Category Archives: STS-V

C&C: Interesting Cars vs Daily Drivers #Motorama @Cadillac

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I was chatting with a Cadillac owner about his modified DTS at Cars & Coffee Dallas on Saturday when he said something that I found interesting — one of the reasons he wanted to visually modify his Cadillac was so people would recognize that it was a special vehicle with a lot of other nice touches.

Another data point that caught my attention was a Cars & Coffee guide from the Irvine California event:

What makes it “of interest?” How to define “unusual?” You’d get lots of opinions on that. One suggestion we’ve heard is… cars that aren’t driven to work every day. If it’s a car that is driven every day, odds are, it’s not a car that will get people out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday. Of course there will be a few exceptions (we won’t penalize you if you drive your Talbot-Lotus to work), but that can be a general guide. […] We’re all about interesting AND unusual cars

And finally, during a chat with Charlie from burnoutradio.com he mentioned that one car show had the rule that a car needed to have customizations in 3 separate areas — one engine, one exhaust, and one interior for example — to qualify to enter the show.

Now, I had mixed feelings about my STS-V and Cars & Coffee.  I enjoy going regardless, but I was not sure if I wanted to “display” the V or just park to the side and enjoy seeing the other cars there.   I ended up pulling in and parking out of the way, but with the STS-V ready to show.  Luckily Emily and Charlie parked their STS-V next to mine, so we instantly had a Cadillac area and that settled that.

A lot of car guys love cars, but they can’t afford a hobby car that they can drive to work every day.  Either they have a long commute, or the interesting, fun, hobby car can’t live up to usage as a daily driver.  So they drive a small pickup or boring economy car every day, when they wish they could be in their fun car.

I am lucky in that my 2008 Cadillac STS-V is a fun car and my daily driver.  It is actually quite a bit more rare, with less than 500 produced, interesting, and a better performer than many of the cars shown at C&C  Dallas.

In fact, that is one of the reasons I decided to purchase a Cadillac V-Series — Cadillac is producing the V-Series as road and track performers for automotive enthusiasts.  Since I *am* a ‘car guy’ & automotive enthusiast, and a Cadillac fan, the V-Series is the right fit for me.

I don’t care where I park at C&C, although I was hoping and managed to meet & discuss Cadillacs with other Cadillac fans.  I will say that people did stroll over to look at the STS-Vs and I had some nice chats about the V-Series Cadillacs.

I am thrilled I get to drive an ‘Interesting Car’ every day.  I wish everyone did, and that the roads were full of interesting cars.

What do you think?  What makes an automobile “Interesting”?

Scenic Texas Road Quick-Trip: Plano – Leonard #Motorama

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Today I mapped out a scenic road trip in North Texas from Plano through Melissa and Blue Ridge to Leonard, Texas.

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I selected this route because FM 545 from Melissa to Blue Ridge is noted as a curvy, tight road that serves well for an afternoon drive. I am happy to confirm this, although because it is tree lined and tight, not a good place to see just how fast you can get around the corners so much as a good place to enjoy a drive.

I stopped off and shot this pond in a field just along the road in or near Leonard.

Across from Lea’s, Leonard field-house wall shows Leonard High School’s records.  This is how you communicate to your competitors lol.

Lea’s is very unassuming from the outside.  The building in the middle is Lea’s, and it is sort of tucked in behind the grocery store in the middle of a corner.

I had the lunch buffet, selecting chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and corn bread.

I rate Lea’s as Bring your Own Beverage — the only diet soft drink they serve is Diet Dr. Pepper.  Next time through I will plan to duck into the grocery next door and get a diet coke on the way.  I shot this pic with my camera phone, so please forgive that part.

I caught this shot to give you an idea of the road on the way; lots of nice 2-lane with or without shoulders and farm land.

Route Summary:

545 was exactly as advertised — tight curvy 2 lane.  Overall the route was a good quick run and made a relaxing tour.  Another day I would make this the first leg, since I was just getting to some good rural driving areas by the time I headed back to 75 via 121.

 

Cadillac STS-V visit with TexasJim in Grapevine

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Ran out to Grapevine Texas to meet with Texas Jim and show him my STS-V.  Jim lives out west somewhere, so Grapevine is 30 miles from me and 35 miles from him more or less.

I managed not to talk to the STS-V Nav system the right way, so Jim actually provided turn by turn navigation to get me in to the parking lot where we planned to meet.  Now I have that spot saved in the nav for another visit.  I love that the STS-V has bluetooth so my pocket cell phone becomes a hands-free phone using the 15 speakers in the STS-V when synced.

I’m still driving the Cadillac around dirty, but he had not seen/Driven the V-Series so I wanted to show & discuss.  When I was test driving the Cadillac CTS-V I had brought it out to show, but because it was a Dealer car I could not offer test drives.  Since the STS-V is my car, I wanted to give Jim a chance to try it out.  He posted his take on the experience here.

Jim’s 2006 Cadillac DTS Performance Sedan still looks great at 100K+ miles.

Jim also took numerous pics of the V.  One feature the STS-V has is headlight washers.  They are actually controlled by the same controls as the windshield washer.   So while I sat in the V and hit the washers, Jim grabbed this shot:

Normally that little panel is flush with the front of the car, but on command it lifts up, clearing the nozzles below to spray the headlight covers to wash them clean.  Charming.

We had a nice visit and talked about Cadillacs, and ran the STS-V up and down the highway so he could get a feel for it.  I think we concluded that it would suit him just fine as a next Cadillac.  Actually his 2006 DTS is still going strong so no rush to a new Cadillac.

I like the way the camera autofocus came out on this shot.   The STS-V was produced at Lansing Grand River by UAW 652.   “One Team, One Goal, World’s Best”; well done.

 

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