I think some of the styling cues are a bit of a mishmash, almost as if they were trying to copy Lamborghini a bit without making it too obvious. It is the first Corvette since the C2 though that I find even remotely interesting. C3-C6 IMO were all hair shirt cars. I do admire their stubbornness with the cart springs in back.

I don't know, but when I first saw pics of the stingray the first thing that came to mind is that some of the Pontiac designers had joined the project team... 

Also, a very intriguing car is the "Jalopnik" edition 320i. http://jalopnik.com/dealer-in-california-now-has-jalopnik-edition-bmw-3-s-911634228

It's actually not that bad of a deal. If I were in the market for a $35-40g car, this should be pretty high in the list, but I wonder how the aftermarket vendors are for new gen BMWs, especially for the 320.

I really like how they were focusing BMW die-hard petrolheads. All you need is a stick, some pedals, and performance options; no bs. I'm also the kind of guy who finds optional extras to be stupid so this car (dealer) surprised me a whole ton.

BMW has lost it's way. 

THIS!  What happened to the 80's M3's with thinner glass, no sound proofing, skip the A/C, manual windows, and leaving out all the "oh shit" handles to save weight?? 

I'm not sure it's the end of the world just yet. Electric steering seems to be salvageable, at least say the reports about the 991 911 GT3. BMW just has to figure out how to do it. The IS350 F-sport is also hardly a model for steering feedback, and supposedly the stability system steps in and shuts things down at the first hint of oversteer even with it "off" so I don't think Lexus will become the "ultimate driving machine" brand any time soon. By every account I've read, if you want a drivers car in the compact luxury segment you buy the Cadillac(!) not the Lexus.

They also seem to have gone way too far in making soft, roly-poly suspensions for traditional luxury customers, to the point that "Sport+" is barely sporty at all. That's a problem, but it's also one that they can solve, at least with the 3/4, if they want to. With the 5 being based on 7 series bones, that's gonna be harder.

BMW finally screwing up though does at least making this segment interesting. It used to be that the E46 and E39 would always win, with everyone else squabbling over second place. The E90 still mostly won everything, but the other guys were obviously starting to catch up. Now the F30 and the F10 seem to be regularly losing. The question is what does BMW do about it, do they still care enough about what magazine writers think or are they just after sales. Is there still some of this left in them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCCHHvzdztM

Steering feedback is the least of the worries tbh.  They seem to be mucking thing up on a macro level these days (as u mentioned) a la Honda.  This is indicative of accountants and marketing teams calling the shots.  Mazda and Toyota seem to be going the other direction.  Honda appears to be planning a turnaround now that they are done developing their private jet project. 

Which IS350 F-sport?  2013 or 2014?  Plus w/ Lexus, there is 'off' and then there is 'OFF'.  Most journalists that tested the LF-A didn't even know there was launch control.  Toyota likes to bury that shit deep because, well, some shithead geriatric might step on the wrong pedal and sue you.  I've almost disowned Toyota since they announced the new brake nanny tech.  Thankfully there's a little leeway built in.  I need to give it a harder check tbh b4 I grab that FR-S.  The first test drive of a car usually entails learning what the dealer/sales rep doesn't know about operating the car which is a waste of time.  For some reason I don't often get a lot of initial time alone w/ car when I go to check it out, they keep wanting to throw their keys at me asap. 

Cadillac is nailing the performance numbers for sure, the problem is few folks really seem to want to drive them for lack of refinement and compromised comfort among other reasons.  Reading the shitty problems the ATS/CTS were having w/ build quality, fit and finish are a bit worrisome.  Plus if you get a V people won't like getting around 15mpg.  With luxury cars, there needs to be balance.  If you care not, you buy an AMG and throw your cash at MB.

Yes, I know Toyota has made its share of bland cars in the past and will no doubt continue to do so.  However, I think the current direction is evident and stems from Akio Toyoda's love of speed.  He's the only CEO I know who is an active racer and I can tell you he's probably sold exactly 0 cars ba sed on that fact.  So the passion is there for his family's namesake.  I'm more concerned w/ Toyota regaining it's bulletproof reputation that I've enjoyed for decades growing up.  I'm not concerned about speed, Toyota can go fast whenever they choose to. 

It's really not hard to make a fast car, the challenge is selecting the right balance you think will appeal to a market you want to cater to.  People tend to offer critiques based on looking at this fact backwards.  If you look at the incremental performance increases of the Corvette or any similar car, there is nothing magic or fundamentally new that's responsible for this that we didn't already understand based on  the past 100 years of automotive engineering.

The reality of the automotive world is that it's not really that mysterious.  Everybody pretty much knows how everybody else does what they do for the most part.  That last Nth from pushing tech and innovation gets you an edge but it's just frosting on the cake.  The cake is often much more a bunch of simple selective philosophical and pragmatic choices targeted at a specific audience they think they can maximize profits from.  It's also those same choices that determine whether the bleeding edge is worth it for their respective business model.  In other words, cars, like all consumer products, are reflections of what a company thinks about us.

Getting back to BMW.  I think renaming the 3 series a 4, tells you what you need to know.  Being that some people need to get fired.