Oh Hi: 2013 Cadillac ATS

Behold, Cadillac’s answer to zee Germans.

The ATS is essentially a baby CTS that is meant to give the typical compact German performance sedans a run for their money. Specifically, Cadillac wants to eat away at BMW 3-series sales. Cadillac actually bought and stripped a 3-series to the gills in the hopes of finding out what makes the popular Bavarian sedan the benchmark. Even though BMW is just introduced the new 3-series which is supposed to be better than the one that Cadillac modeled the ATS after, but let’s just forget about that for the moment.

The ATS, like the previous generation 3-series, offers 50/50 weight balance, is the same height and offers a five link independent rear suspension. However the ATS is about 160 pounds heavier than the 3-series.

The baby Caddy will get three engine choices: a 2.5 litre four making 200 horsepower and 188 pound feet of torque, a 2.0 litre turbo four making 270 horsepower and 260 pound feet of torque and a 3.6 litre V6 which makes 318 horses and 267 pound feet of torque. Given the choice of the three, I’d say the mid level turbo is the most interesting. Regardless all engines are fitted with a proper six speed manual or an optional six speed automatic.

There’s nothing terribly shocking in terms of it’s design, it looks pretty much the way everyone expected it to look since the design of most Caddy sedans are pretty much identical. With that said, it’s a fairly agreeable design, with an eye catching interior. It’s clear from the pictures alone that GM has done it’s homework in this regard as well.

So far no performance or fuel efficiency numbers have been released. Check out a few more pics after the jump. Do you think the ATS will lure away 3-series owners?

[General Motors]

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Cadillac Addresses Flaws With Escalade’s Security Features

Better late than never I guess?

It’s fairly well known that GM’s full-size SUV’s are pretty easy to steal, specifically the Escalade as it consistently gets the unhonourable accolade of ‘most stolen vehicle’, except for this year that is. But regardless it’s consistently in the top ten most stolen.

For some reason it took GM this long to actually address the issues that make it so easy to steal an Escalade in the first place, namely making a steering column lock that actually works, an alarm system that actually comes on when when the windows get smashed, wheel locks and and encrypted key. But these new features are now standard on all Escalades which is a step in the right direction. So what if you own a Tahoe or Yukon which are equally is easy to steal? Better ensure you have great insurance coverage because GM hasn’t addressed those vehicles. Yet. Hopefully they will soon.

At least now it will take thieves longer than 14 seconds to steal an your Escalade if you’re an owner.

[General Motors]

Cadillac Spings A Leak: XTS Unintentionally Revealed

Oops!

Looks like someone at Cadillac might be in some deep doggy-doo as an official photo revealing the new XTS sedan was mistakenly placed on the company’s website. The image has since been removed, but obviously the damage has been done.

The XTS was slated to officially debut at this year’s LA Auto Show. It’s looks are fairly in line with the concept that debuted at least year’s Detroit Auto Show. It takes Cadillac’s sharp edge ‘art & science’ desisng and softens it down all while remaining quite eye-catching and well proportioned. Originally expected to compete with the likes of the BMW 7-series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the XTS will be smaller in size and thus makes it more of a 5-series and E-Class competitor.

More details on powertrains will likely become available at the official launch. Stay tuned.

[Jalopnik]

Another Pointless Car Comparison

Here we go again.

Remember when GM compared a Chevy Cruze to a previous generation Hyundai Elantra as if it was some sort of accomplishment that their new product was better than someone else’s old product? Remember when Audi did the exact same thing with their new A8 and the aging S-Class? Remember when Hennesey compared their heavily modded CTS-V to a non-modded preivous generation Porsche 911 and a non-modded Nissan GT-R?  Well apparently the apples to oranges comparisons in the auto industry isn’t going to stop any time soon as GM decided to to pit the Cadillac Escalade against… wait for it… the Mercedes-Benz C300.

GM decided to ‘prove a new standard’ by showcasing that their full-size SUV could beat the Benz in a drag race. And that’s it.

Now, again, here’s my problem with these sorts of comparisons. If you’re the type of person who wants or feels as if you need a full-size SUV then the C-class isn’t going to be found anywhere on your shopping list. So what’s the point? And vice versa, it’s not as if any C-class shoppers are going to spring for a full-size SUV just because GM proved it to be  faster in a straight line. By the way, GM conveniently left out the part when both vehicles  approached a bend in the track, didn’t they? I guess they didn’t want anyone to see the C300 absolutely slaughter the Escalade in the handling department.

And on top of it all, GM really didn’t play fair by choosing the 228 horsepower V6 trim level of the C-class against the 403 horsepower V8 of the Escalade. Why not see how the Escalade does against the 457 horsepower C-63 AMG then? Or better yet, to make it even more fair how by pitting it against the Escalades actual competition like, say, the Mercedes-Benz GL?

Honestly these kinds of nonsensical comparisons do nothing more than proof that you, as an auto company, are willing to stoop to new lows just to sell product when really, the product should be selling itself.

Click the video above to see one of the most ridiculous drag races of the year.

[Youtube]

Cadillac XTS & ATS to Be Canadian Built

Cadillac has just announced some good news for us Canadians today. Mark Reuss, the American President of GM, announced that Cadillac’s two newest members of the family, the ATS and the XTS will be built at their Oshawa Ontario plant. It’s expected that the new models will increase production and create around 400 new jobs. GM plans on investing $117 million into the Oshawa plant. Currently the plant makes the Chevy Equinox, Imapala and Camaro.

The XTS is going to be a replacement for both the aging DTS full size sedan and the much forgotten STS sedan. It is expected to look fairly similar to the concept XTS pictured above. The XTS will likely take on the likes of the Audi A8, BMW 7-series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Hyundai Equus.

The ATS, on the other hand, is promised to be of a more nimble sporting nature as Cadillac has stated that its direct competition will be the BMW 3-series. Even if, by the time it becomes for sale, it will have been built to compete with a previous generation 3-series. Still, considering how good the current 3-series is, it’s likely that the ATS won’t disappoint.

[General Motors]

Cadillac ATS Learns How It’s Done From BMW 3-Series

If imitation is one of the most sincerest forms of flattery then GM is sending a pretty big tip of the hat to BMW and the 3-series.

The newest member of the Cadillac family, the ATS, is apparently going to be a very familiar driving experience to the 3-series as Cadillac has supposedly bought various iterations of the 3-series and has stripped them down to the chasis to learn about how BMW makes the 3-series the benchmark in the sport sedan segment. Cadillac will then study, mimick and incorporate what they learned into the ATS. Sounds like they’re pretty serious about making a legitimate condender.

With that said, even if ATS succeeds at offering the driving experience of  a 3-series, it will be outdated from the get-go. BMW is very close to completing the next generation 3-series which will undoubtedly set the bar even higher. The new 3-series is expected to debut late this year. Same goes for the ATS.

I’m curious as to what Cadillac’s slogan will be for the ATS. Something like “Just as good as an older 3-series” just doesn’t seem to work that well, does it. In any event, even if the ATS is based on a previous generation 3-series, that still means it should perform very well. And with Cadillac’s typical pricing advantage over the Germans, it will position as a tasty alternative to 3-series, A4 and G37 loyalists.

[Autoblog]

Which Would You Rather?

Okay, so you’ve got a stupid amount of cash to spend on your next ride, but there are a few caveats. 1) It needs to be able to carry a bunch of stuff 2) It needs to be able to seat at least four people 3) It needs to be incredibly fast and 4) It needs to be able to handle like it’s on rails in the bends. What does that leave you?

Well, Motor Trend is convinced it has that list narrowed down to the Porsche Panamera Turbo, the BMW X6 M and the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. All very impressive vehicles, yet all very different from one another and all are not necessarily competitors with each other. All the more reason to see how they compare!

Obviously they ended up loving them all but for different reasons. They did choose one in the end, but I won’t spoil that for you. Click the video above to see who came out on top.

I must say, if I had to choose, this would be a very tough choice. The Cadillac’s manual transmission, low price and decent looks for a wagon are all great selling points. BMW’s unreal ability to make a 5,100 pound SUV perform as if it’s a car is mind boggling. Porsche’s ability to make the fastest production 4-door/hatchback and make it rival actual supercars on the track is also incredibly impressive. Especially considering how big it is!

Which would you rather? Have your say in the comments section. Also check out a video of the trio in a drag race after the jump.

[Youtube]

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Forbes Releases Top 10 Worst Vehicles on the Road

Forbes, the people obsessed with making top 10 lists about, well everything, has just released its list of the worst vehicles on the road. How do you make such a list without accusations of being biased or opinionated? Well with the way Forbes did it, they essentially compiled six studies done by Consumer Reports on the most reliable, best and worst safety, best and worst fuel efficiency, best and worst value, and highest cost of ownership. They then compiled a top 10 list made up of seven American makes, two European makes and one Japanese make.

The Cadillac Escalade embarrassingly took the top score for least value, highest cost of ownership and worst safety scores. I’ll throw in that the Escalade is probably the easiest to steal for good measure.

The Chrysler Town & Country took worst reliability and faired pretty badly for cost of ownership. The Jeep Wrangler and Liberty scored for poor reliability and fuel economy while the Dodge Nitro and Dakota shared in those honours failures as well.

Along with the Escalade, GM took some hits with the Aveo, Colorado and Tahoe Hybrid making the list. All got marks for worst reliability, high cost of ownership and worst safety results.

The two Euros to make the list were both from Mercedes-Benz. The S-class made the list for high cost of ownership and low fuel efficiency scores while the Smart Fortwo was dinged for poor reliability and value.

The lone Japanese vehicle on the list was the Nissan Titan for poor fuel efficiency, reliability and cost of ownership.

With the exception of the three imports which are low volume sellers, people still seem to not get that the above mentioned domestics don’t excel in much. Yet they still sell in large numbers. Are there just that many stupid people out there? But before anyone starts on an anti-domestic vehicle tirade, it should be noted that not a single vehicle from Ford made the list.

[Forbes]

Oh No! 2012 Cadillac CTS to Lose Manual Transmission Option?

Damn it!

Looks like Car & Driver’s Save the Manuals campaign isn’t having too much of an affect on automakers as there is now word that Cadillac is considering dropping the third pedal for the 2012 model year of the CTS V6. GM hasn’t specified why dropping the manual is being seriously considered but it’s likely due to slow sales. Apparently people like having a car that drives them, which I don’t understand. If you’re the driver, you should drive the car not the other way around. The way to do that is to have a proper manual transmission.

That said, it’s not like the manual tranny in the CTS is really all that great. In fact, it sucks. Badly. In my review of the 2010 CTS, I wrote:

“…my tester didn’t have was a manual gearbox from this decade. The CTS is the first Cadillac to offer a manual transmission option since the  Cimarron, and they either took it directly from a 1988 Cimarron or they just plain don’t know how to make a proper manual. The throws are about as long as a football field and it’s very clunky from shift to shift. On top of that, it’s awkwardly placed. It’s raised too high, the stick is too long and you actually have to bend your wrist back to a 90 degree angle for shifts to 2nd, 4th, or 6th gear because the centre arm rest gets in the way.”

I then went on to suggest that a perspective buyer might be better off opting for the automatic. But back then, I had no idea that Cadillac was seriously thinking of axing the manual transmission option. In light of this news, I rescind my remarks! Despite how bad it is, I still maintain better control and more enjoyability can be had over the boring, gutless 4-speed automatic. I also suggested that the problem with the manual transmission could be easily fixed if they fitted the short throw manual from the CTS-V.

Speaking of, the manual transmission will thankfully stick around for all CTS-V models for 2012.

But yeah, let’s hope GM reverses this decision. All you need to do is make a better manual and you’ll get more sales, GM. Which you are clearly capable of as evidenced in the CTS-V. No need to scrap the manual all together, just use that gearbox (or at least elements of it if cost is an issue) to make it better. Seriously, take my advice on this one, GM.

[Inside Line]

Here We Go Again…

A while back Hennessey decided to take a stock Cadillac CTS-V wagon and tuned it to make it even faster – nothing wrong with that at all. However I was unimpressed because they took it to a drag strip to take on a previous generation Porsche 911 Turbo. Again, nothing wrong with that, but there was a real sense of bragging and I didn’t understand why anyone would pit a tuned car against a previous generation stock car. What exactly does that prove?

Well apparently Hennessey didn’t read my rant because they went and did the same thing again. They pitted their hotted up Caddy wagon against a previous generation Nissan GT-R. That’s right, the 485 (give or take) horsepower version. Why didn’t they try to take on the 2012 GT-R which has 530 horsepower? Considering their CTS-V wagon churns out 650 horsepower, that would’ve seemed like a bit more of a fair fight.

But apparently that didn’t matter much since Hennessey only beat the previous gen GT-R by a hair. 0.1 seconds to be exact. And to me that’s more embarrassing. Their car can barely beat an older GT-R? Well done.

[Youtube]

Do Automakers Think We’re Stupid?

Can someone explain to me why so many automakers are now investing time and money into comparisons that don’t make any sense?

First Chevrolet did it when they compared their new Cruze to a previous generation Hyundai Elantra, then Audi did it when they compared their new A8 to a Mercedes-Benz S-class that is a 6 year old design and now Hennessey has done it.

They basically took a stock CTS-V wagon (which can hold its own as it is) and gave it 650 horsepower. They then brought it to a drag strip to take on a Porsche 911 Turbo.

You can watch the video, but I’ll save you the trouble and just tell you that the hotted up Caddy wagon won. Shocker.

But here’s my problem with this comparison. Hennessey compared apples to oranges. The Porsche 911 that they used, according to them, had a tiptronic transmission. That, combined with the lack of LED tail lights, means they compared it to a previous generation 911 turbo.

What is the sense in doing that? Is it really all that cool to brag that your product is better than a product from a different era? That’s like me bragging that I could easily beat up a 10 year old. I mean, it’s true, but why would I ever do that? It just doesn’t make any sense. And on top of that, of course a tuned car would likely beat a stock car in a drag race. We’re talking close to a 200 horsepower difference between the two!

To all automakers: STOP DOING THESE STUPID COMPARISONS. By doing so you give the impression that you think we all somehow have the IQ of George W. Bush. And it really makes me want to not buy your product. If you’re going to do comparisons with your rivals, at least make them somewhat believable and fair.

[Youtube]

Drool… Cadillac CTS-V Black Diamond Edition

Oh my.

Check out this new edition of the CTS- V, the Black Diamond (no relation to the cheese company). It’s strictly an appearance package and it’s available on all CTS-V models – the sedan, the coupe and the wagon.

Cadillac has designed some “spectra flair” paint which means they took aluminum flakes and encapsulated it into magnesium floride. They then put on three coats of the stuff and voila. You have a stunning colour that will pretty much be un-repairable. Which means you won’t see a black diamond edition CTS-V anywhere near a shopping cart infested parking lot.

But that’s not all. Those 19 inch alloys are Satin Graphite in colour and the package includes yellow brembo brakes. Mmm.

On top of it all, you get micro-fibre suede Recaro seats along with Midnight Sapele wood.

According to GM, the package is meant to emulate a tailored tuxedo. But really what they’ve done is just cause arousal. Looks fantastic!

Check out an interior pic after the jump.

[General Motors]

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Car Driven’s 2011 Car of the Year Is…

The Cadillac CTS-V Coupe!

It was a very tough decision picking Car Driven’s first Car of the Year (COTY) winner, but the CTS-V Coupe had quite a lot of things going for it that propelled it above the other nominees.

First things first, the styling. Love it or hate it, it’s definitely eye catching. And in this vehicle segment you don’t want something that will fly under most people’s radar, you need a car that looks the part. Cadillac has managed to keep its “art & science” styling direction fresh with this bold new design.  Those sharp angular LED tail lights are classic Cadillac all while exuding Cadillac’s apparent new direction in creating performance cars. An aggressive front facia up front alone with a completely unique side profile and those huge twin exhausts in the center really complete the look. Cadillac obviously means business.

This is also evident by the choice of power train. Cadillac uses a 556 horsepower V8 which helps it get from 0-100 in just 3.9 seconds. Combine it with rear wheel drive, a sport tuned suspension and, crucially, a six speed manual option and you’ve got yourself one hell of a delicious performance recipe. To help out with additional performance, the CTS-V Coupe gets larger intakes than the CTS-V sedan and it gets standard brembo brakes.

And the best part is, you get all that for just over $70K. What tremendous value! Cadillac has come an extremely long way from the cars they used to make.

The end result is being featured on the front page next to benchmarks such as the BMW M3, the Audi RS5 and the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Not bad company to be in at all. In fact, to be mentioned among those names in the car business? Praise doesn’t get much higher than that.

Congratulations to Cadillac for winning Car Driven’s COTY!

Car Driven’s 2011 Car of the Year Nominees Are…

For the first time ever, Car Driven will be announcing its Car of the Year (COTY). Mostly because this is the first year for this blog, but also because unfortunately I don’t have the means to test every new vehicle myself this year. But that never stopped me from making my own pics for AJAC’s COTY awards last year, so why not?

So with much thought and deliberation I’ve narrowed down the nominees to five cars overall. Every new 2011 vehicle, no matter what the segment, is considered. However to keep things simple, I’ve opted to not separate them by categories this year. That means the new Honda Odyssey was technically considered alongside the Ferrari 458 Italia. Since both are obviously very different vehicles made for very different purposes, I decided to choose all nominees based on how well each vehicle is suited for Canadians. That means everything from performance, price, quality, safety, fit & finish were considered. However to keep it fair, each of those criterion are relative to the vehicle segment. So for example the Ferrari 458 Italia is compared against other supercars. And the Honda Odyssey against other minivans. The vehicle that presents a clear, absolute best case for itself wins.

I’ll probably do categories next year, but for now we’ll go with this. And I’m working a lot harder to try to test all the new vehicles for next year to make a more informed decision, press vehicles are pretty hard to get your hands on (in the meantime, check out all the vehicles I’ve tested so far). And to keep it simple, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 vehicles.

Find out what they are after the jump.

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How to Steal a Cadillac Escalade in 14 Seconds

Recently, the Highway Data Loss Institute released its list of the top 10 and least 10 stolen vehicles for this year and the Cadillac Escalade got the undesirable distinction of most stolen vehicle (the Volvo S80 was the least stolen, by the way).

Well an investigative report has been released which now looks closer at why and how Escalades are such an easy target for car theives. And their findings show that it’s not just the Escalade which is easy to steal, all full-size SUV’s from GM have the same problem. As such, insuring a full-size GM SUV will cost you an arm and a leg and your genitals. To give you an idea, on average, most insurance companies spend about $146 per year per vehicle for teft claims. But for the Escalade, the average is a whopping $11,934 per theft claim. If you are stupid enough to like an Escalade enough to buy one, then I’m glad the permiums are so high because you get what you deserve.

So, how do theives do it? Well, apparently it’s extraordinarily easy to break the metal pin that locks the steering column in place while in park. One good yank of the column-mounted gear shift, and voila. Once that’s done, the lack of a steering wheel lock enables the thief to move the steering wheel when the vehicle isn’t even turned on. And if that weren’t enough, the alarm system apparently does not go off when the window is smashed in. Well done, GM. Well done.

So once all of that is completed you can then maneouver the Escalde onto a flatbed or hook it up to a tow truck and away you go. Or, you can push the Escalade into a more dark and deserted area while you strip the Escalade for costly parts.

So now that you know how to do it, uhhh, don’t.

[WXYZ Action News]