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Cadillac ATS Entertainment & the Apple iPhone

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Last evening we found that enjoying songs from an Apple iPhone on the Cadillac ATS Entertainment system by Bose requires that you know one thing — who is in control?

We are enjoying a test drive of a 2014 Cadillac ATS Premium model courtesy of Crest Cadillac of Plano, Texas.  Please see 2014 Cadillac ATS Test Drive and Buying a Cadillac ATS, Wife Version for more info on this test.

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On a drive last evening we selected what seemed a simple task:  plug an iPhone in via USB to the Cadillac ATS and enjoy playing music from the iPhone.

In the big picture, this immediately appeared to work, simple and easy.  The entertainment recognized the iPhone as an iPod (wrong, but okay), and when we selected music to play on the iPhone, music played through the Cadillac ATS’ entertainment system.

Then we noted that the correct Artist and Song info, although visible on the iPhone, was not always visible on the ATS entertainment system (showed no artist found).  There was a place for it to show — and I should take a moment to share that I love that entertainment has become so interactive so that we can use a phone as a song database and play it in the car — but the place it should show the info shared that it didn’t know the info even through it was clear the iPhone did know.

If we selected Browse songs, it would pause for a while, then allow us to browse by Artist, or Album.  But if we selected a song on Browse, it would begin to rapidly sequence through songs, playing only a snippet then going to the next song (as if in Seek mode).

We tried a different iPhone, with different result — the song data was visible, showing Artist and Album, etc., and the music played properly from browse.

Then we closed the iPhone music player on the first iPhone, plugged it back in, and — not making any selections on the iPhone — used the Cadillac ATS entertainment system to select which song to play.  Now the song and artist information showed correctly from the first Apple iPhone as well, and everything worked as expected.

Lesson Learned?

Don’t try to control the iPhone from both the iPhone screen and the ATS entertainment system screen at the same time — just plug in the iPhone (without music playing) and then use the ATS Entertainment system touch screen to control it.

Meanwhile, the Cadillac ATS continues to impress.  We had a lovely evening out, and are enjoying the light, agile sports sedan.

 

2014 Cadillac ATS Test Drive

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Crest Cadillac was kind enough to send over a new 2014 Cadillac ATS Premium for my Wife and I for a real-world Cadillac ATS test to make sure it would be a good fit as a next car for her.  Please read my post, Buying a Cadillac ATS, Wife Version for background.

The gallery above are iphone pics on  an overcast day.  The actual shade of the car visually is more like the exterior paint shown in the shot of the interior.  This one has a black interior as opposed to the Morello two-tone, but my Wife notes that the Morello is of interest to me and not to the perspective owner.

She approved the shade of Red, and grabbed up the key fob to wheel us off to breakfast.  The magnetic suspension dealt with everything we threw at it with aplomb.

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After breakfast my friend and I took the ATS over to BJ’s Brewhouse in Allen, then to Sam’s Club in Plano.  The ATS’ trunk had plenty of room for more supplies if needed.

This example is a 2014 Cadillac ATS Premium with the 3.6L DOHC VVT DI V6.  Although some reports have suggested this engine has a hint of harshness, it seems perfectly smooth to me.  The ATS doesn’t have the core grunt that my Supercharged STS-V V8 does, but it has very competent acceleration and gets much better gas mileage.

My Wife’s first impressions are “Gotta have it” good.  Next we’ll take it out and around a bit more, and let her test the entertainment and infotainment features.

Buying a Cadillac ATS, Wife Version

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My Wife is about ready for a new car, so I am trying to encourage her to consider the Cadillac ATS.

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The ATS sedan comes in 3 main lines of increasing features —  standard, luxury, and premium — with the latter choices available either for the 2L Turbo or the 3.6L V6, all-wheel drive, or rear-wheel drive.  We are targeting a Premium Model (2L Turbo or V6).

She is agnostic on engines, but I see advantages to each — a bit better mpg on the 2L Turbo (21/31 city/highway vs 19/28) , a bit more power on the 3.6L (321 hp vs 272 hp).

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My Wife is certain the ATS needs to be Red with a sunroof.  I would like to ensure we get the Morello Red with jet black accent interior as shown here.  I missed getting the Tango Red interior for my STS-V, and I think the color contrast is striking, especially with the red exterior.

I am also excited about the Driver Assist package.  The Premium includes the Driver Awareness package (note the confusingly similar names Assist and Awareness), but the Driver Assist package is optional.

The Driver Awareness package is include in the Premium, and adds:

Driver Awareness Package This package includes a number of high-tech features designed to alert the driver to potentially hazardous traffic situations that could result in a crash.

  • Safety Alert Seat
  • Forward Collision Alert
  • Lane Departure Warning
  • Rainsense™ automatic wipers
  • IntelliBeam® headlamps
  • Rear side air bags1 for outboard passengers
  • Direct view notification display2

The Driver Assist package is an option beyond the Premiums package and adds

  • Adaptive Cruise Control1 with full speed range capability
  • Automatic Collision Preparation with Intelligent Brake Assist
  • Front and Rear Automatic Braking
  • Electronic parking brake
  • Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
  • Side Blind Zone Alert2
  • Midnight chrome accented grille

The sunroof is not a standard feature of the Cadillac ATS Premium package, which will make shopping for a used ATS with Premium and Driver Assist and a Sunroof  a bit more interesting.

We are shopping for a lightly used 2013 model for the economy of buying used.  A new 2014 Cadillac ATS with 2L Turbo, Red Obsession paint, Driver Assist package, and Sunroof is ~$51K, reduced with current incentives and supplier discount to ~$45K.  The market for a lightly used 2013 Cadillac ATS appears to be ~$35K, (with a premium in the used market for Red).   That is a nice savings on a relatively new ATS.

I sent over to our friends (and a Site Sponsor) at Crest Cadillac in Plano to see if they can help us find the right ATS.  They do have a 2014 model that is almost my target — missing the Morello Red interior.

Update:

Darin Partin called from Crest Cadillac.  We discussed our target, and he suggested the Driver Awareness actually has the features I am after and the Driver Assist may not be required.  Crest is sending over a car for my Wife to test drive over the weekend so we can make sure she understands the ATS features and are on the right track for her next car.

Updates: 2014 Cadillac ATS Test Drive