Test drive Cadillac CTS 2002 - 2007 Sedan
Reloading to Europe
Listen to the sound of this word Cadillac! Imagination draws the image of a luxurious car, with a white leather salon, front sofa (in which, it seems, you can drown) and gigantic V8 under the hood. This is a car from the cover of the glossy magazine Life Style, a sign thing that emphasizes the social status of the owner. There was a time when each brand was vocalized and did not get into other people's niches. Today everything is mixed: Porsche is released by an SUV, Jaguar station wagon (and even diesel), and the symbol of America, Cadillac, completely and fully orientates the new model on the old light, taking away the V8, and the luxurious salon, and the inimitable smoothness, and in general All branded aura.
Cadillac CTS symbiosis of the most popular automobile trends now. No connection of generations. The car from the rebooted matrix is \u200b\u200brough, assertive, daring. In the new age with new technologies! It seems like that sounded a common slogan? It characterizes the essence of CTS quite accurately.
If you renounce nostalgic feelings, Caddy’s transformation can be rejoiced by becoming a European, the car has lost many atavisms characteristic of American machines and now looks quite worthy against the backdrop of powerful competitors from the mainland.
Remove the traditional Cadillac emblem from the radiator grill and is sure to determine the brand of the car. Of the family features, except the rear lights of the elongated shape, which cover the end part of the wings, and the chic license plate, edged with backward lanterns on the sides and the repeater of the stop-signals from above pompous, quite in American. Otherwise, a distinct modern techno.
CTS body dynamic conjugation of planes. A long hood, a highly tilted windshield ... The headlight-gun headlights maximally spaced at the edges are frowning and aggressively. A large radiator grille gives the appearance of a solidity machine, and lines of sidewalls, rising from but to the stern, swiftness. The only thing that seemed to fall out of this harmonious ensemble of low-located doors of a rather trivial rounded shape. For such a futuristic image, one could offer something more original.
But in general, the car turned out to be very interesting. On the streets of the city, the CTS flaunting fresh design attracted much more attention than the stiff European competitors in class E, even the latest. People every now and then came to admire the alien from the matrix, asked questions, ran their hands on chopped surfaces. It was evident that the car leaves no one indifferent. Though in this CTS remained a real Cadillac! Fans of the Saab brand, which is also part of the General Motors, will probably grin sarcastically, getting inside CTS. No, we are not talking about a copied aviation style, everything is easier to the interior of Swedish cars is sent by deflectors of the ventilation system. It was not possible to find some other equally obvious borrowings in the design of the CTS interior.
A pleasant three -spoke bagel, well thought out ergonomics ... Definitely, the interior is not as distant as appearance, but, in general, meets the requirements of our time. In terms of the quality of materials and assembly levels, the machine does not reach modern German standards, with a slight effort, you can find not very expensive plastic and errors in the assembly.
In general, CTS is a quite high -quality European car without pronounced Americanisms: the automatic gear lever is not a poker at the wheel, but a full -fledged selector in the tunnel between the seats. The seats, by the way, although they remind of upholstered home furniture, but not so much as to fall out of them in corners. The changing Opel is what comes to mind ...
By European standards, CTS Class Sedan E. And therefore should provide comfort and sufficient living space sitting from behind. He provides. And also gives a feeling of security in the back a deep salon, the door line is very high, the rear racks wide passengers do not feel sitting in the aquarium, which is not bad.
The trunk, unfortunately, the imagination of a practical European will not amaze its volume is only 360 liters, and if you fold the backs of the seats, it increases by another 70 liters. Not much.
Cadillac CTS is built on the new GM Sigma platform. The car has a rear -wheel drive, a new five -speed automatic gearbox and Opelian engine 3.2 V6 24V with a capacity of 223 hp. There is an electronic assistant in the person of the Stabilitrak 2 stabilization system, which can be turned off by the button in the glove compartment or going on the computer menu. By the way, the system proved itself to be very loyal in action, so it makes no sense to abandon its help.
According to the passport, the car accelerates to hundreds in 7.7 seconds, which for a car weighing more than one and a half tons, and even with an automatic, the result, frankly, is impressive. Rather, in the city, the benefit of the remnants of summer allow you to fully use the potential of the motor (in any case, it is worth trying)!
The six on the bottom works very quietly. With an increase in speed, the voice of the engine cuts out and closer to high speed turns into a distinct, not without pleasant notes, baritones. The machine accelerates quite evenly and intensively. There is no expressed pickup at high speeds, but the speedometer arrow crawls up very confidently. I am glad that in almost every gear under the boot a good traction stock, which at ease, pulls out CTS into the leaders of the competition. Start from the traffic light. It is obvious that the creators donated a power at high speed to the sake of the moment characteristic: the maximum number of NM the engine gives out 3400 in the running range of revolutions.
But the gearbox of the demanding driver is unlikely to satisfy the machine gun over the steps with a significant delay, now and then striving to stick a low gear. Hydramatic manual security mode is not provided for in this version. Disorder for those who prefer an active driving style.
As for handling, here the new Cadillac seems to have become a completely European car. Even despite the fact that the steering wheel makes more than three revolutions from the stop to the stop, and the bulky body is pretty fired in the turns, the high -speed movement will rather give you pleasure than disappoint. Still, the rear-wheel drive is a treat. And if the machine during the discharge of gas in the bend demonstrates excessive rotation, then even more so. Such is he, CTS is not averse to placing his tail, pleasing to observers with a spectacular skid!
However, police officers for everyday use are usually not relevant. How does the car behave in standard modes? The direct CTS holds tenaciously. The steering wheel in the near -Beal zone is clear, in corners it demonstrates good feedback. Despite the rolls, the car confidently passes both long high -speed and quite cool turns. Passengers may not like a harsh suspension (which, very strange, will seem too comfortable driver) and some acoustic excesses penetrating the salon (tire noise, boasting of the suspension). In this regard, you can advise you to immediately look at the price tag.
It turns out that well-packed CTS (such as on our test) will cost about $ 50,000, that is, 30% cheaper than European luxury sedans of the segment E, which have similar characteristics. And there is also a more modest version with a 2.6 liter engine (185 hp) and a mechanical gearbox, and it costs about $ 40,000.
Reasonable price traditional trump card of American cars. But if earlier, together with a discount, the buyer received a dubious set of consumer qualities, which is characteristic of the United States, now everything is different. The Americans have already understood what a typical European wants from the car, and they are ready to offer him something else in addition to catchy design.
Leonty Tyutelev
Source: Motor magazine [November 2003]
