged engine with by far the highest horsepower and torque output. As such, it performed well in testing and had high feature content. But at a $399 lease price, you’d actually get a T5 Inscription Platinum and give up the performance advantage.
Cost of Ownership
Time is a luxury and therefore so is reliability; no one wants to spend extra time at the dealer.
Unfortunately, the information on the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia is incomplete. Having returned to the U.S. market only recently, there simply is no empirical data regarding reliability, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on an Alfa Romeo—although past models have taken slings and arrows in European quality ratings. We’ve calculated values for those categories based on information from multiple sources, and we took an average of costs for the rest of the competitors.
Per our partners at Intellichoice, the Cadillac is the car whose lease you might consider buying out. Although not the cheapest in any category, low costs across the board keep the Cadillac’s five-year cost of ownership to $45,592. Conversely, the Lexus suffers high insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, giving it the highest five-year cost at $52,254.
There’s also the matter of complimentary scheduled maintenance. Sometimes it’s baked into the lease price, sometimes the manufacturer eats the cost as an incentive that changes from year to year based on the marketing department’s whim. At present, Jaguar offers five years/60,000 miles of free maintenance; BMW, Cadillac, and Volvo offer three/36,000 miles, and Lexus gives the first two services in the first year for free. Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Mercedes still charge for routine maintenance.
We would also point out that the difference between the most and least expensive car to own over five years is less than $7,000, illustrating again just how evenly matched the competitors are.
Conclusion
We considered every facet of these nine cars. We debated long and hard over how to weigh each category, given the values of buyers in this class. We wrestled with reputations and missing data, balanced the marketing and hype, and noted the differing expectations and priorities between leasing and buying.
However, in a class where passion, prestige, and performance often take precedence over cold hard facts and logic, we follow our hearts as much or more than our heads.
As a result, the back of the pack is populated exclusively by older models who have seen the segment pass them by.
The Volvo, which finished in second place the last time around, is showing its age. Far and away the oldest car in the test, it was outclassed at nearly every turn. Thoughtful updates have kept it on life support, but a new engine is no substitute for the comprehensive updates needed to make the S60 truly competitive, and the all-new car can’t come soon enough.
The BMW 3 Series easily won our last Big Test in this class, but even with a recent refresh we found it lacking. It led no categories and inspired little love from the judges, except for its zingy engine. The pressure is on Bavaria to up the next edition’s game if it wants to improve on its seventh-place finish here.
Cadillac ATS 2.0T
Miss: Rear seat
The Cadillac and Jaguar fought fiercely for position in the middle of the pack, with the American just edging out the Brit. Both cars drove wonderfully, but both were kneecapped by penned-in rear seats. The deciding factor ended up being the Jag’s glitchy infotainment system.
An excellent all-around performer, the Mercedes-Benz C300 is by far the most luxurious car here while still offering serious performance credentials. If its options packages were more value-oriented and the Sport edition carried a more luxurious ride, it might’ve managed the silver instead of bronze. It’s a similar story for the fourth-place Lexus, which punched above its weight class on many fronts but couldn’t overcome a weak engine and infuriating infotainment system.
Finishing in an honorable second place is the Audi A4. On paper the Audi wins in terms of features and space, while matching the Alfa’s objective performance, but a sterile personality and a sense of isolation from the driving experience kept it out of first place. If you aren’t willing to try the Alfa until all the data is in, the Audi is an excellent second option.
But because lease deals are a temporary fling, a shopper has the luxury of making make a decision with as much emotion as pragmatism. By that measure, the Alfa Romeo Giulia stacks up well in every category. Its incredible performance and driving experience make it the easy choice for us. We’re willing to look past the reliability question marks to experience the passion this Italian delight delivers. Without question, if it were our money, this would be the car we’d pick.
8TH PLACE: S60 T6
Stylish and safe, the Volvo can’t escape its long-past sell-by date. It’s an old car in a hyper-competitive class, and it just can’t keep up anymore.
7TH PLACE: BMW 330I
How the mighty have fallen. The reigning winner and standard-bearer of the class suffers from old age, dulled dynamics, and a lack of personality.
6TH PLACE: JAGUAR XE 25T
A new standard in the sporty-handling versus refined-ride equation, the Jaguar was undone by its tiny back seat, boring interior styling, and buggy infotainment system.
5TH PLACE: CADILLAC ATS 2.0T
The best sport sedan chassis in the class is let down by a useless back seat and barely acceptable infotainment system.
4TH PLACE: LEXUS IS 200T F SPORT
A good all-around performer, the weighty Lexus is underserved by its overstressed engine, unintuitive infotainment system, and polarizing styling.
3RD PLACE: MERCEDES-BENZ C300
The most luxurious of the field, the Mercedes needs to improve its ride quality and improve the value proposition of its pricing.
2ND PLACE: AUDI A4 2.0T QUATTRO
Smart, practical, sophisticated, and something of a Q-ship, the Audi quietly crawled its way up the podium but lacked the personality to take the top spot.
1ST PLACE: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA
Efficient, economical, quick, safe, and without question the most fun to drive, the Giulia is a car we’re willing to gamble on despite its reliability legacy and lack of cost-of -ownership data.
Overachieving young dreamcrafter with a passion for technology and an endless wonder of how the world works. He's quite a nice guy to be a friend with.
This MOC is a rework of my take on the same character I had made frm the previous year. I was starting to get tired of my head style using the 3x3 round bricks, so I created the face and it all started falling into place from there.
Premium means something “of superior value, out
of the ordinary”...like an Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce.
Alfa Giulia is The Big Test Winner MOTORtrend!
GIULIA VS. 330I VS. A4 VS. C300 VS. ATS VS. XE VS. IS VS. S60
Who Makes the Best Compact Luxury Sports Sedan?
MOTORtrend looked at the whole picture, including price, depreciation, reliability, dealer experience, safety, infotainment features, and cargo- and passenger-carrying capacity. But given the nature of this category, subjective criteria also come into play, so things such as styling, brand image, overall appeal, and driving enjoyment are major factors in this test.
Every year, a half-million Americans are willing to pay a substantial premium for the experience of owning, driving, and of course being seen in one of these premium cars.
Our entry criteria were simple: a modest-down-payment, $399/month lease for 36 months, four doors, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The contenders: the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4 2.0TQuattro, BMW 330i, Cadillac ATS 2.0T, Jaguar XE 25t, Lexus IS 200t F Sport, Mercedes-Benz C300, and Volvo S60 T6 R-Design.
Ride & Handling
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Hit: Driving experience
The single most important attribute of a luxury sport sedan is the driving experience. It must handle like a four-door sports car, but it must also ride acceptably well for a luxury car. Nailing that balance is no easy task, and many came up short.
The biggest disappointment came from the BMW, which created the benchmark for this segment three decades ago. We’ve long criticized the latest 3 Series for being too soft, and this latest update hasn’t addressed that. The ride is comfortable, yes, but at the expense of handling, which no longer feels as sharp or focused. Rather than the class leader, it’s class generic.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Alfa. It was the nearly unanimous driver’s favorite, simultaneously a marvelous car to drive fast and still a comfortable commuter. The steering is quick, responsive, and talkative. The chassis responds perfectly to every input while muting every bump. More than any car here, it put the sport in sport sedan without suffering a jarring ride as a trade-off. A close second to the Alfa is the Cadillac, which got the vote from the lone dissenter. But its equally phenomenal chassis and steering were offset by a less luxurious ride quality.
Similar ride and handling trade-offs were the rule among the Lexus, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Audi. The Lexus handles nicely and rides well, but its portly curb weight made it feel heavy and dulled its responses. The Jaguar and Mercedes handled very well, but rubber-band tires and stiff shocks hurt their ride quality. The Audi both handled and rode very well, but the experience was very isolated and disconnected from the road. Many an editor likened it to a driving simulator.
The Volvo, which once overachieved in this category, felt a generation behind. The heaviest car here, its weight was a constant presence in corners despite the all-wheel drive’s best efforts to yank it out of the corner and down the straight. The steering was full of vibration from the all-wheel drive, and the ride wasn’t spectacular. In a hot segment, it’s just out-classed.
Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
Miss: Lack of passion
Performance
BMW 330i
Miss: Enjoyment—doesn’t do what the design suggests
Given the range of vehicles you could lease at this price, your decision to go with a sport sedan suggests you value performance. As such, this attribute likely weighs heavily on your purchase priorities. It’s the bedrock attribute of this segment.
The BMW 3 Series defined this segment and ruled it for decades, but in this test, it comes up average. It’s slightly above midpack in acceleration but among the worst in braking and just average in our instrumented handling tests. Still, judges praised its linear acceleration, minimal turbo lag, and excellent transmission programing.
If you want absolute performance at this price point and fuel economy, look no further than the Audi. A sleeper, the conservatively styled A4 is the quickest both in a straight line and around our figure-eight test. Its dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive give it a performance and traction edge off the line. But beyond 60 mph the Alfa’s best weight-to-power ratio and shortest gearing deliver the best performance, reaching 100 mph 1 second quicker and finishing the quarter-mile 3.3 mph faster than the Audi. Likewise, the Mercedes, with its Sport package, equals the Audi’s best-in-class figure-eight performance while stopping shorter. The Alfa’s figure-eight performance was severely handicapped by its overly aggressive stability control, which couldn’t be defeated.
The Cadillac comes up surprisingly short given its second-most powerful engine and second-lightest curb weight. We attribute this to its tallish first gear and somewhat lazy transmission. The Jaguar’s second-shortest gearing compensates for its second-worst weight-to-power ratio to produce solidly midpack performance.
The Lexus earned its slowest straight-line performance fair and square with the second-highest curb weight (despite being only rear-wheel drive) and the second-least powerful engine. It just felt overburdened. What the Lexus lacked in power, though, it made up for in handling.
Then there’s the odd case of the Volvo. A turbocharged and supercharged T6 variant rather than the directly comparable turbocharged T5 we requested, it was the most powerful in the test and blessed with all-wheel drive and the R-Design sport package, not to mention a Polestar engine software upgrade. It was also, however, the heaviest. As such, it was third-quickest to 60 mph and stopped second-shortest, but it was slowest on the figure eight by a good margin.
Efficiency
Jaguar XE 25t
Miss: Interior quality, design, and ergonomics
Gas is pretty dang cheap right now, but it won’t always be. Even when it’s cheap, it’s still an expense. There’s also an expectation of good fuel economy that comes with a downsized engine. After all, you want some payback when you give up horsepower and torque.
According to the EPA’s standardized lab test, these vehicles all return very similar fuel economy. Going by window stickers alone, we see most get around 23/32/26 mpg city/highway/combined. The Jaguar fares the worst, posting 21/30/24 mpg rating. The Mercedes just beats out the Alfa and the Audi by returning a best-in-test 24/34/28 mpg city/highway/combined. As you can see, it’s not a broad spread.
Here, our Real MPG partnership with Emissions Analytics is invaluable. In real-world testing, the Mercedes fell 2 mpg short across the board, abdicating its top spot. The Jaguar redeemed itself in city and combined ratings, and the Lexus dropped to a worst-observed 20.4/31.1/24.2 mpg city/highway/combined. Meanwhile, the Alfa soared with an observed 28.2/37.9/31.8 mpg city/highway/combined, well above its EPA estimates in all categories. We must caution, however, that our Alfa Romeo and Lexus were preproduction units, and both could show different results once their final software calibrations are made.
Cockpit/Cabin
Much of what makes a luxury sedan is its interior. After all, it’s the place where you spend time and the part of the car you spend the most time looking at, touching, listening to, and interacting with.
Regardless of the metrics used to score such subjective criteria, the Mercedes comes out on top. The elegant design and top-quality tactile materials made it a unanimous favorite among the judges. It also scored high marks in quietness, comfort, and rear-seat space. It was let down slightly by a cut-rate Garmin navigation system integrated into the otherwise all-Mercedes infotainment system.
The Audi also was well-received by the judges. The technical superiority was obvious; its virtual cockpit digital dash looked like something out of the future and offered features and functionality no competitor could match. We were also impressed with its impeccable build quality and excellent materials. It took demerits for a slightly tight rear seat, somewhat sterile design (apart from the dash), and slightly louder interior than we’d prefer.
Lexus came in a strong third, with high marks for build quality, materials, and interior quietness. Its design was controversial, and the rear seat was a bit cramped, but the seats were lauded for their comfort and support. The infotainment system and its finicky joystick interface earned unanimous scorn, even from the most generous judge. Even dismissing the controller, the system itself looks old and outdated, and it isn’t especially intuitive.
Other cars let down by their infotainment systems were the Cadillac and Jaguar. Although Cadillac’s CUE system is the best iteration to date, many of the judges still found the touch-sensitive controls difficult to use while driving and not always responsive. The Jaguar, also sporting its best infotainment system in years, drew complaints for being unintuitive and for crashing on several editors. Both cars were also hammered for their nearly unusable rear seats and rather dull interior designs.
The Volvo and BMW, meanwhile, were complimented for their comfort and decently sized rear seats but criticized for their dated interior designs and average materials quality. The BMW clawed some points back with its ergonomics, and the Volvo did, as well, because of its excellent seats. The BMW took hits for its incomprehensible Apple CarPlay integration, and the Volvo was dinged for its loud interior, especially for admitting rough engine noise into the cabin.
Lexus IS 200t F Sport
Miss: Front-end styling, acceleration
Then there’s the Alfa. Praised for its interesting and stylish interior design, it took knocks for its wonky ergonomics. We liked its decently large rear seat and comfortable front seats, but we took issue with the fit and finish and some cheaper materials.
Safety
Volvo S60 T6
Miss: Age. It just feels old.
As it was with fuel efficiency, our competitors are evenly matched in both government and insurance industry crash tests. No competitor scored lower than four stars out of five in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s testing or Good in an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test. (IIHS scores range from Poor to Good in crashworthiness testing and from Basic to Superior in crash-prevention systems.) Still, there are details to be examined here.
We should note before going forward that neither the Alfa Romeo nor Jaguar have yet been tested by either U.S. agency. The cars have been crash tested by their manufacturers and the results accepted by the NHTSA, so they can be sold in the U.S. Both cars also received five out of five stars in Europe’s Euro NCAP crash testing. We should also note that some data used here comes from the 2015 and 2016 model years, but the vehicles in question have not changed substantially between then and the current model year.
As you might expect, the Volvo came out on top of a very competitive field. The company, which stakes its reputation squarely on safety, had perfect scores in every crash test and top marks in the IIHS’ tests for seats and crash avoidance systems, as well as high marks in IIHS tests for headlights and LATCH child seat anchors. It is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, along with the Audi and BMW.
Among the rest of the pack, only the Volvo and Cadillac achieved a five-star front crash rating from NHTSA. The rest received four stars. All but the Mercedes-Benz received a five-star rollover rating from the NHTSA—the C300 scored four stars. Every competitor received five stars overall from NHTSA.
The IIHS hasn’t completed all tests on every competitor. In crash-prevention testing, the BMW and Lexus were the only two tested cars to receive an Advanced rating on their crash-avoidance systems. The rest received Superior grades. The Cadillac and Mercedes received Poor ratings for their headlights, and the rest tested received an Acceptable rating.
Value
Mercedes-Benz C300
Miss: Stiff ride with sport package
Because you’ll be paying the same lease price on all these competitors, value requires a different measurement. After all, no one wants to pay the same for a lesser car. How you define value is up to you, but for the purpose of this comparison, we’ve framed it as the content and performance you get for your $399 monthly payment. (And because many people buy out their leases, sticker price and retained value matter even in a leasing context.)
On this metric, the Audi shines brightest. Although its purchase price is on the higher end of the group, the return on investment is high. The Audi boasts the highest performance in our instrumented testing while also offering far more features than the rest. With price equalized, there’s no questioning the Audi’s dominance in the amount of car you get for the money. The Alfa scores high on performance and boasts the cheapest purchase price as-tested but has fewer features.
In the middle of the pack, the Jaguar offers quite a few features but is let down by low performance scores and a high as-tested price. The Lexus lands in a similar boat, but boasts a better as-tested price. The BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes all offered a similar balance of performance and content. Cadillac, Mercedes, Lexus, and Volvo all sent cars equipped with sport handling packages, potentially in lieu of other content for the same money. BMW and Cadillac also tend to charge extra for features others include standard.
The Volvo stands out as a difficult case. Because a T6 R-Design was supplied, it carries the highest starting price and second-highest as-tested price, but it also snuck in a supercharged and turbocharged engine with by far the highest horsepower and torque output. As such, it performed well in testing and had high feature content. But at a $399 lease price, you’d actually get a T5 Inscription Platinum and give up the performance advantage.
Cost of Ownership
Time is a luxury and therefore so is reliability; no one wants to spend extra time at the dealer.
Unfortunately, the information on the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia is incomplete. Having returned to the U.S. market only recently, there simply is no empirical data regarding reliability, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on an Alfa Romeo—although past models have taken slings and arrows in European quality ratings. We’ve calculated values for those categories based on information from multiple sources, and we took an average of costs for the rest of the competitors.
Per our partners at Intellichoice, the Cadillac is the car whose lease you might consider buying out. Although not the cheapest in any category, low costs across the board keep the Cadillac’s five-year cost of ownership to $45,592. Conversely, the Lexus suffers high insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, giving it the highest five-year cost at $52,254.
There’s also the matter of complimentary scheduled maintenance. Sometimes it’s baked into the lease price, sometimes the manufacturer eats the cost as an incentive that changes from year to year based on the marketing department’s whim. At present, Jaguar offers five years/60,000 miles of free maintenance; BMW, Cadillac, and Volvo offer three/36,000 miles, and Lexus gives the first two services in the first year for free. Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Mercedes still charge for routine maintenance.
We would also point out that the difference between the most and least expensive car to own over five years is less than $7,000, illustrating again just how evenly matched the competitors are.
Conclusion
We considered every facet of these nine cars. We debated long and hard over how to weigh each category, given the values of buyers in this class. We wrestled with reputations and missing data, balanced the marketing and hype, and noted the differing expectations and priorities between leasing and buying.
However, in a class where passion, prestige, and performance often take precedence over cold hard facts and logic, we follow our hearts as much or more than our heads.
As a result, the back of the pack is populated exclusively by older models who have seen the segment pass them by.
The Volvo, which finished in second place the last time around, is showing its age. Far and away the oldest car in the test, it was outclassed at nearly every turn. Thoughtful updates have kept it on life support, but a new engine is no substitute for the comprehensive updates needed to make the S60 truly competitive, and the all-new car can’t come soon enough.
The BMW 3 Series easily won our last Big Test in this class, but even with a recent refresh we found it lacking. It led no categories and inspired little love from the judges, except for its zingy engine. The pressure is on Bavaria to up the next edition’s game if it wants to improve on its seventh-place finish here.
Cadillac ATS 2.0T
Miss: Rear seat
The Cadillac and Jaguar fought fiercely for position in the middle of the pack, with the American just edging out the Brit. Both cars drove wonderfully, but both were kneecapped by penned-in rear seats. The deciding factor ended up being the Jag’s glitchy infotainment system.
An excellent all-around performer, the Mercedes-Benz C300 is by far the most luxurious car here while still offering serious performance credentials. If its options packages were more value-oriented and the Sport edition carried a more luxurious ride, it might’ve managed the silver instead of bronze. It’s a similar story for the fourth-place Lexus, which punched above its weight class on many fronts but couldn’t overcome a weak engine and infuriating infotainment system.
Finishing in an honorable second place is the Audi A4. On paper the Audi wins in terms of features and space, while matching the Alfa’s objective performance, but a sterile personality and a sense of isolation from the driving experience kept it out of first place. If you aren’t willing to try the Alfa until all the data is in, the Audi is an excellent second option.
But because lease deals are a temporary fling, a shopper has the luxury of making make a decision with as much emotion as pragmatism. By that measure, the Alfa Romeo Giulia stacks up well in every category. Its incredible performance and driving experience make it the easy choice for us. We’re willing to look past the reliability question marks to experience the passion this Italian delight delivers. Without question, if it were our money, this would be the car we’d pick.
8TH PLACE: S60 T6
Stylish and safe, the Volvo can’t escape its long-past sell-by date. It’s an old car in a hyper-competitive class, and it just can’t keep up anymore.
7TH PLACE: BMW 330I
How the mighty have fallen. The reigning winner and standard-bearer of the class suffers from old age, dulled dynamics, and a lack of personality.
6TH PLACE: JAGUAR XE 25T
A new standard in the sporty-handling versus refined-ride equation, the Jaguar was undone by its tiny back seat, boring interior styling, and buggy infotainment system.
5TH PLACE: CADILLAC ATS 2.0T
The best sport sedan chassis in the class is let down by a useless back seat and barely acceptable infotainment system.
4TH PLACE: LEXUS IS 200T F SPORT
A good all-around performer, the weighty Lexus is underserved by its overstressed engine, unintuitive infotainment system, and polarizing styling.
3RD PLACE: MERCEDES-BENZ C300
The most luxurious of the field, the Mercedes needs to improve its ride quality and improve the value proposition of its pricing.
2ND PLACE: AUDI A4 2.0T QUATTRO
Smart, practical, sophisticated, and something of a Q-ship, the Audi quietly crawled its way up the podium but lacked the personality to take the top spot.
1ST PLACE: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA
Efficient, economical, quick, safe, and without question the most fun to drive, the Giulia is a car we’re willing to gamble on despite its reliability legacy and lack of cost-of -ownership data.
"It wasn't just Calgary's first significant snowfall of the season on Saturday (22 October 2022), it was Alberta's. It was a memorable event as the system overachieved in parts of the province.
Snowfall records, which began in 1881 were broken at Calgary International Airport. The area reported a one day total of 19 cm on Saturday, October 22, setting a new record for this day. The entire snowfall event total for Calgary -- from Friday night to Sunday morning -- has been reported as 23 cm." From the Weather Network.
www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/photos-major-ci...
All photos were taken though my back window at home. Still healing from my trip and fall six weeks ago, so have no desire to venture out on snow and ice!
Bekijk deze video op YouTube:
Why is the all-new Alfa Romeo considered Premium?
Premium means something “of superior value, out
of the ordinary”...like an Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce.
Alfa Giulia is The Big Test Winner MOTORtrend!
GIULIA VS. 330I VS. A4 VS. C300 VS. ATS VS. XE VS. IS VS. S60
Who Makes the Best Compact Luxury Sports Sedan?
MOTORtrend looked at the whole picture, including price, depreciation, reliability, dealer experience, safety, infotainment features, and cargo- and passenger-carrying capacity. But given the nature of this category, subjective criteria also come into play, so things such as styling, brand image, overall appeal, and driving enjoyment are major factors in this test.
Every year, a half-million Americans are willing to pay a substantial premium for the experience of owning, driving, and of course being seen in one of these premium cars.
Our entry criteria were simple: a modest-down-payment, $399/month lease for 36 months, four doors, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The contenders: the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4 2.0TQuattro, BMW 330i, Cadillac ATS 2.0T, Jaguar XE 25t, Lexus IS 200t F Sport, Mercedes-Benz C300, and Volvo S60 T6 R-Design.
Ride & Handling
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Hit: Driving experience
The single most important attribute of a luxury sport sedan is the driving experience. It must handle like a four-door sports car, but it must also ride acceptably well for a luxury car. Nailing that balance is no easy task, and many came up short.
The biggest disappointment came from the BMW, which created the benchmark for this segment three decades ago. We’ve long criticized the latest 3 Series for being too soft, and this latest update hasn’t addressed that. The ride is comfortable, yes, but at the expense of handling, which no longer feels as sharp or focused. Rather than the class leader, it’s class generic.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Alfa. It was the nearly unanimous driver’s favorite, simultaneously a marvelous car to drive fast and still a comfortable commuter. The steering is quick, responsive, and talkative. The chassis responds perfectly to every input while muting every bump. More than any car here, it put the sport in sport sedan without suffering a jarring ride as a trade-off. A close second to the Alfa is the Cadillac, which got the vote from the lone dissenter. But its equally phenomenal chassis and steering were offset by a less luxurious ride quality.
Similar ride and handling trade-offs were the rule among the Lexus, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Audi. The Lexus handles nicely and rides well, but its portly curb weight made it feel heavy and dulled its responses. The Jaguar and Mercedes handled very well, but rubber-band tires and stiff shocks hurt their ride quality. The Audi both handled and rode very well, but the experience was very isolated and disconnected from the road. Many an editor likened it to a driving simulator.
The Volvo, which once overachieved in this category, felt a generation behind. The heaviest car here, its weight was a constant presence in corners despite the all-wheel drive’s best efforts to yank it out of the corner and down the straight. The steering was full of vibration from the all-wheel drive, and the ride wasn’t spectacular. In a hot segment, it’s just out-classed.
Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
Miss: Lack of passion
Performance
BMW 330i
Miss: Enjoyment—doesn’t do what the design suggests
Given the range of vehicles you could lease at this price, your decision to go with a sport sedan suggests you value performance. As such, this attribute likely weighs heavily on your purchase priorities. It’s the bedrock attribute of this segment.
The BMW 3 Series defined this segment and ruled it for decades, but in this test, it comes up average. It’s slightly above midpack in acceleration but among the worst in braking and just average in our instrumented handling tests. Still, judges praised its linear acceleration, minimal turbo lag, and excellent transmission programing.
If you want absolute performance at this price point and fuel economy, look no further than the Audi. A sleeper, the conservatively styled A4 is the quickest both in a straight line and around our figure-eight test. Its dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive give it a performance and traction edge off the line. But beyond 60 mph the Alfa’s best weight-to-power ratio and shortest gearing deliver the best performance, reaching 100 mph 1 second quicker and finishing the quarter-mile 3.3 mph faster than the Audi. Likewise, the Mercedes, with its Sport package, equals the Audi’s best-in-class figure-eight performance while stopping shorter. The Alfa’s figure-eight performance was severely handicapped by its overly aggressive stability control, which couldn’t be defeated.
The Cadillac comes up surprisingly short given its second-most powerful engine and second-lightest curb weight. We attribute this to its tallish first gear and somewhat lazy transmission. The Jaguar’s second-shortest gearing compensates for its second-worst weight-to-power ratio to produce solidly midpack performance.
The Lexus earned its slowest straight-line performance fair and square with the second-highest curb weight (despite being only rear-wheel drive) and the second-least powerful engine. It just felt overburdened. What the Lexus lacked in power, though, it made up for in handling.
Then there’s the odd case of the Volvo. A turbocharged and supercharged T6 variant rather than the directly comparable turbocharged T5 we requested, it was the most powerful in the test and blessed with all-wheel drive and the R-Design sport package, not to mention a Polestar engine software upgrade. It was also, however, the heaviest. As such, it was third-quickest to 60 mph and stopped second-shortest, but it was slowest on the figure eight by a good margin.
Efficiency
Jaguar XE 25t
Miss: Interior quality, design, and ergonomics
Gas is pretty dang cheap right now, but it won’t always be. Even when it’s cheap, it’s still an expense. There’s also an expectation of good fuel economy that comes with a downsized engine. After all, you want some payback when you give up horsepower and torque.
According to the EPA’s standardized lab test, these vehicles all return very similar fuel economy. Going by window stickers alone, we see most get around 23/32/26 mpg city/highway/combined. The Jaguar fares the worst, posting 21/30/24 mpg rating. The Mercedes just beats out the Alfa and the Audi by returning a best-in-test 24/34/28 mpg city/highway/combined. As you can see, it’s not a broad spread.
Here, our Real MPG partnership with Emissions Analytics is invaluable. In real-world testing, the Mercedes fell 2 mpg short across the board, abdicating its top spot. The Jaguar redeemed itself in city and combined ratings, and the Lexus dropped to a worst-observed 20.4/31.1/24.2 mpg city/highway/combined. Meanwhile, the Alfa soared with an observed 28.2/37.9/31.8 mpg city/highway/combined, well above its EPA estimates in all categories. We must caution, however, that our Alfa Romeo and Lexus were preproduction units, and both could show different results once their final software calibrations are made.
Cockpit/Cabin
Much of what makes a luxury sedan is its interior. After all, it’s the place where you spend time and the part of the car you spend the most time looking at, touching, listening to, and interacting with.
Regardless of the metrics used to score such subjective criteria, the Mercedes comes out on top. The elegant design and top-quality tactile materials made it a unanimous favorite among the judges. It also scored high marks in quietness, comfort, and rear-seat space. It was let down slightly by a cut-rate Garmin navigation system integrated into the otherwise all-Mercedes infotainment system.
The Audi also was well-received by the judges. The technical superiority was obvious; its virtual cockpit digital dash looked like something out of the future and offered features and functionality no competitor could match. We were also impressed with its impeccable build quality and excellent materials. It took demerits for a slightly tight rear seat, somewhat sterile design (apart from the dash), and slightly louder interior than we’d prefer.
Lexus came in a strong third, with high marks for build quality, materials, and interior quietness. Its design was controversial, and the rear seat was a bit cramped, but the seats were lauded for their comfort and support. The infotainment system and its finicky joystick interface earned unanimous scorn, even from the most generous judge. Even dismissing the controller, the system itself looks old and outdated, and it isn’t especially intuitive.
Other cars let down by their infotainment systems were the Cadillac and Jaguar. Although Cadillac’s CUE system is the best iteration to date, many of the judges still found the touch-sensitive controls difficult to use while driving and not always responsive. The Jaguar, also sporting its best infotainment system in years, drew complaints for being unintuitive and for crashing on several editors. Both cars were also hammered for their nearly unusable rear seats and rather dull interior designs.
The Volvo and BMW, meanwhile, were complimented for their comfort and decently sized rear seats but criticized for their dated interior designs and average materials quality. The BMW clawed some points back with its ergonomics, and the Volvo did, as well, because of its excellent seats. The BMW took hits for its incomprehensible Apple CarPlay integration, and the Volvo was dinged for its loud interior, especially for admitting rough engine noise into the cabin.
Lexus IS 200t F Sport
Miss: Front-end styling, acceleration
Then there’s the Alfa. Praised for its interesting and stylish interior design, it took knocks for its wonky ergonomics. We liked its decently large rear seat and comfortable front seats, but we took issue with the fit and finish and some cheaper materials.
Safety
Volvo S60 T6
Miss: Age. It just feels old.
As it was with fuel efficiency, our competitors are evenly matched in both government and insurance industry crash tests. No competitor scored lower than four stars out of five in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s testing or Good in an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test. (IIHS scores range from Poor to Good in crashworthiness testing and from Basic to Superior in crash-prevention systems.) Still, there are details to be examined here.
We should note before going forward that neither the Alfa Romeo nor Jaguar have yet been tested by either U.S. agency. The cars have been crash tested by their manufacturers and the results accepted by the NHTSA, so they can be sold in the U.S. Both cars also received five out of five stars in Europe’s Euro NCAP crash testing. We should also note that some data used here comes from the 2015 and 2016 model years, but the vehicles in question have not changed substantially between then and the current model year.
As you might expect, the Volvo came out on top of a very competitive field. The company, which stakes its reputation squarely on safety, had perfect scores in every crash test and top marks in the IIHS’ tests for seats and crash avoidance systems, as well as high marks in IIHS tests for headlights and LATCH child seat anchors. It is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, along with the Audi and BMW.
Among the rest of the pack, only the Volvo and Cadillac achieved a five-star front crash rating from NHTSA. The rest received four stars. All but the Mercedes-Benz received a five-star rollover rating from the NHTSA—the C300 scored four stars. Every competitor received five stars overall from NHTSA.
The IIHS hasn’t completed all tests on every competitor. In crash-prevention testing, the BMW and Lexus were the only two tested cars to receive an Advanced rating on their crash-avoidance systems. The rest received Superior grades. The Cadillac and Mercedes received Poor ratings for their headlights, and the rest tested received an Acceptable rating.
Value
Mercedes-Benz C300
Miss: Stiff ride with sport package
Because you’ll be paying the same lease price on all these competitors, value requires a different measurement. After all, no one wants to pay the same for a lesser car. How you define value is up to you, but for the purpose of this comparison, we’ve framed it as the content and performance you get for your $399 monthly payment. (And because many people buy out their leases, sticker price and retained value matter even in a leasing context.)
On this metric, the Audi shines brightest. Although its purchase price is on the higher end of the group, the return on investment is high. The Audi boasts the highest performance in our instrumented testing while also offering far more features than the rest. With price equalized, there’s no questioning the Audi’s dominance in the amount of car you get for the money. The Alfa scores high on performance and boasts the cheapest purchase price as-tested but has fewer features.
In the middle of the pack, the Jaguar offers quite a few features but is let down by low performance scores and a high as-tested price. The Lexus lands in a similar boat, but boasts a better as-tested price. The BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes all offered a similar balance of performance and content. Cadillac, Mercedes, Lexus, and Volvo all sent cars equipped with sport handling packages, potentially in lieu of other content for the same money. BMW and Cadillac also tend to charge extra for features others include standard.
The Volvo stands out as a difficult case. Because a T6 R-Design was supplied, it carries the highest starting price and second-highest as-tested price, but it also snuck in a supercharged and turbocharged engine with by far the highest horsepower and torque output. As such, it performed well in testing and had high feature content. But at a $399 lease price, you’d actually get a T5 Inscription Platinum and give up the performance advantage.
Cost of Ownership
Time is a luxury and therefore so is reliability; no one wants to spend extra time at the dealer.
Unfortunately, the information on the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia is incomplete. Having returned to the U.S. market only recently, there simply is no empirical data regarding reliability, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on an Alfa Romeo—although past models have taken slings and arrows in European quality ratings. We’ve calculated values for those categories based on information from multiple sources, and we took an average of costs for the rest of the competitors.
Per our partners at Intellichoice, the Cadillac is the car whose lease you might consider buying out. Although not the cheapest in any category, low costs across the board keep the Cadillac’s five-year cost of ownership to $45,592. Conversely, the Lexus suffers high insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, giving it the highest five-year cost at $52,254.
There’s also the matter of complimentary scheduled maintenance. Sometimes it’s baked into the lease price, sometimes the manufacturer eats the cost as an incentive that changes from year to year based on the marketing department’s whim. At present, Jaguar offers five years/60,000 miles of free maintenance; BMW, Cadillac, and Volvo offer three/36,000 miles, and Lexus gives the first two services in the first year for free. Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Mercedes still charge for routine maintenance.
We would also point out that the difference between the most and least expensive car to own over five years is less than $7,000, illustrating again just how evenly matched the competitors are.
Conclusion
We considered every facet of these nine cars. We debated long and hard over how to weigh each category, given the values of buyers in this class. We wrestled with reputations and missing data, balanced the marketing and hype, and noted the differing expectations and priorities between leasing and buying.
However, in a class where passion, prestige, and performance often take precedence over cold hard facts and logic, we follow our hearts as much or more than our heads.
As a result, the back of the pack is populated exclusively by older models who have seen the segment pass them by.
The Volvo, which finished in second place the last time around, is showing its age. Far and away the oldest car in the test, it was outclassed at nearly every turn. Thoughtful updates have kept it on life support, but a new engine is no substitute for the comprehensive updates needed to make the S60 truly competitive, and the all-new car can’t come soon enough.
The BMW 3 Series easily won our last Big Test in this class, but even with a recent refresh we found it lacking. It led no categories and inspired little love from the judges, except for its zingy engine. The pressure is on Bavaria to up the next edition’s game if it wants to improve on its seventh-place finish here.
Cadillac ATS 2.0T
Miss: Rear seat
The Cadillac and Jaguar fought fiercely for position in the middle of the pack, with the American just edging out the Brit. Both cars drove wonderfully, but both were kneecapped by penned-in rear seats. The deciding factor ended up being the Jag’s glitchy infotainment system.
An excellent all-around performer, the Mercedes-Benz C300 is by far the most luxurious car here while still offering serious performance credentials. If its options packages were more value-oriented and the Sport edition carried a more luxurious ride, it might’ve managed the silver instead of bronze. It’s a similar story for the fourth-place Lexus, which punched above its weight class on many fronts but couldn’t overcome a weak engine and infuriating infotainment system.
Finishing in an honorable second place is the Audi A4. On paper the Audi wins in terms of features and space, while matching the Alfa’s objective performance, but a sterile personality and a sense of isolation from the driving experience kept it out of first place. If you aren’t willing to try the Alfa until all the data is in, the Audi is an excellent second option.
But because lease deals are a temporary fling, a shopper has the luxury of making make a decision with as much emotion as pragmatism. By that measure, the Alfa Romeo Giulia stacks up well in every category. Its incredible performance and driving experience make it the easy choice for us. We’re willing to look past the reliability question marks to experience the passion this Italian delight delivers. Without question, if it were our money, this would be the car we’d pick.
8TH PLACE: S60 T6
Stylish and safe, the Volvo can’t escape its long-past sell-by date. It’s an old car in a hyper-competitive class, and it just can’t keep up anymore.
7TH PLACE: BMW 330I
How the mighty have fallen. The reigning winner and standard-bearer of the class suffers from old age, dulled dynamics, and a lack of personality.
6TH PLACE: JAGUAR XE 25T
A new standard in the sporty-handling versus refined-ride equation, the Jaguar was undone by its tiny back seat, boring interior styling, and buggy infotainment system.
5TH PLACE: CADILLAC ATS 2.0T
The best sport sedan chassis in the class is let down by a useless back seat and barely acceptable infotainment system.
4TH PLACE: LEXUS IS 200T F SPORT
A good all-around performer, the weighty Lexus is underserved by its overstressed engine, unintuitive infotainment system, and polarizing styling.
3RD PLACE: MERCEDES-BENZ C300
The most luxurious of the field, the Mercedes needs to improve its ride quality and improve the value proposition of its pricing.
2ND PLACE: AUDI A4 2.0T QUATTRO
Smart, practical, sophisticated, and something of a Q-ship, the Audi quietly crawled its way up the podium but lacked the personality to take the top spot.
1ST PLACE: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA
Efficient, economical, quick, safe, and without question the most fun to drive, the Giulia is a car we’re willing to gamble on despite its reliability legacy and lack of cost-of -ownership data.
A companion story to Cadence Prowl's Pursuing the Posh
Part One: History
My name is Shawn, and if you've followed the adventures of Cadence Prowl, then my name may ring a bell. I am the same person she has both given guidance to and playfully humiliated in one of her stories. That said, I possess a deep admiration for her and her talents, and matching her tenacity at accomplishing the perfect theft is something I've come to strive for.
After this past escapade, my mentor has appeared to gain a bit more respect of my development, to the point of inviting me to tell my side of events in her take Pursuing the Posh. I am more than happy to do so, but be warned reader: my fingers talk even more than my mouth does! So do set aside some time of you're ready to indulge in my narrative.
First, let me shed some light upon my background:
I was born into an upper-middle class family. My father is a successful accountant, while my mother has become a high-ranking staff member at the local hospital after many years of service. I am the second of three children, with an elder brother and younger sister. Have you heard of the so-called "Middle Child Syndrome"? I am the living embodiment of that, constantly competing with siblings who overachieve in both academics and formal events equally. And they've certainly gained favour with my parents in doing so.
Not to say that I'm an idiot in comparison; I've certainly applied myself in my studies, and have received respectable grades as a result. I also consider myself to be quite literate....I much enjoy writing, and rarely is there a day goes by where I don't have a fiction book in either my pocket or backpack, as any proper introvert would have.
Where my siblings and I vary, at least in our upbringings, are our social skills. Whenever our collective family would attend an event involving high society, I found that I'd fight a losing battle against two natural, outgoing characters for attention; a wallflower versus a duo of social butterflies, if you will. And while my parents did make a concerted effort to balance their pride and affection among their trio of children, it would be painfully obvious (to me) whom would receive the most glory by the end of each gathering.
I don't mention this out of self-pity. Instead, it is to state that there is always knowledge to be gained from even the most humbling of experiences. For it is at one of the suaréz that I first dipped my toe into the waters of pickpocketing!
My first lift occurred at the age of 15, and I was in the midst of reading "Oliver Twist". While immersing in the chapter where Fagin is teaching Oliver the technique of stealing handkerchiefs, the inquisitive portion of my mind pondered how well I could pick a pocket. The mere concept of it tickled my burgeoning devious nature. So with another formal event on the horizon, I vowed to myself to try and successfully lift an item from someone's pocket - any item, for I was a simple novice after all!
As the evening of the party arrived, the circumstances started as normal: introductions, small talk involving personal activities, and so forth. After this stage usually came the moment where I'd be left to my own device. Unlike past scenarios, where I would be dreading this inevitable reality, this time I was awaiting it with a quiet eagerness. In fact, even at this tender age, I had the forethought of devising a strategy of achieving my task, while not separating my presence in the crowd with suspicious behaviour. I brought with me a notebook and pen, and would jot down short notes as I watched people acclimate in the festivities. Anyone who'd ask about my reasons would be told that it was ideas I was considering for an upcoming school report.
In truth, I was documenting potential targets while using a special code. For example, I spied Mister Saunders tuck a gold-painted lighter into the right-side pocket of his suit jacket. So I wrote "M - Sau - RSJ - lgtr - 6/10" to indicate who, which pocket, the item, and the probability of success of theft. (His was on the slightly higher side, due to him leaving the flap of the pocket tucked in, allowing for a foreign hand to reach inside.) For any female marks, I simply switched the "M" to an "L". I compiled a list of ten people in about twenty minutes, and swiftly chose Mister Sims (M - Sim - RSB - flk - 9/10) for the flask poking quite precariously from the right back pocket of his trousers. I noted that he was already intoxicated, as his speech was slurred and he struggled to maintain his balance.
When the time seemed just right, I arose from my chair and positioned myself close to the drunken elder. I didn't have to wait long for a distraction; a passer- by bumped into his shoulder, making him stumble into me. I held his back with my left hand while I punched the spout of the flask with the middle and index fingers of my right. As he straightened his footing, I slid the item out and casually secreted it into the pocket of my blazer. It felt surprisingly heavy, I'd say it was at least three quarters full! For a brief moment I anticipated him noticing it's absence from his pocket. But he didn't...when he turned to face me, he gave me a clumsy shake of my hand and a barely coherent "thank you" before trudging away.
Upon attaining this, I excused myself for the outdoors and some air. My entire body shook, the rush of the lift captivated my entire being. As I increased my steps, I found there to be a cement walkway circling the house. There was a soft glow from the home's windows that provided adequate illumination, and just off of one corner a garden was adorned with stone benches to sit. I took a seat and pulled out my new acquisition, admiring it as well as the way I had taken it.
My silent victory was short-lived, for a moment later I caught the sound of footsteps approaching me. I stood back up sharply as I pocketed the flask once more. I sensed the steps belonging to a woman, as it seemed to sound like heels against the hard surface, and I also heard the light swish of fabric that suggested a long dress. Confirming my theory as I tried to keep my composure, a feminine voice broke through the night: "Hello there. Aren't you a wee bit young to be drinking that?"
I leaned in to get a better view of the approaching figure, expecting to be scolded by an adult. However, it was a young woman about my age, standing in a rose-pink satin dress that hugged the curves of her body. She wasn't thin, but certainly not overweight either; her height and outline of her form suggested that she was athletic on some level.
"What do you mean?" I finally stammered, a hint of nervousness in my words.
" Oh..so that wasn't you whom I saw filch the flask from my uncle's pocket then? " She took a few steps closer, hands behind her back, in the form of a school teacher admonishing her students. "And if I were to frisk you, I certainly wouldn't find that same flask in the pocket of your blazer, would I?"
Her sarcasm and confidence alone were enough to deflate me. I cocked the left-side of my jacket towards her, slipped a couple of fingers inside that pocket, and tapped the metal to confirm that it was there. She let out a gentle laugh, and came up close enough for me to see her face; her skin was slightly darker than the average Brit, and I surmised she might be of Mediterranean descent. This attractively brazen girl then plucked the flask from my pocket with a movement more fluid than water in a stream.
"Don't fret, I'll keep mum about all of this. Truth be told, I had my eye on this meself." She unscrewed the cap, placed it upon her lips and thrust her head backwards, swallowing a healthy amount. Leveling her face after injecting whatever was in there, she grimaced and declared, "Oh Christ, what is this swill?" I chuckled as she took a second, more modest full while seating herself on the bench. She tapped the spot next to her, inviting me to sit as she said, "My name is Josselyn, Josselyn Coconis. And you are -"
" Shawn. " I sat beside her as a brief, awkward pause followed.
"Shawn...just Shawn? Are you one of those weirdo celebrities like Cher or Madonna or Bono who has no surname?"
" Why, yes! " I responded with a sly grin.
Josselyn shook her head with a smile and continued: "Fair enough. Well, Just Shawn, what is it that made you nick this flask? You haven't touched a drop of its contents."
it is then that I divulged what I've just told you, reader. Despite my long monologue, Josselyn proved to be an apt listener, reacting to different details in appropriate fashion. As I wound up my history with events of that particular evening, my new acquaintance abruptly grabbed my hand and gasped, "Is that what you were doing with that notebook?! I saw you from a distance and wondered what in bloody Hell you were up to!"
I pulled out the folded notebook from one of my inside pockets of my jacket to show her my codes. After a moment's glance, Josselyn stifled a giggle. Then any semblance of composure turned into flat-out hysterics. She leaned into my right-side shoulder, resting her head upon it while laughing with the notebook in her hand. I repeatedly asked her why she was carrying on, and she eventually calmed herself enough to sit up, refold my notebook and return it to my inside pocket. She smoothed my blazer with rapid fingers as she put me in my place:
"Not to be rude, but I can tell this was your virgin lift! If you want to have some fun with this, then you can't be afraid to be spontaneous. Do you think your marks are gonna stand around and wait while you take notes on them? "
"No, of course not, but-" Josselyn covered my mouth with her hand before I could explain myself further.
"Listen, Just Shawn, you don't have to sell me on your enthusiasm or instinct to pick pockets. I know it's there." She removed her hand, knowing that I'd let her proceed. " I've been looking for a partner since I moved here with my family. And you're the first person I've met who's shown any inclination for using some light fingers to get what they want. Honestly, that lift was a cinch; my arthritic nana could have swiped this flask! But if you let me train you, you'll be astounded at what you can accomplish. So are you willing to be my protégé? "
There was a part of me that thought she was daft for asking such an arrogant question; but the other, stronger part found her bravado quite enthralling, and it tapped into the growing curiosity I'd been fostering for this skill. "Agreed. Shall we start tonight?"
" No. Me folks are here and privé to my delinquent behaviour. I must appear to be in top form for them. We'll start at school; the uniforms we wear are excellent for executing lifts! "
With that, Josselyn stood up and I followed suit. She started to adjust the chest portion of her outfit; I turned my back as to not embarrass her. She chuckled at my chivalrous gesture and remarked, "Showing respect for me already? We'll certainly get along just fine."
I laughed at her statement. Once she completed fixing her dress, I turned back around and extended an arm for her to take. She wrapped her arm around mine and we started our walk back towards the party. I soon felt the heft of the flask present in the pocket of my blazer. I looked down at it, then her. "Weren't you going to return this to your uncle?"
Josselyn shook her head. "I figure any pickpocket worth their weight keeps the first item they steal. Even if the lift was as sinfully easy as yours, it still counts! " She pulled the flap over the pocket, gave it a pat, then suddenly pressed her mouth near my ear. "And by the by, that WASN'T my uncle!"
This admission made me cover my face sheepishly, and Josselyn giggled with delight at my reaction. "You see? I was being spontaneous with you, and it worked like a charm!"
We soon approached the doors. "Speaking of charm," I started, taking Josselyn's hand and kissing it . This caused her to let out a mock gasp of pleasure. "I look forward to our next meeting, Miss Coconis."
She nodded and responded, "And I look forward to taking you under my wing, Mister Coghlan. 'Til we meet again." I opened the door for her, and she shot me a smile and a quick flip of her curly hair as she stepped inside.
It took a few seconds, but it suddenly dawned on me that she had figured out my surname! As I re-entered the house, it was on the tip of my tongue to ask her. But I discovered that she had already engaged in conversation with an entire group of people. Still befuddled, I took the same seat where I'd been before, soaking in the excitement of meeting someone so different and vibrant. Eventually my instincts told me to take inventory of what I was carrying. One item I'd had at the start of the evening was conspicuously absent: my wallet!
Of course, it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who the culprit was! Sitting there, I replayed every moment of my time with Josselyn in my mind. I concluded that she must have done the lift after she had returned my notebook and fussed with my blazer. It was the only moment her hand was anywhere near that particular pocket.
Indeed, I received a non-verbal confirmation of this as people were leaving the gathering. I spotted Joss with her parents, and upon catching her eye gave an inquisitive grin; with raised eyebrows, I pointed towards the inside pocket of my jacket. She flashed a smile and caressed her leg, close to where her pocket opened. Her motion gave me a sense of x-ray vision, I could almost see my wallet nestled against her thigh.
That night started what would be a defining relationship in my life. For the next eight months, Joss and I spent a considerable amount of time together. It wasn't always easy, between classes, family and friends, having one-on-one sessions took some creativity to attain. But she was an excellent tutor, and she gradually taught me many of the ins-and-outs of pickpocketing while keeping our actions discreet. Her lessons always had a flow, where she would demonstrate technique on several types of pockets, what to look for in a mark's behaviour, the best and worst situations for committing a lift, and so on. After showing me how to perform a certain dip, she would have me try it on her. And she would be brutally honest, but her critiques would be constructive and show me any errors I was making.
When the time came where we both felt I was ready for some action, Joss started me on some of our classmates. Like any good teacher, she gave me easy items to pluck: pens, small notebooks, even notes with juicy information written on them from time to time. The blazers on our school uniforms had side pockets with no flaps, so just about any item would cause the pocket to bulge away from the owner's body. I soon found that simply brushing past anyone sporting this weakness in between classes was effective most times.
Upon graduating that level, Joss then had me target the teachers. She instructed me to watch their tendencies, spot where they kept personal belongings on a day-to-day basis. Doing this, I found that certain male professors kept their wallet or keys in attainable pockets to pick. And with Joss creating a distraction, pretending to inquire about "problems" she was having with the course material, I'd pretend to be listening in with the same issues, all the while relieving them of personal items under their very noses. Female teachers were easier; they kept their wallets in purses, and the two of us found a simple distraction was often enough to get them.
The crowning achievement was lifting the wallet of our headmaster. It occurred when the school hosted a fair as a fundraiser. Joss had showed me a trick to pick pocket using napkins, but because the headmaster was aware of her past indiscretions, she felt that any move she made would be sniffed out by him. So I took it upon myself to do the lift. We watched where he kept his wallet - inside blazer pocket - and I also noted a stain from tea spilled upon his lapel. I got an idea...I came up to him and made mention of the stain, and held up the napkins to offer assist to dry it up. He agreed, and as I mopped up the spill with one hand my other slipped inside his blazer. With all that movement of my two hands, he failed to notice me slip his wallet out and into the cover of the napkins I wasn't using. Completing my favour, I dropped the enveloped wallet into my pocket and wished him a good day.
Joss' reaction was priceless: after I had safely separated myself from the crowd, she came from behind and nearly tackled me while laughing wildly. "That was utterly brilliant! I was watching and thought for sure he'd catch you! Gimme his wallet! " She snatched it before I could properly defend myself and started rifling through the contents curiously. "We're returning this anonymously. I actually like him, he's given me some respect unlike my last headmaster. But this shows me that you're ready to do some real lifts...the ones that earn some profit! " I expressed disappointment at this, but was eventually convinced this was the right call.
Having gained her trust as a competent thief, Joss and I spared the occupants of our school and turned our sights on the public. There was a bustling city nearby with plenty of shoppes and even a mall. We would take turns on who would distract and who would dip. Sometimes there would be some improvisation, where the person dipping would slip the stolen items to the partner. These days would end with us gathering at Joss' house....we'd tally our loot and come to a fair disbursement of cash and goods. Generally I'd let her keep a little more, since pickpocketing was my way of thrill-seeking, with monetary benefits being secondary.
With this shared secret of pilfering between the two of us, something else was emerging: a growing attraction to one another. It started with my training, sometimes her hand would slide in a personal spot upon my body during a practice pick, or standing close to one another while positioning ourselves would cause momentary awkward laughter. As we got involved in group lifts, the intimacy between ourselves increased; we'd be cuddling with one another while simultaneously emptying each other's pockets, even stealing a kiss here and there as our frisky hands made sure all pockets had been cleaned out between us!
The pinnacle of our unorthodox courtship came one afternoon after a typical few hours of pickpocketing. We had both done well, nabbing several wallets and purses and securing them in large shopping bags. Upon entering Joss' bedroom, we divided our spoils as usual and started to fill our respective pockets with notes. My trouser pockets must of had significant bulges, for Joss made a cheeky comment of it: " Seems like somebody's got delusions of grandeur! "
I laughed out loud and responded, "Whatever puts a smile upon my face!" while giving my pockets a solid tap.
It's then that Josselyn looked me up and down, and took a seat at the edge of the bed as I continued to stand in front of her. "I'll wager that I can make that smile even brighter." She placed her hands upon my waist and pulled me slightly forward; her deep-brown eyes were penetrating , showcasing a "come hither" quality that was more seductive than I'd ever seen.
She gently slid first her fingers, then her whole hands, inside my front pockets. The act caused a wave of pleasure that shot my head upward, and I began to breathe heavily as her hands fluttered inside them teasingly. "If you're planning on pickpocketing, you've turned me into an easy target."
"No," she whispered softly. Her fingers glided past the money and along my inner thigh, caressing them nicely with the assistance of the lining. "There's something else in there that I desire to hold. " Her inference was clear, but before I could respond Joss' hands plunged between my legs and firmly grabbed hold of the arousal she had created.
I let out the first orgasm of my life, and placed my hands upon her shoulders as I started kissing first her forehead, and worked my way down her face and upon her lips. Her grip methodically tightened as I did this, and my stimulated organ was beyond throbbing when I leaned my body forward and tackled her on the bed.
We frantically started undressing one another. Having pulled her hands from my pockets - spilling money on the mattress and floor - Joss removed my shirt and unbuckled my belt, while my own hands expertly unbuttoned her smooth, cream-colored blouse and unzipped her skirt. One could count the passing seconds on two hands before we were both practically in the buff.
Joss then rolled us both over, where she was on top and had me pinned down beneath her beautifully fit body. The smile on her face was indescribable; she planted a long, wet kiss on my mouth before lustfully asking, "Is this your first time?"
" Yes. I'm thrilled it's with you, Joss. I've dreamt of this for some time. "
She winked at me. "Same here. Come now, let's celebrate me bringing you out of your shell." We locked our lips together as she guided me inside of her.
I should look upon this memory with fondness, even with a sense of a crowning achievement. Which I do....but added to that is a taste of bittersweet. For just forty-eight hours after losing my virginity, my parents uprooted me from this school and into an all-boys academy. You see, my grades had trended downward as I spent more time with Joss. I also incurred more truancies than allowed, and the headmaster soon put these two details together and sent a message to my parents. They weren't about to tolerate an underachiever in their family!
I was, naturally, livid with this decision; what teenager with raging hormones in the throws of a first love wouldn't? But in the end I decided to just make the best of it. Joss and I kept in touch via letters. She preferred this to e-mail, it was more private, and she liked the feel of them in her pocket; she stated that it was if a piece of me was there with her. We did this weekly for two months. In what would be her last letter, she mentioned a plan to set off the school's fire alarm as a ploy to sneak into the faculty room and raid all the pockets and purses she could find. I sent Joss three letters after that, one more pleading and desperate for news than the next, but all to no avail. At one point, I assumed she'd been caught and herself sent to some strict boarding school. It would be years before I found out about her outcome.
As for school, over time I established a balance between my studies and lifting. I had fine-tuned a specific skill, I wasn't about to give it up so easily! I raised my grades to a point where it pleased my parents, all the while proficiently picking the pockets of fellow students and, less often, teachers. Joss had inadvertently taught me confidence, and with this bonus I cultivated relationships where I was well liked without the burden of being overtly popular. Even more fortuitous, I discovered that my roommate, an unassuming lad named Thomas, had a penchant for picking locks. This tidbit of information assured me that I could conduct my covert activity without fear of reprisal. We did get along well, even dubbing ourselves "The Pick Brothers" in private conversations about potential heists.
While there were sporting events to keep us young men occupied on a casual level, most coveted were the dances held in conjunction with the all-girl school a short distance away. I, for one, never pursued any of the girls to date. Flirt with (to eventually lift something), yes, but the hangover of losing Joss was a strong and constant one. As fetching as many of them were, all seemed to pale in comparison to her charm, wit, and devilish will to commit unscrupulous activity!
It's at one of these dances that I first met Cadence Prowl. Of course, she accurately described our initial encounter in her story. I was immediately taken with her talents at thievery, not to mention her audacity to crash a private function. She showed me techniques Josselyn had never touched upon. Even referring to me as her protégé brought a smile to my face as we worked on form together.
I can even forgive what Cade did afterwards, at the pond. I've rationalized it as a lesson in never keeping your guard down! The lass I was with at that moment wasn't as forgiving, though! Aye, what a long walk back to school that was!
Upon completing school, I gained employment of an entry-level job as a manager's assistant for a company specializing in financial retirement planning. It's as mundane as it sounds, and I quickly realized that it's not the lucrative career as it was posed to me. After listening to one soon-to-be pensioner after another, squabbling over every last euro in their possession, I would be left feeling I'd been drained of a life with every day's end.
I had "retired" from thieving when I first entered the workforce, and for two years kept my nose clean. That's not to say that the temptation wasn't there! I recall one client whom I was assisting, left his suit jacket tossed on the back of a chair when he and my boss excused themselves to use the loo. Sitting visibly in his inside pocket was a very plump wallet. I had to resist every thought racing in my head telling me to snatch it. When the two returned, the client made light of it when he saw how exposed his wallet was: "Oh, look at that. I was inviting anyone who sees this to rob me! Were you thinking of taking it?"
" No, not me job. We leave that to the government, " I retorted, trying to sound humorous.
As time passed, I gained more solid footing within the firm, steadily gaining small yet significant amenities as a token of appreciation. One was a longer break for lunchtime. I took full advantage and frequented the nearest pub as often as I could afford, grabbing a bite while usually partaking in a pint of stout.
It's at this same establishment that my passion for thieving was reignited. And it came in the form of a sassy waitress, whom deftly plucked the wallet from the back pocket of one of the older regulars frequenting the place. Seeing me witness her prank (for she returned the wallet shortly after), she grinned, winked her eye and put a finger upon her lips. Like a siren's song to a wayward sailor, I was once more eager to participate in the game!
These midday escapes also lead to a rather pleasing moment. For shortly after my rebirth, I was treated to an act of serendipity: I was once more in the vicinity of Cadence Prowl herself!
End Part One