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With spirited design, Cadillac's '08 CTS cuts past BMW, Lexus and the other luxury sports. (http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-neil12dec12,0,2495261.story?coll=la-class-autos-highway1)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Cadillac_CTS1.jpgDan Neil – LA Times – Dec. 12, 2007

It is not the CTS itself although it is a beautiful vehicle, it is GM taking on the world and winning the day. Now if they would hybridize its 18/26 city/highway rating to a 30 + mpg vehicle or better yet, PHEV-20 this marvel, imagine the possibilities. – Ed.

MY favorite piece of recent movie dialogue comes from the animated tour de force "Ratatouille." The ruthless food critic Anton Ego has just had his heart melted by the little rodent chef at Gusteau's, causing him to reevaluate his work, his purpose: "In many ways the work of a critic is easy," he writes in his column. "We risk very little and enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. . . . But there are times when a critic risks something and that is in the discovery and the defense of the new."

So here's a new thought, worthy of defending: Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass market, with so much at stake for its makers, dares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism. In a segment that lives and dies by European benchmarks, the CTS sets fire to the bench and throws it through the shopkeepers' window.

Of course, each of the German and Japanese majors makes fine cars. Historically, this has always been so, and historically not so with cars named Cadillac. Skepticism is warranted. On a point-by-point, feature-per-dollar comparison, the Cadillac excels in some areas -- the interior is splendid -- and is merely competitive in others. But just park the CTS next to the competition. The Mercedes-Benz C350 looks hidebound by its own heritage; the BMW, staid and predictable, a law clerk's car. In this big-numbers segment -- entry luxury sport-sedans -- there is a distinct proclivity to play it safe. The CTS hits the street like a ruby fired out of a shotgun… http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-neil12dec12,0,2495261.story?coll=la-class-autos-highway1

Meanwhile, with the car in overdrive, the engine returns surprisingly good gas mileage (26 mpg on the highway).


yea, right.......

image image image, same old

and what's with the butt-ugly front end?

One thing I really like about the CTS is that it is not an SUV.

Think about it: Cadillac is very busy advertising a car, and not an SUV. That tells me that GM realizes they need to find other ways of making money other than selling SUV's, and to me, that is a very positive development.

Harry

and what's with the butt-ugly front end?

Yes, I'm getting so sick of that big-tall-grille front end look! Same treatment as some Audis, Chrysler 300, Volt, and probably some others as well.

yea, right.......

image image image, same old

and what's with the butt-ugly front end?

My feeling is that it looks "aggressive". I think that might be the appeal.
It says, "I think you're mistaken *I* own the road."

--des

I think it looks very cool. Almost like it's about to transform into a giant robot. I don't know if that's the look you want for a luxury car, but it will surely get noticed.

My feeling is that it looks "aggressive". I think that might be the appeal.
It says, "I think you're mistaken *I* own the road."

--des

ROFL, you are right. that's what bugs me about it. it looks like all the front grills of every big pickup truck on the road. and projects the same attitude.

Yes, I'm getting so sick of that big-tall-grille front end look! Same treatment as some Audis, Chrysler 300, Volt, and probably some others as well.

It's just a matter of time until they bring back the Edsel grille. :eek: I think I see hints of it in the Caddy.

It's just a matter of time until they bring back the Edsel grille. :eek: I think I see hints of it in the Caddy.

well. consider the fate of the edsel. we can always hope ;)

I actually like the front end better on this car, than I did on the previous version. I don't know if this car is actually a better car than the bmw or infinity, but it should be cheaper. It would be nice if they could at the very least produce a mild hybrid option from the malibu.

It's just a matter of time until they bring back the Edsel grille. :eek: I think I see hints of it in the Caddy.

Subaru tried it and it didn't work.

(B9 Tribeca, Impreza/WRX)

Hey now... I like the way both of those cars look!

Hi All:

___In terms of the who has the biggest “Grille”, I think Audi is going out of there way as of late. The CTS is stylish to me but the worst offenders include the Audi Metro Project Quattro and the Honda Hybrid Sports Car concept. These two vehicles actually did fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down :D

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Audi_Metro_Project_Quattro.jpg
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Honda_CR-Z_hybrid_sports_car_concept_-_front_side_profile.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I get annoyed by the cookie-cutter looks of Cadillac. Their cars and SUVs all look alike; big lights, grilles, high beltline, very angular look. You see the same high beltline in the 300C, Magnum, and the Chevy Volt. Are we driving armored vehicles or cars? Windows people, windows! And since when does every car have to be a sports car? 304Hp and 4100lbs? That is a "huge amount of car for the money."

The writer makes a point to mention that the Caddy will be sold worldwide. I don't know why. It's not like anyone will be lining up around the block to purchase one. Cadillac doesn't quite mean as much to anyone outside the US.

But that was a good point about hybridizing the CTS. I remember a time when Cadillacs had all the latest gadgets, in fact, they usually were first seen on Caddies. Rain-sensing wipers, turn-signal mirrors, On-Star, .... all done on Cadillac first. Hybrid-technology ... Yukon and Malibus are the first to get it? I guess Cadillac took a sick day when they had that meeting.

Sorry 'bout the long post. It's been awhile and I've been bottling it up for some time.

omigod, wayne. that second image looks like a bullhead out of water gasping for air :D:D:D

Hi All:

___In terms of the who has the biggest “Grille”, I think Audi is going out of there way as of late. The CTS is stylish to me but the worst offenders include the Audi Metro Project Quattro and the Honda Hybrid Sports Car concept. These two vehicles actually did fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down :D

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Honda_CR-Z_hybrid_sports_car_concept_-_front_side_profile.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

My first thought when I looked at the Honda is, it looks like an anteater.

I'd drive that ant eater anyday ;) I only hope the next insight is an actual gas miser instead of the performance hybrid that the rumors have been floating around saying...

does performance and efficiency have to be mutually exclusive? I don't think so ... how about 100+ mpg AND 0-60 under 6 seconds ... of course, you don't have to use the speed, but to have it in an emergency (merging on a crowded interstate during holiday travel time in peak traffic) ... it can be a blessing. I know I have struggled in some slower cars in my days to get up to 60 on a onramp (redlining every gear full throttle)... it is not a feeling that I enjoyed at all. Power and speed are only bad if you can't stop yourself from using it ... which is easier and burns less energy - an unfit person using all their strength to walk up an incline, of a fit person strolling up the same incline ;)

that has the be the ugliest angle for the CR-Z ... :P

Hi Love of Bjork:

___The cool thing about a BEV is you can have both. A strong motor and a pack capable of supplying high C-Rates without long term damage also allows close to the same AER from the same sized pack in the miser when driven similarly. With the right combination, it doesn’t matter within a few miles AER.

___The problem is that most 6 second cars come equipped with every FE robbing device known to man. High toe for straight line stability, higher RRC’s w/ much larger footprints, heavyweight beefy drivetrains and tranny’s and all kinds of beefed up suspension pieces to keep a vehicle of that level of performance on the road. And of course the drivetrain and its support structure to keep that powerful electric motor from twisting a lightweight Uni-body into a pretzel ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne