  Gmich99 Member Username: Gmich99 Post Number: 260 Registered: 11-2005 |
The 2008 Cadillac CTS has outscored the BMW 328i and Mercedes-Benz C300 in Consumer Reports‘ ratings. Among the upscale sports sedan field, the CTS was the only model to receive a rating of “Excellent”. http://www.reuters.com/article /blogBurst/lifestyle?type=life styleMolt&w1=B7ovpm21IaDoL40ZF nNfGe&w2=B9BKlxA5Hbkf6TX7vObSV FN&src=blogBurst_lifestyleMolt &bbPostId=B3ekRVEN9RC0BDhHuWIG 7BgACzBvg606ZOxnuB4WMLl7lJYEQ& bbParentWidgetId=B85ebm6awHVo6 C9qDNVeBor | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 3731 Registered: 11-2003 |
WOW!! That is some good news, I hope some folks get over their Anti American bias and look at the facts when they buy a car | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1423 Registered: 11-2003 |
I knew this day would come when the Lansing plant got such rave reviews a few years back. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1532 Registered: 12-2004 |
Anyone who drives a foreign car should feel terribly guilty. | ||
Scooter2k7 Member Username: Scooter2k7 Post Number: 66 Registered: 10-2007 |
I used to drive a foreign car (USED TO) and I will never, ever buy another Jap or German made car. My last car was a 05 Camry. Let me tell Consumer Reports were wrong for my Camry. I found my Camry to be unreliable and a hog on gas. That is my experience, everyone elses may be different. I drive a Sebring now and I like the Sebring better. I think it is a better car and is made right here in Michigan. This is my experience, yours may be different. | ||
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou Post Number: 1861 Registered: 09-2006 |
A 328i and C300 is a bad comparison. Drive a 335i or C350 and it is much closer in terms of fun to drive and all the other categories drivers really care about. The Caddy kills the Benz hands down but that 335i is fun as hell to drive more so than the Caddy but overall the Caddy is awesome. I want one. | ||
Wschnitt Member Username: Wschnitt Post Number: 57 Registered: 07-2007 |
Cadillacs, Lincolns and all US made cars are great. That is quite a blanket statement. I disagree. I think that Lincoln has been without direction for quite some time and their products have suffered. Cadillac however is a great American brand. | ||
Scooter2k7 Member Username: Scooter2k7 Post Number: 67 Registered: 10-2007 |
Lincoln's problem is that there is no difference between a Lincoln and a Ford. Take the Fusion/MKX or whatever it is. Just because you throw some leather seats in a car and slap a Lincoln name plate on it does not make it a luxury car. There is distinct difference between Cadillac and Chevrolet and Buick too. With Chrysler's sedans there is a huge difference between the 300C and the Sebring. The 300C is an awesome looking car that has got some power to it. My Sebring is an ordinary daily driver. Ford needs some brand distinction from Lincoln. | ||
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou Post Number: 1864 Registered: 09-2006 |
Lincoln's new concepts look promising but overall that is a brand I wouldn't even consider unless they were giving them away for nearly free. I wonder why Ford doesn't just kill the brand and keep Jaguar as its luxury brand its seems like that would make more sense. | ||
Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican Post Number: 361 Registered: 02-2007 |
HOORAY! WHAT YOU DRIVE DRIVES AMERICA! | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2041 Registered: 11-2003 |
"Anyone who drives a foreign car should feel terribly guilty." I disagree. But I do agree that the Caddy CTS is top notch and rivals the above. I have been hawking this car a year before it hit the car dealers. My reasons, interior. The Caddy cars interior isn't something that make you jump up and down about compared to the foreign competition. But when I saw the CTS interior and exterior, I knew that GM had something special. Let's not forget about the Buick Lucern, another beauty both inside and out. Btw, I test drove the 2008 CTS. It's not just a good looking car. The drive and look both compliment. | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2042 Registered: 11-2003 |
"Lincoln's new concepts look promising but overall that is a brand I wouldn't even consider unless they were giving them away for nearly free. I wonder why Ford doesn't just kill the brand and keep Jaguar as its luxury brand its seems like that would make more sense." In my opinion, it isn't the brand that's hurting Ford. It's a lack of creativity. I agree with one of the posters. Lincoln, Ford and Mercury identities are blurred. I think that they should get rid of Mercury. It really doesn't serve a unique purpose. The brand is just another Ford with minor modifications. The Ford Edge and a couple of more cars look cool. Lincoln does have something that I feel can compete with the competition. But they must separate the looks between a Lincoln vs Ford. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 442 Registered: 01-2007 |
The only foreign car I've had was a Geo (Suzuki) Metro convertible. I got it for the gas mileage. In the winter, the damn thing would suck all the oil out of the pan and wouldn't return it quickly enough to reuse. It was all up in the valves. Eventually the motor blew-up. "Hello... Charity Motors?" | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1424 Registered: 11-2003 |
^ Mother Waddles | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 444 Registered: 01-2007 |
That's surely a name from the past! I remember going down with my father to donate stuff there on Grand River(?) | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2043 Registered: 11-2003 |
Typo. Not the Lucern but the Enclave. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1947 Registered: 05-2005 |
quote: complete and utter bullshit. but thankfully GM, at least, is starting to make cars that people want to buy willfully (versus being guilted into) so hopefully this will be a non issue as even better product hits the streets in the years to come. now if they just made a decent wagon (read: not a f'ing SUV!) i might just switch to the home team. (Message edited by gravitymachine on February 05, 2008) | ||
Living_in_the_d Member Username: Living_in_the_d Post Number: 30 Registered: 01-2008 |
All U.S. Cars are Excellent. The other alternative is to ride D.D.O.T. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 562 Registered: 12-2006 |
Gravity Machine, What's wrong with the GMC Arcadia, the Buick Enclave, or the Saturn Vue? If I'm not mistaken those are all crossovers (which are essentially modern station wagons. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4934 Registered: 10-2003 |
My foreign car experiences have been disasters. Fun to drive at the time, but terrible as far as how much it cost to have simple things done, or to buy parts for them to do the work myself. Never again! WTG Cadillac! They are the cadillacs of automobiles. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2627 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: I think they were comparing base model to base model, no? | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1949 Registered: 05-2005 |
quote: they are excellent vehicles, but despite the new industry moniker "crossover" to make you think otherwise, they are really more like modern suv's, not wagons, the proof is in the proportion. Being built like cars (unibody construction) does afford them a lot of advantages over traditional truck based SUV's like more interior volume and better gas milage, and that's a good thing, however i want a car. i want low and long, not tall and squat. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4941 Registered: 10-2003 |
GM just needs some super creative ad campaigns like this one:  I was thinking something along the lines of "GM: We build vehicles." | ||
Alan55 Member Username: Alan55 Post Number: 1208 Registered: 09-2005 |
I hope that this latest study boosts the sale of Cadillacs, but I doubt it. Sales are all about fashion, trendiness, and power statements. Ask a dozen Rolex wearers why their watch is better than say, an Omega or a Breitling. You will probably get ten blank stares, one who will bluster about getting what you pay for, and perhaps one who will know the technical details of the different watches. | ||
Living_in_the_d Member Username: Living_in_the_d Post Number: 35 Registered: 01-2008 |
Jimbo is right. I had the opportunity to take a ride in a Arcadia over the holidays, and was really impressed. So much so that We will be considering one for our next vehicle. And this comes after 25 years on the technical end of the automotive industry. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 564 Registered: 12-2006 |
Gravity Machine, Those vehicles are also built on car frames. If you want a wagon type vehicle, no matter where in the market you go, those are about as close as you can get to a wagon besides the Taurus X wagon or the Subaru Outback. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4944 Registered: 10-2003 |
What about the Magnum. That didn't seem to go over too well. Just not sure Americans in general REALLY want a "wagon", though of course some people will. They are bringing that Ute over here though, according to a poster on another thread. That's basically the new El Camino. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1950 Registered: 05-2005 |
quote: acadia, not aRcadia jimbo, volvo and saab still make fine wagons. i happen to be driving an older swedish wagon now in fact. audi, merc, and bmw as well. on the lower end, subaru continues to make non-outback legacy and impreza wagons, mazda also makes the 6 wagon. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 565 Registered: 12-2006 |
Gravitymachine, I didn't know that. Wagons aren't my style so I don't pay too much attention to that type of car. | ||
Mrjoshua Member Username: Mrjoshua Post Number: 1561 Registered: 03-2005 |
THE DRIVER'S SEAT  By JEFF SABATINI The Cadillac of Cadillacs December 21, 2007; Page W7 The Wall Street Journal So the new Cadillac CTS is the 2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Accolades from an enthusiast magazine normally don't get much attention outside advertising copy, but let's suspend disbelief for a minute and consider the award at face value. A Cadillac last won "car of the year" in 1992, just before the brand fell off the face of the earth. Indeed, the rest of the '90s weren't good to General Motors' flagship marque, its prestige plummeting in the face of more desirable models from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Things got so bad that the phrase "the Cadillac of cars" was coined -- and applied to other makers' vehicles.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119816731132542613.html GM got serious about resurrecting Cadillac's reputation with the 2003 CTS sedan, a radical design that was antithetical to Caddy's soft, old-fashioned image. Now that the first CTS has been displaced by the '08 model, it's clear that even if the original didn't restore Cadillac to relevance by itself -- in fact, the Escalade sport-utility vehicle deserves more credit -- it did point things in the right direction. Five years and a few more model introductions later, Cadillac is arguably GM's healthiest brand. Motor Trend's editor in chief declared that the new CTS "shows Detroit can build a world-class car to compete with the best Munich, Stuttgart and Toyota City have to offer." True enough, the CTS is now a legitimate competitor to any sub-$50,000 sedan on the market. The crux of the CTS's transformation from challenger to contender is that it has actually become a good-looking car. While the 2003 version's shocking, angular lines made its design seem raw and unfinished, Cadillac's stylists have completed the job with the new model. The CTS still echoes the blocky, rough-hewn original but its new skin has more curves, particularly in the fenders. The front end received a similar softening. The combined effect is that the car looks more hunkered down over its wheels, with a taut and aggressive stance. A new, intricate grille more befitting a luxury car enhances the look and draws the eye to a design that is no longer so cold and distant. With the exception of a slice of GM's infamous gray plastic along the bottoms of the front and rear ends, the CTS has an entirely unified and aesthetically satisfying appearance. Inside, the improvements are more revolutionary, starting with a wholesale upgrade of the materials and design. The crowning achievement is an elegant implementation of the navigation-system display. This large touch-screen slides into the center console at the push of a button, all but disappearing. While I will grudgingly admit there are legitimate reasons for these ugly LCDs to have forced their way into our cars, their appearance on the dashboard is hardly organic. If anything can cause the German auto makers to feel shame for their maladroit efforts at integrating navigation screens, the CTS can. Cadillac has clearly set the industry standard. Under the hood a similar claim can be made, but only if you order the optional version of GM's 3.6-liter V6. This 304-horsepower, direct-injection gasoline engine uses technology developed for diesel engines to deliver the fuel directly into the combustion chamber, allowing for more precise fuel metering and the promise of greater power output with improved fuel economy. The motor revs quickly, sounds beautiful and gives the CTS bona fide sports-sedan credentials. Staking a place amid the crowded field of rear-wheel-drive luxury sedans with sporting pretensions is a tricky business, but Cadillac has positioned the new CTS almost perfectly to maximize its marketability. Like the old CTS, the new one is roughly the size of the BMW 5-Series but priced closer to the smaller BMW 3-Series. It's flashier than a Mercedes C-Class, more fun to drive than any Lexus and more comfortable than either BMW. With a base sticker price starting at $32,990, or $35,290 with the direct-injection engine, the Cadillac is a pretty good value. But for all the good things the CTS brings to the table, the car still suffers from being too heavy, a common problem with GM vehicles. At 3,872 pounds, the direct-injection-V6 CTS with automatic transmission even outweighs its larger stablemate, the Cadillac STS. Competitors use lots of lightweight but expensive aluminum in their cars, while GM seems to have adopted the more cynical view that most people care little about how many extra pounds they're dragging around, opting to save money on building the car instead of saving weight. This is unfortunate, as the CTS's performance, not to mention its combined EPA fuel economy of 20 mpg, would benefit if the engineers could cut a couple hundred pounds. What's particularly galling is that the CTS's heaviness is squandering some of the potential of its great direct-injection V6. Even so, the CTS is a smart, likeable car certainly deserving of consideration. Not that this in itself is really so earth-shattering. With all its tradition and the vast engineering resources of its parent company, Cadillac should be building competitive cars. Motor Trend's adulation really needs a finer point to it -- what really impresses about the CTS is that it captures GM doing two things for which it historically has shown little capacity. The first is continuing to improve a product over successive generations; the second is paying attention to details. Both practices will be far more important to the company's long-term success than the fleeting acclaim of this single model. | ||
Drankin21 Member Username: Drankin21 Post Number: 161 Registered: 12-2003 |
I LOVE my CTS. | ||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 3208 Registered: 10-2003 |
Cool, ... I know what I'll be driving in 10 years ... | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2044 Registered: 11-2003 |
Can't wait for the CTS V series. The 2008 version looks very nice. It also has the New Corvette ZR-1 engine. The car is suppose to compete against the M series via BMW. | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2045 Registered: 11-2003 |
The most important thing that will test GM's present and future credibility is their longevity per car that Honda has been able to do over the years. If GM's Caddy can hold their value like the Lexus, then GM will be on a roll. | ||
Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore Post Number: 111 Registered: 11-2006 |
Anyone know what the next STS will look like? I hear it'll be a beast too. | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2046 Registered: 11-2003 |
not sure, but i do know that the sts over in china is a different kind of beast compared to caddy cars over here. as a matter of fact all of gm cars over in china look and are made better. | ||
Detmi7mile Member Username: Detmi7mile Post Number: 29 Registered: 12-2007 |
great article...with that said, i love my '98 honda accord | ||
Rob_in_warren Member Username: Rob_in_warren Post Number: 75 Registered: 11-2007 |
"what really impresses about the CTS is that it captures GM doing two things... The first is continuing to improve a product over successive generations; the second is paying attention to details." Sounds like GM has scaled back their huge stable of "technical accountants" and put those resources into solid engineers and creative designers. Good news and maybe a few years from now the press won't sound so shocked. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2453 Registered: 01-2004 |
"I hope some folks get over their Anti American bias" When american companies go back to hiring americans ill go back to buying american. | ||
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou Post Number: 1880 Registered: 09-2006 |
"Anyone know what the next STS will look like? I hear it'll be a beast too." From what I understand the STS and DTS will be merged into one vehicle which will hopefully end up being the flagship model of not only Cadillac but GM. I do worry though that CAFE will kill off the V-8 necessary for this type of vehicle. | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 5004 Registered: 02-2007 |
"I do worry though that CAFE will kill off the V-8 necessary for this type of vehicle." It is not necessary. we used to say nothing could beat cubes, but then along came better engine technology and you have normaly aspirated 5-liter engines that will stomp the old 454s etc. | ||
Higgs1634 Member Username: Higgs1634 Post Number: 317 Registered: 10-2005 |
"When american companies go back to hiring americans ill go back to buying american." Maybe they'll hire more if they need to make more? | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11750 Registered: 10-2003 |
Mauser, Aren't people who build the Cadillacs in Lansing Americans? | ||
Edziu Member Username: Edziu Post Number: 36 Registered: 07-2007 |
I wonder if Europeans and Asians are ostracized for driving GM and Ford vehicles in their countries? After all, the Americans are taking bread off their table. So why are our car companies doing better there than here? I'm listening...... | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2047 Registered: 11-2003 |
Mayor Sekou: "From what I understand the STS and DTS will be merged into one vehicle which will hopefully end up being the flagship model of not only Cadillac but GM." That description fits the STS in China. The STS is a longer vehicle with a wider body. The car is in the BMW 750 Li size. | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2048 Registered: 11-2003 |
Edziu: "I wonder if Europeans and Asians are ostracized for driving GM and Ford vehicles in their countries? After all, the Americans are taking bread off their table. So why are our car companies doing better there than here? I'm listening......" I doubt this. Particularly over in China. Cheap labor for GM and the citizens have a job. It's a win win deal for GM, Chinese gov. and the people, despite that it doesn't compare to the labor wages here. Something else that you have to take into consideration. Americans cars that are made over there are on a higher level than here. Go check out the Chinese version of the Caddy STS. Plus the cars are more of niche cars than everyday commute cars over in Europe. | ||
Dove7 Member Username: Dove7 Post Number: 2049 Registered: 11-2003 |
typo. sts=sls. the discontinued car over here. |
