Category Archives: Cadillac Models

Re: Cars & Coffee Dallas 2010 Feb 6 #tejascrew

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My friend Richard Gossman came out this morning and we drove over to Classic BMW of Plano for Cars & Coffee.  Unfortunately Texas Jim had other engagements, but he can join us when it is warmer lol.  I grabbed this slide show of shots including shots of my CTS before we left & shots from the Cars & Coffee:

Cars & Coffee is an organized, unorganized car show.  In other words, the time, locale, and coffee are organized, but everything else is left to the enjoyment of the participant.  So you come, you look at cars, you meet and visit with other car guys.  We ran into Charlie of burnoutradio.com and Amber of Classic Chevrolet and  burnoutradio.com and Barry Lowman of Team Hall & Nass

It was a bit brisk in Plano today, but we made a couple or few circuits and looked at all the cars we had an interest in, and visited.

There were still new cars arriving when we left, so it definitely is not something you have to be there right at 8 am to attend.

There were half a dozen or so CTS-Vs, with both Gen 1 and Gen 2 represented.  I got more pics of those than the ‘exotic’ cars, which I suppose reflects my love of Cadillacs.

The close-ups on the front scoop of the CTS-V is because one car at the show had a wrap or carbon fiber treatment on the spoiler extension and around the exhaust that was interesting.

This was a fun morning, and I highly recommend that you find out where and when you local Cars & Coffee happens & attend.

This shot is to show that on the 2009 CTS-V the V emblem was on the left and the CTS on the right side of the trunk, and on the 2010 model they flipped sides:
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Re: Next-Gen CTS to Join #Cadillac ATS on Alpha RWD platform – @motor_trend

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Motor Trend has an interesting Cadillac ATS article up: Next-Gen Camaro, CTS to Join Small Cadillac ATS on New Rear-Drive Platform – Wide Open Throttle – Motor Trend Magazine

Fun Cadillac ATS Details from the article:

  1. ATS is in fact on a new RWD Alpha platform
  2. ATS is due in calendar year 2014 (as a 2015 model?)
  3. Next Generation CTS will also move to the Alpha platform and grow 6 inches in 2013 as a 2014 model
  4. CTS Coupe and CTS Wagon will be discontinued in favor of ATS Coupe and ATS Wagon
  5. Platform will be lighter than the current Cadillac CTS Sigma platform
  6. Next generation Chevrolet Camaro will share the same Alpha platform
  7. Supercharged or turbocharged version of the gas direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6 should be available (!)
  8. Cars will be more fuel efficient than the current models

See our other Cadillac ATS coverage

All good news except for the 2014 arrival date; I was hoping for 2012 as a 2013 model.  Love that Cadillac recognizes they need to get some weight out, and bring a bit more power to the sport sedan mix.  Putting the CTS on Alpha makes a lot of sense if it is flexible enough to support the range of wheelbases needed.

Re: 2012 Cadillac ATS Still in the Works

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Edmund’s InsideLine has an interesting news mention here: 2012 Cadillac ATS Still in the Works.  They show a picture of the BLS, but at least they put in a Cadillac pic.

The Cadillac ATS of course is the ‘Smaller-than-a-CTS’ BMW 3-Series Killer we are waiting for.  Hearing that it might come along as a 2012 model is startling, and seems unlikely, but would be exciting if it does.  A 2012 model of course would arrive in 2011.  Surely we would have a Concept car or rolling examples now if the ATS were really coming out next year.

Although the title of the Article mentions 2012 ATS, the text actually says “debut” in 2012, which might mean a 2013 model, or might mean a 2014 model (the XTS ‘debuted’ this year but is at least 2 years out).

No news on what chassis the ATS will arrive on.  My favorite is still the Alpha, which was to be an extended Kappa platform, or a mix of Kappa and Sigma.

Also possible is that the ATS will arrive as an AWD vehicle on the shortest Epsilon II platform.

ATS fast facts:

  • Alpha / ATS internally informally referred to as the “BMW fighter” [good]
  • small, rear-wheel drive luxury car for the Cadillac division [confirmed, good]
  • Compete head-on with the German carmaker’s 3-series sedan [yes]
  • “This car has to speak for itself,” Reuss said in a recent interview. “Before, it was all about playing defense instead of offense.” [good]
  • Now, the engineering and purchasing executives are meeting together with important suppliers to stress that GM will pay top dollar if it gets the most advanced technology before other automakers. [good; not sure what they have in mind for the ATS here, but interesting]

In terms of the debate between a folding soft-top or a folding hardtop (as found on the XLR), I would need to hear more about how much the folding hardtop compromises in terms of lost trunk space.   I assume the Cadillac Engineers are comparing how quiet they can make the soft top (a hard top would give more isolation) versus how much more compact the soft top is than the hard top.  The folding hard tops add complication, but they are becoming more and more standard on convertibles.  Convertible sales across the market as a whole are down somewhat, but I would like to see the ATS convertible arrive on schedule.

Great news that Cadillac is still planning Sedan, Coupe, and Convertible variants.  This car need to sell 100K + cars per year in order to compete with 3-Series Sales.

Read more about the Cadillac ATS in our ATS Category.