Cadillac ATS

[Beeblebrox237]

So, the new Cadillac ATS has finally been revealed. What do you think of it?
Engines:
2.5L I-4, 200bhp
2.0L I-4 turbo, 270bhp
3.6L V-6, 318 bhp

 

[Cale]

It'd be nice if the V6 was available with a manual.

Those press shots are pretty bad.

Much better.

 

[Zenith]

It'd be nice if the V6 was available with a manual.

Those press shots are pretty bad.

Much better.

Looks like Cadillac has been to the Dodge School of Ride Height.

 

[Schwartz]

It looks the same as every other modern Cadillac sedan. I don't see anything that's any cooler about it.

 

[Cale]

 

[Mac K]

I kinda like it, it's no CTS, but still a cool car nonetheless, and it was developed at the Ring which makes it even cooler.

 

[Liquid]

Dat grill.

 

[JohnBM01]

I saw this at the 2012 Houston Auto Show. Most of you know that I couldn't care less about or be excited about Cadillac. This entry-level Cadillac is styled very nicely. It is actually a very approachable Caddy to me. Look at its lines up front- it is quite charming. The guy at the Houston Auto Show told me a little bit on the ATS. I came away pretty impressed. Me gusta.

 

[Prince.M5]

Design wise, it's not my cup of tea at all. What counts is how it drives, steers, comfort, finishing quality and price.

I've recently saw pictures of some quality problems found in the show car at the recent Detroit Auto Show. Not a lot of but the leather was not nicely wrapped, there's a noticeable gap on the air vent on the dashboard and the stitches aren't consistent on the dashboard. I know it's just a show car but that's the car you use to impress the customers. They said that they wanted to be a competitor to those European giants like the 3 Series, A4 and C-Class but they need to come up with something that has the same or better quality for lower price than the Europeans. Another thing is the iDrive equivalent to the ATS. The UI looks too simple and outdated compared to the Europeans.

Cadillac have made a step closer, it's no doubt a good car but they need to be even closer to support the statement of challenging the Europeans.

EDIT: I found some pictures.

And if anyone doesn't know, there's a compartment behind the center dashboard.

 

[Omnis]

Ah, they did a throwback to the old caddy hemorrhoid seats.

 

[Joey D]

I don't think it will be a bad car, I just don't think it can compete with it's German equivalents.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Why the big power disparity between. The 2.0 and 2.5 Liters?

Is their a turbo involved?

 

[RocZX]

Why the big power disparity between. The 2.0 and 2.5 Liters?

Is their a turbo involved?

Yes the 2.0L engine is turbocharged.

 

[gt5fanatec]

I think it's a luxury version of the CTS without being as harsh as the CTS. A more laid back version I guess I should say even though it was developed at the ring which i think means it can be sporty when you want to be.

 

[Joey D]

I think it's a luxury version of the CTS without being as harsh as the CTS. A more laid back version I guess I should say even though it was developed at the ring which i think means it can be sporty when you want to be.

It's the sportier, smaller, cheaper version of the CTS. It's supposed to be 3-series fighter.

 

[YSSMAN]

I don't think it will be a bad car, I just don't think it can compete with it's German equivalents.

Hard to say. All of the luxury brands seem to be re-doing their entry-level cars in a way that chases one another in some sort of circular effort. Time will tell on the new 3-series, and how the A4 and C-Class react to that will make things more interesting for the ATS. But, it appears GM means business.

Personally, if I were Cadillac, I'd be more worried about putting themselves up against the "affordable" options to the 3-series; The Infinity G25/G37 and Lexus IS250/IS350. I'd argue that, while the Infiniti models drive well, the refinement leaves a lot to be desired. Lexus' new focus on sporty driving will make things more interesting for the IS, but to what extent has yet to be seen... And for that matter, how much of their buyer base won't like those, and then look for different options?

Its going to boil down to how much GM wants to charge for the ATS, and what kind of options they offer with each of the engine options. I'm looking forward to seeing how affordable the 2.5L version will be, and how sporty the 2.0T model could work out to. My primary concern is that the 3.6L version may be redundant, and worse yet, we have to wait another year until a V8-powered ATS-V shows up.

 

[Kent]

Wow, I'm really impressed by those amateur photos of the interior, that looks great. Much more textured than my father's CTS ('12 I think, great car btw). I'd say this ATS is going to do what the IS couldn't do- make real competition for BMW at the consumer level. Not that it's going to knock out the 3 series but I'd bet it's got potential.

Btw, if the price is right, this kind of car could be a trade for me from the Sti.
-not really but maybe 5 years from now.

 

[Zenith]

Is it supposed to look like that?

I'm not an expert on leather styles, but that looks seriously crappy.

 

[Prince.M5]

Is it supposed to look like that?

I'm not an expert on leather styles, but that looks seriously crappy.

I can gurantee you leather seat should never look like that... It should be all clean and tight!

 

[Cale]

Those aren't production cars. Those were cars they had put together for the autoshow circuit.

 

[YSSMAN]

In a side story from the Chicago Auto Show about the new ATS's torque vectoring yadda yadda yadda, this has been revealed:

And speaking of the BMW 3-Series – which Cadillac has openly named as its development target, including in its recent Super Bowl ad – Leone revealed that Cadillac development engineers did not benchmark the current 3-Series, which BMW at this moment is superceding with an all-new model. Instead, their development bogey was the E46 3-Series (the generation that ran from 1999 to 2005); apparently, like many enthusiasts, Caddy’s car guys believe the E46 was the best example of BMW’s seminal compact sport sedan.

Very good news indeed. They're definitely looking to make this a proper sport sedan.

 

[Eric.]

Those aren't production cars. Those were cars they had put together for the autoshow circuit.

Which means that it should have looked perfect.

 

[Blaze_409]

Design wise, it's not my cup of tea at all. What counts is how it drives, steers, comfort, finishing quality and price.

I've recently saw pictures of some quality problems found in the show car at the recent Detroit Auto Show. Not a lot of but the leather was not nicely wrapped, there's a noticeable gap on the air vent on the dashboard and the stitches aren't consistent on the dashboard. I know it's just a show car but that's the car you use to impress the customers. They said that they wanted to be a competitor to those European giants like the 3 Series, A4 and C-Class but they need to come up with something that has the same or better quality for lower price than the Europeans. Another thing is the iDrive equivalent to the ATS. The UI looks too simple and outdated compared to the Europeans.

Cadillac have made a step closer, it's no doubt a good car but they need to be even closer to support the statement of challenging the Europeans.

EDIT: I found some pictures.

And if anyone doesn't know, there's a compartment behind the center dashboard.

lmao. This is from BMWBlog isnt it lololol. I read that too!

I understand its good to use a benchmark and all but are you not setting your self up for failure if you try to make a BMW better than the guys a Munich can? Unless thats not what they are dong. Sounded like it to me

Would it be more effective to just concentrate on building a good quick coupe that happens to be better than the M3 rather than just have the M3 on the brain.
They seem to ignore the Audi RS5/4 and AMG mercedes which all have good aspects(bad too) to them

 

[Prince.M5]

lmao. This is from BMWBlog isnt it lololol. I read that too!

Yeah, those info and pictures are of BMWBLOG. I mean, I don't think I can get any of those anywhere else and when the topic of Cadillac ATS taking down the BMW 3-Series is on, I found those pictures in their comparison article as they're comparing build quality.

I'm not trying to make BMW look better or trying to make Cadillac look bad. If they're taking down the Germans, they need to come up with something on par or better than them. As said, their benchmark is the E46 3-Series. Those are the picture from the show car, which should be better for the production car.

I don't care how good the ATS drives but if the interior build quality is like that even in a production car, I'd rather hunt for a used E46 despite all those new equipments and accessories in the ATS heck even a roomier interior.

 

[Joey D]

Wait, they benchmarked a 6 year old car? In what world does that make sense? I know they are trying to go for the enthusiast crowd, but if enthusiast wants a 98-06 BMW they are probably going to go out and find one, and at probably half the price of the ATS.

 

[Eric.]

Claim the car aims for the driving purity of an older "more focused" car.

Really just can't make a car any better than the competitor's 13 year old model.

 

[Joel]

Claim the car aims for the driving purity of an older "more focused" car.

Really just can't make a car any better than the competitor's 13 year old model.

Scumbag GM?

 

[HELLAFLUSH240SX]

I'd rather have the 'Lac than any european model...

 

[JJ72]

Wait, they benchmarked a 6 year old car? In what world does that make sense? I know they are trying to go for the enthusiast crowd, but if enthusiast wants a 98-06 BMW they are probably going to go out and find one, and at probably half the price of the ATS.

They are benchmarking it in terms of driving experience I think, the Caddy will have a host of unique characters build upon that. Bench marking against something is different from cloning it.

 

[Blaze_409]

I'd rather have the 'Lac than any european model...

Who hired you? .