Cadillac ATS performs, and you can feel it

[TDR]

The Cadillac ATS won honors as the North American Car of the Year in Detroit this year. Needless to say, the ATS comes highly recommended and with some preconceived impressions.

My example was a 2.0-liter turbo all-wheel-drive model with 18-inch, 10-spoke polished alloy wheels and a Thunder Gray ChromaFlair paint job.

What sets this compact apart from the rest is the blend of style, mass efficiency and technology to engage the driver in all aspects. Some key features of the ATS is a 50/50 weight balance, a lane departure warning system, driver-adjustable FE3 sport suspension with Magnetic Ride Control real-time damping and a rear-view system that vibrates the seat when you get too close to an object.

This is a sports sedan to the core — with excellent steering feel, strong acceleration from 272 horsepower and impeccable handling. There is no denying this car can compete with the best of its class. The advanced suspension, perfect weight distribution, Brembo brakes and AWD combine for a world-class driving experience.
Inside, drivers are pampered with soft but supportive leather seats, top-notch materials and the Cadillac User Experience that blends information and entertainment data perfectly. The CUE system was designed to be unique to each consumer, from the “simple user” to the fully connected “super user.” The eight-inch multitouch sensitive screen is well designed with large icons and intuitive layouts. The system attempts to replicate smartphone and tablet screens. There is a learning curve to use the touch controls for the HVAC, because there are no traditional buttons on the dash. CUE combines the majority of radio and entertainment functions into four selections, eliminating clutter.

Data can be displayed for the driver between the tachometer and speedometer. This information can be personalized to the driver. Steering-wheel mounted buttons control those options. A fascinating feature happens when the main screen is left alone for 10 to 15 seconds. The additional information fades away to just show the current data, once you bring your hand near the screen, all of the options reappear for your selection.
Yes, all of this technology can be intimidating, but the layout is organized and can be easily learned and personalized to your taste. After 10 minutes of scanning the reference material and playing with some controls, I was driving along using CUE pretty efficiently.

There were, however, two main issues with the ATS as a whole. The interior, while luxurious, is very tight and small. The rear seats have minimal legroom for adults and with a child seat installed the front seat is forced too far forward. While driving around town, I noticed how rough the ride can be. On smooth pavement it is excellent, but the suspension amplifies all road imperfections. In “Sport” mode the ride becomes nearly unbearable on anything but fresh pavement. That could be an issue in this area.

Aside from the interior space and bumpy ride, the ATS is a true luxury performance sedan and that comes at a cost. The standard price for the ATS is $41,395 in the trim I tested, but the additional options including CUE brought the bottom line to $47,270. Cadillac claims 24 mpg combined and I was able to get 20 mpg combined during my test.

http://www.timesonline.com/news/busi...3998b2155.html

[Wolfgang427]

Another great review.....agree with you on the ride around town being a bit hard, but mine ain't as bad as yours maybe because I have the 17's instead of the 18"s ??

[M3-NOMORE]

Maybe it depends "where you're coming from". I recently traded-in my (2nd) M3 for a Caddy ATS 3.6 with all of the ATS bells & whistles. My previous rides also included a C6 Corvette and an Audi S4. As such, I have no objection to the ATS ride ... in fact, I like it better than my last M3's ride. ATS's Brembos are better, in my judgment, than the M3's brakes as well. Yeah, if you take your ride to the track every weekend, then maybe a Porsche, Vette or M3 with their higher HP may be what you need. I don't, and I no longer want to add to my collection of traffic tickets, so this ATS fits the bill as a great touring sports sedan with great safety features and fine passing power on request. The more that I drive it, the more I like it. For sure the CUE system needs work, but plusses on the ATS outweigh that. I don't ferry many passengers around so the smallish accommodation of the back seat is of little consequence to me. Believe it or not, I'm getting close to advertised mileage: 19/29 with average combined around 24 ... and the brand of gas matters with around 1.5 mpg variation best-to-worst. I read that the CUE system software can be updated in the vehicle for better future performance ... hopefully that will happen. I like that this car is a "sleeper" and garners little attention ... I like it that way especially so maybe the highway patrol takes little notice of me. An interesting aside, my wife, having driven our old M3(s) extensively, is much more aggressive ("leadfoot") in the new ATS than she ever was in the Bimmers ... this Caddy just instills confidence as an excellent-handling luxury sports car. I'm glad that I bought it. Oh, if there is an ATS-V coming up, I likely won't be tempted since it is doubtful that it will get close to the mileage that I'm getting now. (Got 15 mpg with my last M3). An ATS-V will maybe cut 1-1.3 seconds off the ATS 0-60 time of 5.3, and that's fine ... for me, in the final analysis, that doesn't matter much for everyday and touring non-track driving.