Premium Shopping Mall shows its vehicles!

Inside the most recent mall to open in São Paulo, Brazil – the 10^th most expensive city in the world – is a collection of premium brands located only in exclusive addresses, as 5^th Avenue – NYC, Rodeo Drive – Beverly Hills and Avenue Montaigne – Paris. Within this luxurious space, up and coming Brazilians find labels never seen in this developing country before: Nicole Miller, Bottega Veneta, Coach, Sephora, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Van Cleef & Arpels are just some of these new-comers.

During a quick stroll through the JK Iguatemi mall, as it was named, I was confronted by several exquisite pieces of machinery as well: Batman’s motorcycle, a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Performante and the new BMW 328 sedan.

Right next to the state-of-the-art 4D movie theaters is Batman’s bike, promoting the new movie The Dark Night Rises. Christopher Nolan, the director, wanted to make Batman’s gear as real and plausible as possible, so he brought into his production designers and engineers to build this motorcycle and a special professional pilot to ride it. It was not easy gaining control of the bike, especially because the driver has to be lying down in a horizontal posture.

On another level, a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Performante was calling attention. The convertible all-wheel drive could even be fit as a Bat mobile if it hadn’t been painted in yellow. The previous Batman movie actually had a Lamborghini in it, but it was Bruce Wayne’s choice to use it only during daytime appearances. Anyway, this supercar goes beyond its beauty. The body is made of Aluminum with thermoplastic “hang-on” parts and diffuse use of Carbon Fiber. The 5.2-liter V10 engine has an output of 570hp and 540Nm of torque, taking the car from 0 to 60 in only 3.9 seconds and enabling it to reach a top speed of 201 MPH.

After that, I had my first contact with the newest version of the 3-Series. Only the 328 is being imported into Brazil right now. This dark blue tone made the sedan look beautiful, yet discreet. The interior has an almost perfect combination of sportiness and luxury. The leather power-seats are more comfortable than the ones of a Mercedes’ C-Class and the finishing is impeccable. The BMW 328 has a 4-cylinder turbo engine with 245hp. The price in Brazil? Starting at about 85 thousand American dollars, which helps to understand what makes São Paulo one of the world’s most expensive cities… However, I wouldn’t mind if Mr. Wayne wanted to give me one of these!

Audi A1: the mini audi

For those of you who like a very compact car, as in Mini Cooper, Fiat 500 or Smart, you’ll enjoy meeting the little Audi A1.

Audi’s smallest car is still an Audi and that seems to be what makes the entry-level German special! The exterior is cute, although with a somewhat weird arch that can come in different colors. All external lights are LEDs, making it look modern and up-to-date with its bigger brothers.

Inside, it is very comfortable if you are just a couple. The front leather bucket seats are good. The back seat is not terrible but I can’t say an adult will be comfortable there. The trunk is also quite small – only 9.5 cubic feet. Luckily the back seats are retractable, transforming the total luggage space into 32 cu-ft.

Audi says the little petrol 1.4-liter engine and the double-clutch 7-gear automatic can get the car to 60 in only 8.9 seconds. It has 120hp and 200 Nm of torque! And it is suppose to be very fuel-efficient. All very interesting for an Audi.

European stick-gear interior shown.

The Brand-New Lexus ES 350

The new EX 350 has a grille that should unite the look of Lexus.

The Lexus ES has just been completely reformulated and has grown to be a prettier car inside and out.

Internally, it reminds me of the newest GS version, but less luxurious. Nonetheless, the ES 350 is elegant and has a lot of new gadgets, including the newest version of Lexus’ board computer and “mouse” system that are extremely easy to operate.

The new is modern and elegant.

The anatomic "mouse" is easy to use.

In a nutshell, this Camry that went through an extreme makeover and was born a Lexus, has proven to be extremely comfortable, with its soft leather power seats, multifunctional steering wheel and great space and comfort also for backseat passengers.

The gauges are easy to read and the wood trim is pretty.

The new finishing is quite impressive.

The EX 350 has a 306hp V6 engine combined with a 6-gear automatic transmission. Only the bigger LS models have the 8-gear automatic box. I was never much of a Lexus fan, but the new finishing and good looks are more attractive this time.

The rear resembles the Camry's that go to Latin America.