SMOOTH MOVES I WHEELS
In many ways, bold Cadillac design is more German than the top German cars
Cadillac CTS keeps pace with the competition.
SOMETIMES YOU test-drive a car and you hate it right from the first slam of the door. You may try and see beyond its frumpy exterior and sludgy performance, but you will never find love. Other times you slide behind the wheel, set the wheels a rollin’ and you’ve boarded the love train.
So my romance began with the 2014 Cadillac CTS. In those first impressionable moments, I had a passenger with me, chatting away about the minutiae of everyday life. I nodded and laughed, and lobbed a few responses when they were called for. But the whole time I was making small talk, I was thinking, I can’t believe this is a Cadillac.
The CTS felt more German than a German car. It has the precise driving manners of a BMW, the interior grace of an Audi and confidence in its bold exterior architecture that seems very Mercedes-Benz like.
In fact the CTS, in my opinion, feels sharper than some of the German competition. The chassis is more responsive and alive than the 5-Series BMW, and the steering is knife-sharp compared to larger
sedans in the Audi lineup, which tend to be softer and lighter in their feel. In developing this third incarnation of the CTS, Cadillac has cut hundreds of pounds of weight compared to the previous model, and it is lighter than its competitors, the Audi A6, BMW 5-series and E-Class Mercedes-Benz.
The CTS I tested was the 3.6-litre V6 with the premium package and all-wheel drive. The base price is $71,690, and my vehicle had $2,635 worth of options, including 19-inch wheels and a special paint job called Black Diamond Tricoat. The price tag was a bit of a shocker, but the CTS lineup begins with the two-litre, four-cylinder version starting at $50, 895, and reviews of that vehicle have been pretty stellar.
The V6 version produces 321 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. It’s fast enough to do all the important things effortlessly, but not thrillingly fast. The AWD version is matched with a six-speed automatic; the regular rear-wheel drive versions come with an eight-speed auto. The CTS moves smoothly through the gears in auto mode, but steering wheel paddle shifters let the driver take over gear changes when the mood strikes. The week I test-drove the CTS, we had a major winter storm, and despite running on all-season tires, it handled with impressive confidence. In addition to “touring” and “sport” driving modes, the CTS has a “snow and ice” setting that starts the car in second gear from a stop, which give the car more grip in slippery conditions.
It all adds up to a compelling package. In
addition to the sharp handling and precise steering, the CTS has excellent brakes. Not a millimetre of mush meets your foot when it touches the brake pedal. They’re firm-firm like a Porsche. The cabin is quiet, and no vibration ruins the driving experience, even over rough roads. The magnetic-ride control does an excellent job of isolating occupants from uneven pavement. The interior gets high marks for quality and craftsmanship. I think it would be even better if Cadillac would lay off the excessive use of shiny metal trim pieces that outline the centre console and spokes of the steering wheel. It’s still too Vegas for me. The seats are excellent though, and visibility is good even though the view out the back window is squeezed, and the side mirrors seem too small. Leg and headroom in the back seats feels generous, and there’s a nice view between the front seats, so there’s no feeling of claustrophobia for tagalongs in the back. Things start to unravel a bit when trying to complete what should be simple tasks like turning up the heat and changing radio stations. These operations are bound up like a rat’s nest in Cadillac’s much cursed CUE infotainment system. It’s getting better, less touchy and less confusing, but it still demands too much of the driver’s attention. Give me a knob and let me turn it! Instead, commands are completed using a finicky touch screen.
Similarly the instrument cluster in front of the driver went haywire a few times while I was driving, displaying a slew of alerts and messages that were hard to dismiss without a visit to the driver’s manual. Cleaning up CUE is just a blip. Otherwise the Cadillac CTS is sending TKO vibes to BMW, Audi and Mercedes, and that’s where they want to troll for new customers. One last barrier to changing brand loyalty might be the exterior styling. It’s kinda Kardashian in my opinion. Loud, overfed, and furiously flashy. On the other hand, those qualities are right in step with our times. Being subtle has never been on the Cadillac option list.