Five Cars That Define Cadillac – s Reinvention
Five Cars That Define Cadillac’s Reinvention
Cadillac is in a unique position in the automotive world. In many circles, the brand is considered a has-been, an out-of-touch pretender in a global luxury market that couldn’t hope to keep up with the consistently superb luxury cars churned out of Europe and Japan. The thing is, that line of thinking is dead wrong. For the past fifteen years or so, Cadillac has been aggressively working to design and build some of the best cars in the world, and now, for the very first time in decades, it is.
But there’s still a problem: no one is buying Cadillacs. Even however the full-size Escalade SUVs proceed to fly off dealer lots, Cadillac’s lineup of critically acclaimed cars calmly gather dust. Still, Cadillac already has the hard part figured out, and its product is so good that General Motors is willing to submerge $12 billion into the brand over the next five years to rehab the brand’s long-tarnished pic. While the American market is still a priority, GM and Cadillac will concentrate on making inroads in the Chinese market and its growing request for luxury cars, and in Europe, where most of its rivals are based.
Fortunately, Cadillac’s core lineup is one of the strongest on the market. As the company prepares to unveil the all-new full-size CT6 sedan at the Fresh York International Auto Demonstrate, here are five key models that prove that Cadillac isn’t far off from its old position as the standard of the world.
Five. Two thousand fifteen CTS-V Coupe
Production of the CTS Coupe ended in 2014, but Cadillac kept its hot V-Sport two-door on the market one extra year before the all-new CTS-V hits showrooms for 2016. Largely unchanged since it was introduced in 2011, the CTS-V was at the time the most powerful production Cadillac ever built. Sharing its 6.2-liter five hundred fifty six horsepower V8 with the late-model C6 Corvette, the CTS-V proved that Cadillac could more than keep up with the world’s best. While this final-year coupe is still a capable gentleman’s hot rod, Cadillac has enough up its sleeve with the next-generation model to make sure the old coupe won’t be missed too much.
Four. ATS
The CTS coupe may be dead, but a two-door option lives on in the entry-level ATS. Introduced as a two thousand fourteen model, the ATS is the very first domestic car in years capable enough to stand up to the likes of the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series, and the Audi A4. Power is delivered to the rear wheels from either a 202-horsepower Two.5-liter inline four, a 272-horsepower Two.0-liter turbocharged four, or a 321-horsepower Three.5-liter V6. Inwards, the ATS attempts to close the quality gap inbetween the imports and the domestics with a stylish, tech-focused interior that effortlessly blends style and luxury as well as any of its European competitors.
Trio. CTS
When the CTS was introduced in 2002, its crisp, angular design marked the beginning of Cadillac’s fresh global-focused “Art and Science” design language. Fresh from a redesign for 2014, the rear-wheel drive sport sedan is sharper and better engineered than ever before, and it’s eventually ready to take on the class-leading BMW 5-Series. The CTS shares its Two.0-liter turbo inline four, Trio.6-liter V6, and transmissions with the smaller ATS. This is no handicap, however, as the V6 helps the car hustle from zero to sixty in a respectable six seconds. In 2014, the fresh CTS made Car and Driver’s ten Best list. The 5-Series did not.
Two. ATS-V
While the ATS battles the entry-level Europeans, the fire-breathing ATS-V is ready to take on its spectacle counterparts. Available as a coupe or sedan, the ATS-V is powered by a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V6 that can rocket the car from zero to sixty in under four seconds, and can be mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or a dual-clutch eight-speed automatic. Cadillac’s upstart can suck the doors off of the BMW M3 — the iconic German sport sedan’s four hundred twenty five horsepower engine and Four.1 2nd zero to sixty time is simply no match off the line for this brash newcomer from Detroit.
1. Two thousand sixteen CTS-V
In 2011, the original CTS-V took its engine from the Corvette and was the most powerful Cadillac ever built. What a difference five years makes — the fresh six hundred forty horsepower twin-turbo V8 (borrowed from the current Corvette) makes almost ninety horsepower more than the outgoing model. The big Caddy is expected to hit sixty miles per hour from a standstill in Trio.7 seconds and hit a top speed just over two hundred miles per hour.
The car’s Magnetic Rail Control suspension makes sure that the CTS-V isn’t just prompt on the straightaways, and its combination of speed, treating, and luxury make it ready to challenge the BMW M5. That legendary German sedan can also go from zero to sixty in Three.7 seconds, but its twin-turbo V8 puts out a mere five hundred sixty horsepower, and the top speed is electronically limited to one hundred fifty five miles per hour. If this fresh CTS-V lives up to the hype, there could be a major shift in the sport sedan hierarchy.
Decades ago, Cadillac was synonymous with spectacle and luxury. After years of losing the plot, it eventually returned returned as a scrappy contender. Even as Cadillac fields this extraordinaire lineup of cars, it still finds itself on the outside looking in. With GM’s major commitment to the brand, Cadillac could soon comeback to where it belongs, mentioned in the same breath as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. Who doesn’t like a good comeback story?
