Dancing with the Devil - I drive the 2009 Cadillac CTS
If you’ve been hanging around this website for any continuous period of time (it doesn’t have to have been a long time), then you’ll most likely know that I’m not a fan of Cadillac.
My main beef is with GM dumping heaps of money into Cadillac in Europe, where they’ve already got a potential market player in the premium market called Saab. Saab could run with the big boys if they get the investment they need. Of that much I’m sure. But the people who matter in Detroit only have room for one premium brand in their hearts, and that brand is Cadillac.
Tonight we visited one of my wife’s childhood friends for a BBQ dinner on a beautiful Thursday evening in Vancouver. Imagine my surprise when we arrived and I saw a 2009 Cadillac CTS in the driveway. Imagine my further surprise when I hear that our host’s partner, Laurent, purchased the CTS only a few hours earlier. Then, imagine my surprise when he took me for a run in the car, pulled up and offered me a drive!
Click on pictures to enlarge
I didn’t need a second offer.
What transpired was just a short suburban drive. This ain’t no long term road test, it’s just a few impressions from the evening.
1) Questions and Answers
There’s little doubt that is a car that’s been made with the best standards of fit and finish. This car will definitely hold its place in a crowd of Euro competitors on presentation alone. The paint finish, panel gaps and interior materials are going to satisfy just about anyone looking for a superior product that’s well and truly a step above your garden variety automobile.
That particular fact answers the question about whether or not GM are capable of making a good quality vehicle. The question remains, however, about whether they’ve got the resources to replicate the design and manufacture of vehicles of this quality across eight different brands in North America and even more outside.
2) The look
It’s certainly striking and it’s certainly got presence.
I’ve been seeing Cadillacs all over the place since I’ve been here in Canada. I’ve seen quite a few of the bigger sedans, which look absolutely hideous. As does the Escalade, which is a blight upon the motoring world only surpassed by the Hummer family.
This CTS, however, has a sharper look to it. Like an revision should, it turns up in a finer cut suit with a better pair of shoes and like a Cadillac should, it announces its presence with confidence.
3) Inside
There’s a few dot points I want to mention about the interior of the CTS from my short time in it tonight.
- Climate controls just don’t look right at the side of your knee. I didn’t operate the system at all so I don’t know about the ergonomics and usability, but something just doesn’t seem right.
- Ditto for the window controls on such a sharp angle on the doors. Ergonomics and the placement of switchgear will be a litmus test for the new Saab 9-5. Make no mistake about it.
- The instrument surrounds are very tight against the outer edge of the gauges you’re trying to read. There’s very little space between the edge of the gauge and the binnacle that surrounds it. I found that the information I wanted during my short drive was sometimes hard to focus on due to the angle of my eye not being exactly right and the information on the gauge being obscured by the surround.
- The seats were a little harder than I expected, which is a good thing. That’s not to say they were hard, but I expected soft cushion seats suited to larger American derrieres. These were quite firm and supportive, which was a pleasant surprise. Not a Saab seat, which are still the best in the standard automotive world, but pretty good.
- The leather trim on the dash looked great, as did the almost-carbon-fiber trim that started thin on the dash and expands as it moves around on to the doors.
- The car was well equipped, with Bluetooth, XM Radio, electric everything including sunroof, plush carpeting and a good looking black leather trim on the seats.
- The biggest note about the interior was the almost silent nature of it all. Close the windows and the roof and you’d barely know the engine was running.
4) The drive
Laurent got the base model AWD variant of the CTS. This car comes equipped with the VVT 3.6 litre engine (rather then the direct injection engine) and puts out just over 260hp. It’s mated to a very smooth 6-speed auto transmission with manual mode.
My drive was a short stint through some streets in North Vancouver in medium duty traffic so there was no opportunity to throw it into some corners, nor to see what happens when you open up the taps. Also, I had a very generous and gracious new owner in the passenger seat of a car that wasn’t yet 30 kilometers old, so needless to say I was very careful….
What I can say, though, is that the CTS is a smooth operator. Engine noise is minimal, as is disturbance from any inconsistencies in the road. Despite the isolation you get from the bad stuff, there’s still plenty of feel and feedback from the car, so the engineers have managed to emulate the Europeans quite well in that respect.
As mentioned, I didn’t get the chance to take it through the twisties, but a few late calls from Laurent as he guided me through the streets back to our destination meant that I had a couple of last-minute swerves that showed just a little of the car’s poise during a quick direction change. It’s got the balance of a gymnast, though a proper test would be needed to tell if that gymnast is capable of a medal.
The steering is light and precise, though not as minutely precise as some of it’s intended competition that I’ve driven. That’s not a knock, though, as I wasn’t desperately keen on the minute precision offered by the 3-series I drove earlier this year. For the record, the steering on the Saab 9-3 I drove all last weekend was just as good.
5) The conclusion
My feelings about Cadillac as a whole might render my conclusions about this car irrelevant. Be that as it may, it’s a car that’s shows a lot of thinking on the part of its designers and a lot of precision in execution on the part of its manufacturers. It’s not a car I connected with, but it’s a car that I can definitely respect (and Laurent, if you’re reading this, that’s high praise from me when it comes to Cadillac).
The conclusion that matters most belongs to Laurent, who handed over around CAD$41,000 of his own hard-earned for the car only hours before I drove it.
He was smiling all night.
Laurent drives around 40,000km per year and primarily wanted something comfortable, well equipped, safe and sporting when it needed to be. He also wanted it to be low-maintenance and GM’s 80,000km bumper-to-bumper warranty took care of that.
Laurent shopped the Caddy against a few SUVs in the Lexus RX400h and the BMW X3 (his trade-in was a RX350) but according to him, the Cadillac CTS won hands down for superior finish, comfort, service backup and of course, driveability.
If someone gets what they want in those respects and a good deal on the new car as well, then you can’t do much better than that.
Even if it’s a Cadillac 
——
My thanks to Laurent for letting a rev-head he’s only met on one previous occasion behind the wheel of his new baby. I’m not sure I’d have the same courage in the same circumstances.
-
More from this category
- Saab vs Audi vs Mercedes vs BMW vs Lexus
- Dancing with the Devil’s half sister - I drive the 2007 Hyundai Tucson
- Dancing with the Devil - I drive the 2009 Cadillac CTS
- My time in the Hummer H3
More from this author
- Thursday Snippets
- Pollhattan Saab - Old vs New
- Saab Hybrid spotted in Netherlands!
- Wednesday Snippets II
Subscribe to this author
Recent Comments
- Markac on Thursday Snippets
- SaabKen on Thursday Snippets
- 1985 Gripen on Pollhattan Saab - Old vs New
- Paul Humpage on Pollhattan Saab - Old vs New
- Alex on Thursday Snippets
- Barry on Pollhattan Saab - Old vs New
- Markac on Thursday Snippets
- Troll96 on Thursday Snippets
- Bruce on Thursday Snippets
- Alex on Thursday Snippets
I must admit the CTS looks the bit, both interior and exterior! I especially like the leather-dash, I just wish top-ends Saab would be equipped with the same (as you can get from Hirsch). I have yet to see the new CTS in metal (Caddies aren’t exactly a dime a dozen in Norway), and let alone driven one, but it does seem that GM can deliver when it wants. I just hope they will do the same thing for the new 9-5 and 9-4X. I can’t see the stock GM-radio in this CTS, and I hope I won’t see it in the 9-4X or 9-5 either.
The dash clock reminds me of the handy little devices found in the Saab 9000, 900, and next-gen 900. Even that little detail has been taken away from Saab. Even Chevy is getting more love from GM than Saab is getting……I just hope they’ve given serious resources to Saab for the 9-5. It’s certainly overdue!
The inside looks almost like the current Astra.. The CTS is probably a nice ride when it comes to engine etc and the exterior is quite cool.. But no way I would buy one over a BMW. Lets hope the NG 9-5 has got the true Saab feeling and that not to many switches etc are shelf ones.
One more thing.. A movie tip. Rent, buy or download “Untraceable” with ultra-beautiful Diane Lane in the lead role. Nice movie.. But the best part.. She drives a 9-7X.
Cheers/Tom
And yes.. The finish of the CTS is much better than that of the X3.. But not compared to the 5-series. Why look at SUV´s from other brands and then end up with a normal sedan? Did he look at the 5-series?
Tompa,
The 5 Series is around 50% more in Canada ($60,000 vs. $40,000). They aren’t exactly known for their “low maintenance” and reliability either.
I actually cross-shopped the (previous-generation) CTS with my 9-5. With the US$8k discounts and the end-of-the-line 2007 CTS about to be replaced, it was a no-brainer decision — even if I didn’t like the seats, driving position, & the ergonomics of the 9-5 better. (I’m quite tall & lanky; if I sit up straight, my head pokes through the sunroof…)
I admit to liking the exterior of the new CTS much better than my 9-5, but you spend most of your time inside the car looking out. Plus, the interior space and packaging efficiency is much better in the Saab. My sense is that the interior space is the same, whilst the exterior of the new CTS is much larger. Interior room very is important for my loooong-legged wife and stringbean kid.
Driving both cars (a new CTS & my 9-5) at up to 80% on back roads, they are equally good. Of course, I drive my own car much harder than I drove the new CTS on the test drive. I do give the RWD CTS a slight edge at speeds I would describe as “knucklehead” on public roads. I would like to know about how the extra weight of the (very) heavy 2009 AWD CTS affects handling, since I’ve not driven it. Personally, I prefer the lightness of the Saab, which seems more “tossable.”
Interesting. A Maybach with diplomatic plates just drove by my window. Yes, this is DC…
The CTS is in the same and vehicle size category as the 9-5, but it’s rear-wheel drive configuration (or AWD) and V6 engines put it in a different demographic than the 9-5 for sure. I drove one for a few days earlier this year and wrote about it. While I loved driving it, I’d have a hard time pulling the trigger to make one my own. That said, a colleague of mine just purchased new an ‘08 CTS DI RWD and it’s a beautiful car which realy is quite well equipped.
OK, so now you’re going to stop hating Caddies and start merely not liking them but respecting them for being well-made and capable performers, right? RIGHT!?
I can dream, can’t I?
You can dream all you like, Jeff
Swade,
There is no doubt in my mind that all of us probably have differing opinions about what makes a seat “the best in the standard automotive world.” For instance, I came to a different conclusion after driving my latest demo car. So, who’s right? Has anyone else done an unbiased comparison (as if that’s really possible)?
I don’t think it is possible, Andy, but I’ll stand by my own thoughts with the knowledge that they’re biased. I’m sure if an objective test could be conducted they’d be pretty close to the mark when it comes to standard seats.
No such thing as an unbiased review.
The CTS and current 9-5 are very close in size. They are not terribly close in personality. I doubt there are many buyers of one who would be personally comfortable with the other, totally unrelated to the cars if one could do a blind test. I’d have considered a CTS if it were a Chevy or Pontiac, although RWD is a bad decision around where I live, and I would not want the cost, complication, or extra fuel consumption of AWD. Cadillac gets a lot more showroom traffic in Canada and especially the US than SAAB. My dealer sells both but in adjacent showrooms. I have staunchly supported the Saturn-SAAB dealer arrangement in Canada but the proposed Cadillac-SAAB match might benefit SAAB more in the long term. I can see a CTS shopper saying “What’s that?” and being attracted by an answer such as “That’s our Euro premium sporty line with front-wheel drive . . . .” Since the upper end of SAAB’s line is around the size and price-point of Caddy’s smaller vehicles, it would be good for dealers. The end point is to have these as complementary as possible. And yes, as an ex-BMW owner I can confrm that they come joined at the hip to their dealers’ service departments–even after an oil change the key to reset the computer is about US$800 (if you can buy it at all) so you can’t do it yourself or find a cheaper source.
I’ve been driving around a Caddy SRX loaner for the past week as my Saab is undergoing extensive repairs at the dealership for an oil leak. On paper, the car is excellent….and has all the characteristics the general US public likes in an automobile. It’s strong, smooth, solid, impeccable fit, finish and overall quality, very comfortable, 3rd row seating, and a ton of luxurious amenities that Saab probably will not implement for at least another decade. I can totally understand why GM is banking so heavily on Cadillac.
With that said, I can’t wait to get my Saab back. The Caddy just reminds me of my previous, expensive imports….great on paper, boring to drive! I can’t wait to get back into my lovable squeaky, cheap plasticky interior’d, slippery seated Saab!
I am the oxymoronic TS.com blogger. I own a SAAB and a Cadillac.
Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the seats in the Saab, driving position of the Cadillac.
I LOVE SAAB’s, but they need new product. I am looking forward to, with great anticipation, the new 9-5.
This is the point where I’d say that I told you so. But I won’t.
As I’ve said before, most Europeans are biased unduly against all American cars, deserved or not.
Just like people like to say that:
- English cars are electrical nightmares
- Italian cars rust overnight
- German cars are “engineered”
- Swedish cars are weird (well, that’s partially true)
- Korean cars are cheap
- Japanese cars are low maintenance
None of these things is 100% true, and American cars are getting better everyday.
Cadillac will sell in Europe. It’s a matter of time.
Swade: You had me at the caption- I was already grinning before even reading a word of the article itself.
Great stuff.
Eggs: I agree with you that it’s only a matter of time until Caddy turns a profit. I don’t think it’s a bad idea per se. I’m also very much on board when it comes to the stereotype stuff. However…
I do think the timing of this Caddy venture is rather poor. I’m a believer in long-term strategy, forward thinking, etc., but I don’t see how this Cadillac-in-Europe proposition will net a higher return on investment than first strengthening current market presence, lineups, and concepts- regardless of whether it be Saab, Caddy, or otherwise. Delving into entirely new markets isn’t self-sustaining financially for quite some time, and what will support that venture if/when the money begins to run out at home from the bread & butter stuff- and when the quarterly losses are likely to continue for some time? It’s akin to fixing up the paint job only to run out of money for the day when the engine breaks down.