Fahrvergnügen Begins at a Very Young Age

I was discussing cars with a German colleague one day, and had the audacity to say that I thought Lexus were pretty nice.  He scoffed.  I explained that they were slightly more ride oriented, versus drive oriented.  In other words, a little quieter inside and softer suspension, but still in the same league quality- and performance-wise with BMW and Mercedes and Audi.  (Lexus and Infiniti now offer more sport-tuned versions of their models, while the German brands have been reducing noise and improving seats, so there seems to be convergence...)

He laughed and said "I would never buy one of those, or any non-German car.  I don't care about comfort -- I want to be so in touch with the road that I feel and hear it when my tires wander onto the white painted line!"  It's a little extreme for me, but okay.  That's the attitude that made BMW what is is, right?

I'm guessing Germans begin their obsession with 4-wheeled objects, quality, and performance at a young age.  VERY young.  When Frau A and I were walking through a large furniture/homewares store recently, we saw this in the baby section: 

This is a short test track for trying out baby carriages!  Shoppers are free to take any baby carriage on a, um, test drive, and see how it "handles" on brick, small stone (like the walking paths in Munich's English Garden), and cobblestone (like many older streets).  Some top-of-the-line baby movers had effectively shock absorbers, and cost the equivalent of $800!

Ironically, the obsession with engineering here actually makes the baby pusher (and, of course, the baby) less in touch with the road -- the opposite of their view on cars.  Seems that having a quiet, happy baby trumps fuel-injected dreams every time.