Montreal Gazette

A Cadillac with heart and soul

THE 2013 ATS rivals Germany’s best on the road as an instantly wonderful driver’s car

- DEREK MCNAUGHTON

My father loved his big brown Cadillac Eldorado. Dad, now 75, also loves his iPhone, having become fairly adroit at using it.

But two minutes inside the 2013 Cadillac ATS with its fussy, iPhone-wannabe controls and dad would be marching back into the house for his Winchester to put a bullet into the dash of this mid-size sedan.

Which is unfortunat­e because the ATS is a damn fine car.

Not the first to fault the fickleness of Cadillac’s CUE (Cadillac User Experience) system, I can now, after a week of driving the 2013 ATS, appreciate the frustratio­n over the system that relies on touch-based controls and capacitive-touch switchgear.

CUE eschews physical knobs and switches for something masqueradi­ng as a modern miracle. But too many functions are too hard to find immediatel­y, or they lack response or they are simply too slow to respond.

GM knows it, too, and is readying a revamp to CUE in the wake of owner complaints and media criticism.

See? It’s not just me.

The new software, to be installed by dealers sometime this year, should mean better haptic feedback to driver inputs and quicker responses. Down the road, a few more real buttons for basic controls will be added. While some of my respected colleagues like the CUE system, I say the upgrade can’t come soon enough. The main instrument cluster left me stone cold, too.

While the engineers are updating the CUE, GM might also have a word with the head of quality control at the Lansing, Mich., plant where the ATS is built.

Our ATS tester — which in all fairness was one of the first off the line and had already been properly manhandled by more than a few auto writers — revealed a squeaky left arm rest, a squeaky steering wheel when cold outside, an odd gurgling noise in the centre stack and another ticking noise near the dash.

This, on a car that cost just shy of $50,000. Can GM lure customers from Audi and BMW with symptoms like that? Yes, in fact, it just might. Forgetting the interior for a moment, the ATS truly could be the first Cadillac in a long time to compete with the Germans. Proportion­ally matched to the benchmark BMW3 Series, the rear-wheeldrive ATS is an instantly wonderful driver’s car. From the moment the ATS gets rolling, there’s a special feeling of connectedn­ess through the leather steering wheel, the responsive accelerato­r and especially comfortabl­e driver’s seat.

Blessed with a pleasing exterior look, nicely squaredoff LED tail lamps and projector headlamps (but should be LED headlamps), our test car was not the base model starting at $33,095 but rather the all-wheel-drive luxury model that rang in at $48,155. The only option at this level was the CUE navigation system at $1,495. AWD is included and would not even be noticeable were it not for the number 4 on the trunk. The AWD system does not affect ride quality either, working silently and, as we found out along our frost-heaved, mucky road to the cottage, quite effectivel­y.

Interior space, however, can feel snug, especially so in the back seat where leg room is tight. The trunk, at a mere 290 litres, is not nearly big enough to contain the personalit­y of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Weighing in at a decent 1,573 kilograms, the AWD ATS is nicely matched with a 3.6-litre direct-injection V6 engine. The 321 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque wrought from this engine sounds like a lot of power, but it never comes across as too much. It’s a treat to drive. Vibration and coarseness is negligible. Visibility is very good.

Power delivery is smooth and strong through the lower rpm range. The six-speed automatic, while not always shifting with the deftness of an Audi, does an admirable job of keeping the rpms at just the right spot for maximum sportiness in sport mode, yet remains well mannered in sedate driving. At full throttle, the exhaust note almost sounds like a smallblock V8. It’s as if the ATS begs to go faster, to which I happily obliged.

In those moments, when the road is unravellin­g far too quickly, the ATS and its perfect 50/50 front-rear weight balance comes into obedient form, becoming much more of a car than a base Mercedes C-Class. Absent is body lean that can make corners a challenge. Instead, the ATS squats through the turns with confidence, constraine­d only by the available grip from the tires mounted on 18-inch wheels. Coupled with incredibly responsive electricpo­wer steering, I swooped through my favourite series of country S bends as fast as I think I’ve ever done it, and not once felt as though I was pushing things too far, even with a bit of sand on the road. At high speed, the ATS displays tremendous stability with wind noise well controlled.

In those episodes of driving bliss, the 2013 ATS reveals it is a car built to succeed BMW. Here is where the ATS truly shines. Yes, the ATS may be saddled with an interior that does not match its performanc­e, but it nonetheles­s remains a car with tremendous heart and an honest soul.

 ?? PHOTOS: DEREK MCNAUGHTON/ POSTMEDIA NEWS ?? The 2013 Cadillac ATS AWD is blessed with a pleasing exterior look, nicely squared-off LED tail lamps and projector headlamps. It is an instantly wonderful driver’s car.
PHOTOS: DEREK MCNAUGHTON/ POSTMEDIA NEWS The 2013 Cadillac ATS AWD is blessed with a pleasing exterior look, nicely squared-off LED tail lamps and projector headlamps. It is an instantly wonderful driver’s car.
 ??  ?? Many have found fault with Cadillac’s CUE interior system.
Many have found fault with Cadillac’s CUE interior system.
 ??  ??

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