It's strange that when most car guys talk about great luxury vehicles the conversation always seems to end with arguments about a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, an Audi and, increasingly so, a Lexus. And when you talk about really high-end cars, the discussion begins and ends exclusively with Euros. The U.S. is the global car capital and yet we haven't had a lot of luxury cars to seriously challenge the German or British makes here or, more importantly, abroad. As crazy as we are about cars, why is it that we've let the Italians rule the sports car niche with their Ferraris and Lambos? How can you call yourself a superpower and not produce a supercar?
Rhetorical questions aside, I think America finally has an answer to the European claim to luxury car dominance with the redesigned Cadillac CTS. Love it or hate it, this vehicle is worthy of some serious consideration. It won't appeal to every sensibility (what car does?), but the new CTS is a more refined vehicle than the angular predecessor that really polarized Cadillac fans and general car buyers. The former is more artistic and less like a Stealth Bomber, but still has some jet fighter design remnants.
Our six-speed manual CTS with its 3.6L engine that produces 304 hp had a touchy clutch but overall was fairly quick for its size and very civilized at touring speeds with a quiet cabin that allowed us to enjoy the entertainment system. The cabin is well appointed and, in terms of design, well thought-out with a harmonious mix of different materials, textures, and colors. I loved the two-tone leather and the dark wood trim, accented with some subtle lighting at night. From the silver painted plastic trim that runs into the speaker grille to the angled armrest with the controls for the windows to the setup of the center stack-everything conforms to the aesthetic theme. Exterior to the interior, all the elements work together for a cohesive look and feel.
The highlight for gadget geeks will likely be the navigation monitor that motorizes up from the dash. This is a simpler and more elegant method than the more clunky (albeit more ambitious) design for the monitor found in the Mercedes-Benz C350. And when the monitor is in the closed position, the very top of the screen is still visible in order to function as a mini display for information.
The navigation was supplied by Alpine (though this is not a branded part of the system) and the new graphics are excellent. The colors and information layout make for quick viewing. And with the monitor in the fully raised position, it's in a great place for the driver to quickly glance at the map without taking eyes completely off the road. In addition, the navigation does offer a voice command feature. You can voice tag a location and say the name of the tag to set a destination. And Cadillac continues to offer NavTraffic, which was sometimes useful. Most traffic services often supply incorrect information due to lag time, so you can't depend completely on it, but when you know you can't take a chance at being late, you can access the info on the freeways around you to make critical detours. Of course, with GM you can have OnStar for concierge and navigation services.
The surround sound system is a better-than-average OE setup, but weak in terms of bass output. There are speakers on top of the dash, left and right, and a center channel positioned in the middle between the windshield and monitor. In the back you have left and right rear fill and a big grille for the shallow subwoofer. Listening to "Boxenkiller," I noticed the bass drum was dull, an ill-defined thud. Higher register bass notes translated much better. I listened to Steely Dan's Gaucho, and clearly the system performed relatively well for the highs and mids while leaving something to be desired on the low end.