Cadillac ATS acceleration – good enough?

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The Cadillac ATS acceleration has been noted: Cadillac says 5.4 sec 0-60 mph for the Cadillac ATS 3.6L V6.  They do not note if that is with or without roll-out.

On the drag strip run-out is the first distance — up to 12 inches — that the car can move before tripping the timing lights.  Some magazines measure acceleration with, some without roll-out.  I prefer if both with and without values are stated so there is no confusion.

Cadillac ATS Acceleration depends on light weight

The Cadillac ATS is a new breed of high-tech, light-weight Cadillacs.   The advantage of this lean, sporting approach is that the Cadillac ATS acceleration should be very good.

Cadillac ATS Acceleration depends on light weight

 

Cadillac ATS Acceleration depends on efficient power delivery

The Cadillac ATS will be offered with 3 power plants — an economic yet surprisingly capable 2.5L Four, a 2L Turbo Four for 272 hp, and the 3.6L V6 for 321 hp.  The V6 is the engine quoted in the press release.  We don’t know yet the equivalent performance for the 2L Turbo.

Competition improves the breed

How does that compare with the competition?

Model / 0-60 time:

  • Audi A4 2T 6.2 sec
  • Mercedes C250 Sport 7.2 sec
  • BMW 328i 5.9 sec
  • BMW 335i 4.7 sec — Motor Trend [full first test]

So while the 321 hp V6 Cadillac ATS acceleration sounds good for most drivers, it will not compare well with the BMW 335i once we get to comparison tests.

There are a couple of issues with comparing against the 335i — first, it is underrated. Although BMW says the 3L Turbo 6 makes 300 hp it clearly makes more power.    It can put down 293 whp on a chassis dyno, which equates to 344 crank hp.  BMW also uses a trick 8 speed automatic.   GM and Cadillac have new transmissions in development but not yet in production.

In the video: How do you put a metric on what the soul of the car is?

Cranking Cadillac ATS acceleration up to 11

For most owners, planned Cadillac ATS acceleration will be terrific and a good improvement over the Cadillac CTS.

What if Cadillac were to deliver the upcoming twin turbo 3.6L as the premium engine for next year’s Cadillac ATS, then bring the ATS-V in with an LSA 556 hp powerplant from the CTS-V?

Cadillac XTS Platinum for 2013

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Cadillac XTS Platinum is the maxed out, fully-loaded version of the new Cadillac XTS.  The Cadillac XTS Platinum starts at $59,080.   With a premium paint selection my Cadillac XTS Platinum came out to just over $60K.

2013 Cadillac XTS Platinum with 20″ wheels

A standard Cadillac XTS comes well equipped.  Up from Standard, Cadillac offers trim upgrades to Luxury, or Premium as with other models.  Platinum is Cadillac’s top of the line equipment level and comes with special features that can’t be ‘optioned up’ into other trim levels.

Cadillac XTS Platinum features:

Platinum Features

The XTS Platinum Collection takes luxury and refinement to an entirely new level with Opus full-leather seats, a leather-wrapped interior with color-contrast20 stitching and an elegant microfiber sueded headliner. Exterior details include a chrome-accented grille and exclusive 20” polished wheels with chrome inserts.

The Platinum trim includes or replaces features included on the Premium trim

  • 20″ polished aluminum wheels with chrome inserts
  • UltraView® power sunroof
  • Rear-window power sunshade
  • Rear side-door manual sunshades

“You want dubs on your Cadillac XTS Platinum?  Comes with.”

Note to the reader:  ‘dubs’ is a street term for wheels which are 20 inches or larger in diameter.  It apparently evolved from emphasis on the letter W in twenty.

Cadillac XTS Platinum or V-Series?

Cadillac tends to describe V-Series or Platinum versions of models as either-or.  They either plan to create a V-Series for models with more sports car orientation, such as the CTS and CTS-V, or Platinum versions for models that are more luxury oriented, such as Cadillac XTS Platinum or Cadillac Escalade Platinum.  The Cadillac XTS Platinum comes with many earlier V-Series exclusive features, such as Magnetic Ride Control and Brembo brakes.

Summary — Cadillac XTS Platinum

Out of the box the Cadillac XTS is a very capable choice.  The Cadillac XTS Platinum takes the Cadillac XTS to the next level.

Racing the Cadillac CTS-V

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Racing the Cadillac CTS-V

Cadillac Racing, SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge, Johnny O’Connell drives the #3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe and Andy Pilgrim drives the #8 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe (Richard Prince/Cadillac Racing Photo).

Racing the Cadillac CTS-V in the World Challenge Series lets Cadillac put their cars where the action is.  Racing improves the breed, and by racing a Cadillac CTS-V that is not only production based but very close to the production model Cadillac can directly translate lessons from the track to the street.

Here is a direct comparison from the CTS-V Coupe to the CTS-V Coupe Race Car:

CTS-V Coupe Road to Race Car Specification Comparison

Specification CTS-V Coupe Road Car CTS-V  Coupe Race Car
Body structure Strategically placed high-strength steel in unibody construction Reinforced production unibody with race-designed safety cage
Weight Curb weight 4,222 lbs. Curb weight 3,200 lbs. with mandated competition ballast, 50/50 weight distribution
Engine 6.2L supercharged V-8 (RWD); 556 hp @ 6100; torque 551@3800 6.2L, 90-degree V-8 with aluminum block and heads; 460 hp @ 5400; torque 447@4400
Transmission Six-speed manual Sequential six-speed transmission, no lift shift
Differential Locking rear, 4.15 final drive Limited-slip differential with 3.0 final drive
Brakes Brembo brakes six-piston front/four-piston, four-wheel ABS disc Brembo brakes, six-pot front with 355 mm rotor, four pot rear with 328 mm rotor, race spec four-wheel disc
Wheels 19-in. aluminum alloy BBS 12 x 18-in. aluminum rear wheels with 11 x 18-in. fronts
Tires Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 performance tires Pirelli racing slicks, front 305/645 x 18, rear 315/675 x 18, series spec
Steering ZF Servotronic® 2,6 speed-sensitive, power-assisted rack-and-pinion; variable ratio Steering, variable power-assisted rack-and-pinion
Suspension Front and rear independent with StabiliTrak electronic stability control system Three-way adjustable dampers (shocks); front independent SLA, race-modified; rear race-modified independent multi-link
Steering Wheel Adjustable leather-wrapped with radio controls Carbon fiber with six knobs and 12 buttons controlling everything from driver drink bottle to launch control
Seating Heated and ventilated driver and front passenger Recaro 14-way power-adjustable performance seats Single Pratt & Miller-designed cool seat, custom-fitted to driver
Safety Driver and passenger side air bags, passenger air bag on/off switch, OnStar Automatic Crash Response, etc. Pratt & Miller-developed side impact-reducing crush box, six-point driver restraint system with removable steering wheel
Radio 10-speaker Bose® 5.1 surround sound system; hard-drive device; AM/FM/RDS4/MP3/ DVD with USB audio connectivity and steering wheel controls and SiriusXM satellite radio Motorola two-way radio with steering wheel-mounted press-to-talk button and single speaker connection to driver ear buds
Racing the Cadillac CTS-V

Richard Prince/Cadillac Racing Photo

Slowing down for Racing the Cadillac CTS-V?

For some series and manufacturers, the race car has to be carefully tuned up to be competitive.  For WCRacing, Cadillac restricts the CTS-V engine output from the 556 hp that the street car makes to 460 hp for the race car.  Yes, when racing the Cadillac CTS-V Cadillac gives up almost 100 hp.

The racing engines are prepared by Katech.  They use the same 6.2L OHV V8 as the street car, but don’t have the supercharger.  As prepared they would make 520 hp, but are restricted to 460 hp for the series.

A big difference from the street car to make up for the power loss is weight.  The race car hits the track at 3,200 lbs plus rewards weight.  The street car weighs 4,222 lbs.  In the World Challenge, winning drivers get rewards weight to add to their car for the next race.  This helps balance the series even further during the season.  You can see the rewards weight each driver is carrying by numbers on the windscreen.

The complete vehicle specification for the racing the Cadillac CTS-V can be found on the World Challenge site here.

Racing the Cadillac CTS-V

Racing the Cadillac CTS-V

Cadillac is not afraid to throw down the gauntlet and put their cars on the track.  Racing the Cadillac CTS-V even with the series restrictions can give a very good test ground for engineering improvements in the street cars.    Racing the Cadillac CTS-V is also very entertaining.

Bravo Cadillac!