Apparently, General Motors Special Events Media Group will loan out new cars & trucks for special events when there’s something going on in town. When there isn’t anything going on, they’ll loan these vehicles out to “area influencers”. I’m not sure I qualify as influential, but I was beyond thrilled to be selected for the loan program.
They provided a list of new
vehicles I could choose from such as SUV’s, Trucks, Hybrids and compacts, but
as soon as I saw the Cadillac ATS Turbo on the list, I had to see if it was
available. It was! Delivery and pick-up couldn’t have been easier. They dropped it off at my doorstep with a
full tank of gas and picked it up a week later.
What a gorgeous car. It’s the all-new 2015 Cadillac ATS Turbo Coupe
AWD, and it was loaded up with the Premium package. The exterior was dark blue and the interior
was a mix of red and black leather, carbon fiber and polished aluminum. It’s a fantastic place to spend time while
sitting in traffic. The car even has its
own 4G LTE WiFi connection. I think I
read that you can connect something like 7 different devices to it at a time. It worked great and never failed.
I had a friend flying in
from Houston and we were both taking a business & marketing workshop that
weekend, so I was able to pick him up from the airport and commute into Seattle
all weekend with the Cadillac.
The driving dynamics were
firm and comfortable without being harsh or too soft. The steering was weighted perfectly for me
and the brake feel was spot on. The
interior fit and finishes looked and felt high quality and dripped with luxury
performance.
I currently own a 2013
Ford SUV with the My Ford Touch SYNC system, so I was really looking forward to
comparing it to the Cadillac CUE interface.
I can report that they both perform voice commands as they should, but
the user experience and interface of the CUE system are miles ahead of the Ford
system. The overall aesthetics are much
nicer on the eye, the motion tracking within the Navigation window is night
& day better than the Ford and the ability to ‘pinch-zoom’ on a map is
brilliant. I was encouraged to use On
Star for directions, but I never used it.
I wanted to test out the voice commands and compare it to the Ford. The CUE system passed all my unqualified
tests with flying colors. It was easy to
learn and remember the function button placements on the Home screen so even
with a short time in the car, distractions were minimal. I was highly impressed with the CUE system
overall.
Driving that car makes you
feel like a big shot. That’s difficult
to quantify, but how a vehicle makes you feel is something a lot of people pay
attention to. Some people buy a car as
they would an appliance. They make
decisions based purely on MPG or safety ratings or if all their kids will fit
inside. Other people buy cars more on
emotion or power and how it makes you feel.
I would argue that most BMW, Audi or Mercedes owners buy into those brands
because of how you’re perceived and how that makes you feel. We’ve all heard you can’t buy happiness, but
you can buy a vehicle that makes you happy.
That’s an intangible quality that’s worth whatever YOU feel it’s worth.
Bottom line, I loved
everything about this car. The remote
start, heated steering wheel, proximity keyless entry, push button start,
amazingly comfortable seats, beautiful cabin, powerful engine, good MPG and
great technology are all fantastic features.
I think the coupe looks brilliant, but I’d personally buy the 4-door with
easier access to the rear seats.
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