Reader Review: 2014 Cadillac ATS - User carguy advises on the Cadillac ATS Soon cars have been such a lively debate among TTAC rea...
User carguy advises on the Cadillac ATS
Soon cars have been such a lively debate among TTAC readers than those made by Cadillac - and no more was more polarizing than the ATS. As it happens, I drive one of these controversial machines for the last 15,000 miles and thought I pen an objective, non-hyperbolic retrospective of owning this car before I bid farewell to the next month. While it would be easy to argue that the Internet does not need another ATS exam (and it really does not) my words here are not really meant to be a traditional review. I promise that I will not expose you to my views about the latest iteration of the art and design school science or reflections on the track of performance figures. No, today I will break all the rules of the automotive press and share with you what he was actually owning this car: what was good, what was right and what was maddening. Sounds exciting, right? No? OK I promise to keep light so listen to me and do not hesitate to throw rotten tomatoes at my views in the comments section.
So what was a middle-aged car monster and 4 times the BMW owner like me buy a ATS to start? Was it the small trunk 10 cu or simply the realization that I'm now old enough to own one? Neither really. Having found the current series 3 F30 to death from the waist down and with the non-IS350 F suspension not much better, I headed to my local Cadillac dealer in the hope of finding a daily driver that was fun in curves and a slightly more reliable engine than the N54 in my last 335. I found a nice-price luxury ATS plate with Nav and sunroof to be just the ticket. Fast forward 14 months, here's the good, the OK and the ugly.
The Good
You will not be surprised to hear that the tour of the ATS advantage is its chassis. In the luxury dish is a delicious blend of responsiveness and comfort that is currently unmatched in this segment. He dances so that most German manufacturers can remember and complete the management with precision, feedback and round in haste which provides smiles even during slow speed of grocery shopping. Do not be fooled into thinking that the marks "Brembo" the brakes are an indication of the runway preparedness (it's more of a co-branding exercise), but they are fantastic for using street, offering linear and progressive sensation and no bite too grabby many BMW exhibition. I'll spare you further "this car really runs well" shots with a note that the sports suspension on the plate "Performance" was too firm for me and the magnetic suspension in the premium basis was fabulous but also ridiculously expensive.
for my eyes inside is better than anything you have to high 30s price range that most sales for ATS. No material are false and, for me, it feels special and luxurious in a way that Acura will never quite understand. No rattles developed in my car, nor did I notice any abused ATS in locations that I traveled. Even the controversial retro gauges cluster grew on me. It may lack the visual wow factor but it is for her no-BS clarify the clock and easy to configure the LCD screen 3 parts. Configure large central LCD screen to display speed and you wonder why heads-up displays are still an option.
Similarly, outward visibility is a pleasant surprise. When adjusted properly, the large side mirrors offer an excellent view of each side of the car that makes for confident lane changes, even in congested traffic. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but after having to deal with the size of the sports mirrors aerodynamic stamps on my previous BMW, it seemed like a great feature. The high trunk line limits the rear view, but it is sufficiently increased by a large clear backup camera angle.
The OK
Of the three engine choices, you will find the V6 just too much for the front end and 2.5 liters of wheezing mill entry and less refined than most agricultural machinery. The 2.0T is the obvious choice for me to provide smooth acceleration while maintaining the light feel of the car. It provides great low-end torque and makes the car feel fast in the city, but becomes a little disappointing near the top of the rev gauge. The engine is not as good as BMW N20, but comparable to what Audi A3 and A4 offers much better than the terrible 1.8T Mercedes used to put in the C250. Fuel economy is average with about 32 MPG on the highway 75 MPH and 20 MPG in town (my 15K average mile was 25 MPG). A quirk of transmission is the total absence of engine braking, but a real downer for anyone with a short course, is the efficiency of the engine after a cold start. All cars are fighting when they are cold, but there seems to be no excuse for the 2.0T V8 seems like a drink for about 5-7 miles from the morning commute.
There is nothing remarkable GM six -speed car. It can not match the ZF 8-speed BMW to shift speed and smoothness, but is eager to downshift and never had really wish me something better. It may not be the newest piece of technology, but I would choose the configuration of the double clutch in the Mercedes CLA every day of the week. It will also most likely still work well when more dual clutch transmission are already in a metal recycling facility.
You do not read a lot about the quality of the paint in automotive magazines but I've always thought it a key differentiator for cars that luxury status claim. ATS gets a mixed review here for a transparent layer hard and smooth, but with thin paint - undesirable weight saving trend in many modern cars. Expect to stone ships to pass through the undercoat which is not a good look on a black car.
Both in the "meh" is the navigation system. On the upside this option is a bargain price compared to European competition and has a nice display 8 ". However, it is very slow and a frustrating search function that insists you spell everything 100% correctly or simply not finding what you want. software is also a third party, so if you want bugs fixed, you'll have to pony up $ 150 for a map and software upgrade. the price of mid-range 30k it might be barely acceptable, but anyone who finds this unit in a $ 70K CTS V-Sport will not be happy.
the Ugly
He will talk about CUE! Not so fast. the ugly actually begins even before you buy the car and you ask the list of options, which is clearly the product of a size close to government bureaucracy. the top three versions available Luxury, Performance & Premium are not so different option also packs suspensions with more standard and optional equipment as you move. So you want HID headlights? You will also need to purchase the suspension hard as rock because they are only available in the balance of performance or more. You want a HUD? It is clear that you will also need firm sports suspension. Those who thought that the grouping of characteristics with arbitrary suspension package was a good idea needs to lose their "employee of the month" parking space. Considering the ease would have been copying European brands of successful options packages (and profitable), this madness is really a direct fault
So let's talk about CUE, but before doing so, let's get something clear. the disadvantages of having a touchscreen that controls are obvious and I knew when I bought the car. I also knew that the system was a little slow. what I did not know was just how many seeds were still hidden in every corner of this complex system. starting with the habits of annoying audio system like forgetting the track you were when you restart the car (I've heard too many of my music collection that starts with an "a") to crush outright random events such start or end a phone call using Bluetooth.
Then there is the HVAC system. Built on the premise that the automatic mode takes care of everything from temperature to humidity, the designers clearly did not see need much in the way of manual controls. However, if you do not want that the automatic system has decided to do, then you are in a frustrating period. For example, if you have the audacity to want to turn off the air conditioning compressor when it is cold, it will make you explode with hot air until you sweat, even if the temperature is set at 70. Why not simply turn off the fans that you say? Unless you turn the system recycles it will still let air through the vents forced air from the outside when you're over 60 MPH, even when the fans are off. Other highlights CVC have a demisting function which, humid Florida will fog up your windshield in seconds by blasting with super cold air. And just to drive home the folly of "automatic or nothing" system, things then went into overdrive when comedy HVAC temperature sensor failed last year and the system acted like he was possessed. I'll spare you the details of the mobile sweaty sauna turned this defect in my car, but suffice it to say that I am grateful for small mercies as it was winter and power windows worked fine.
The history of the rest of the electronics, unfortunately, does not get much better. Sometimes the door handle lock buttons refuse to work until you fob us or open and close the door. Once the system has become so confused that lock either fob or door knobs. I had to park the car outside my office window and wait for the ECU to go to sleep until the normal lock feature returned. Then there are minor fails as placing the outdoor temperature sensor clearly too close to parts of the car that becomes hot during normal use, resulting in hilarious readings inflated. If you do not believe in global warming now, you will after owning an ATS.
Then there was the ugliest flaws that prevented electronic enter standby mode when the car is off and completely drain the battery overnight. Fortunately only happed a few times but, like most of its oil, was also not reproduce for diagnostic purposes. However, once you find yourself having to share your 10 cu ft trunk of your car with a new pack early jump paste, you know it's time to cut your losses.
So now you may have realized that I have a few visits to the dealer and may wonder how the experience was. You broker mileage may vary, but mine was extremely friendly and helpful and always fixed what they could. Unfortunately, dealers can simply not do much to fix the broken computer code or poor design. They also helped to not that the pace of software updates appears to have slowed to a trickle. I guess GM developers are busy working on the new system.
So where does that leave my feelings about owning the ATS? Part of me is encouraged that GM has the engineering prowess to turn a new platform in its first iteration, is better than most of what the high-end European brands can handle. The other feeling is dismayed by the fact that they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory cursing this car with a half-baked whole crazy electrics. It is an old school RWD sport sedan - all it took was the sound system of the old school Impala or Malibu and it was the best sedan compact sports that you could buy. Instead, I was thinking a costly mistake while I wait for my BMW to get 2
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