- sedan
- Cape Coral, FL
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- autoshopper.com
2004 cadillac cts review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. New engines improve this great sports sedan. introductionyears from now, the year 2003 will be remembered as the beginning of the comeback for cadillac, carried on the broad edgy shoulders of the rear-wheel-drive cts. the 2003 cts almost had it all, but the engine wasn't strong enough to fill the promise of the superb new chassis, and the competition from bmw and audi demanded more than 220 horsepower. The 2004 cts responds with two punches, a left jab (255-horsepower v6) and right cross (400-horsepower v8). 2004 also brings some needed softness into the interior, and tweaks the suspension to balance that additional horsepower on the road. The handling of the '03 cts was widely praised, and now it's even better. lineupthe cts comes standard with the 3. 2-liter v6 engine introduced last year 30,365). Standard equipment includes 16-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires, leather upholstery, side-impact airbags and side air curtains front and rear, dual-zone climate control, driver power seat, driver information center, seven-speaker sound system, and one year of onstar road assistance service. The sport package 1875) takes the suspension tuning a big step further with monotube shocks, brake pads with more anti-fade heat resistance, 17-inch alloy wheels with 255/50r17 tires, load-leveling rear suspension, and stabilitrak, an electronic stability control system. The luxury package 2800) includes things like a sunroof, heater power seats, bose sound system and xm satellite radio. the new cts-v 49,995) is in another league altogether. Its 5. 7-liter v8 engine comes from the corvette, and it delivers 400 horsepower and 395 pounds-feet of torque, mated to the potent and smooth getrag six-speed gearbox; it's fitted with 18-inch wheels, very grippy tires, brembo brakes, and other high-performance tweaks. walkaroundthe cts is the first production car in cadillac's new design vocabulary that started several years ago with the evoq show car. Cadillac calls this new style art & science, and it relies on a festival of wedges, sharp junctions and angles. 'edgy' is the adjective that is frequently and aptly applied. it looks slightly different from every angle, with all points of view interesting. From the front, it looks imposing, with a strong confident eggcrate grille sweeping upward like a wing, and horizontal sharp headlamps stacked with two beams inside. An all-business air dam features simple rectangular foglights and a long narrow intake near the skirt. the sharp edges of the nose vanish from a side view, but they reappear on top of the tall, wide taillamps which travel vertically at the car's rear corners and extend horizontally on the short, high deck. The view from the rear is marred by the indentation cut widely around the license plate, housing the backup lights in a sea of sparkling white plastic. The seven-spoke alloy wheels look especially sharp in the mirror finish, mostly because of their sportier centers. It's very angular, for the sake of style, although in '04 it's been softened here and there. There is a very european presentation of the instrumentation, meaning clear gauges. The cts is sold in europe. Done up in several high-tech textures, the dashboard and instrument panel are rendered in muted shades of gray with excellent, highly readable graphics. Almost everywhere the texture is dimpled like a golf ball, which we didn't particularly like and wondered if the texture would gather dust. the center stack, where most of the adjusting is done, juts out proudly and prominently from the rest of the dash, with the elaborate gps navigation system at the top center location. Climate controls are at the bottom, controlled by amber-lighted pictograms like other cadillacs. the three-spoke steering wheel contains buttons for the sound system and cruise control, and is deliciously padded in leather for all but the part of the rim between about 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, a cadillac trademark that we wish could be ordered away. There's good support for the driver's right leg; where the right shin touches it feels padded, but it's only soft and hollow. A quite tall driver or passenger will be comfortable in front, and only slightly cramped in the rear. There is a convenient pass-thru tunnel between the rear seats, to the trunk. The door pockets are not very deep. The small triangular speakers for the optional bose system are mounted on the a pillar, and look cool. driving impressionthe new optional v6 is state of the art. It displaces 3. 6 liters, with a 60-degree aluminum block, double overhead cams, variable valve timing, electronic throttle control, six coils and a structural oil pan. Cadillac's engineers built it with a broad torque curve, which is important for a v6, and it runs on 87 octane with epa-estimated city/highway mileage of 18/28 mpg; consider that the less powerful 3. 2-liter takes 91 octane and gets 18/25 mpg. It lacks a great sound despite its dual exhaust system, and it can feel a bit harsh at full throttle, but it's smooth the rest of the time. There's nothing like a rear-wheel-drive sedan with tight handling and good power, ripping away from slow corners when there are no other cars around. We'd feel and hear the tires chirp as we accelerated up to 6200 rpm redline and let the electronic five-speed automatic transmission do its thing. the ride and handling were impeccable; smooth, steady, predictable. Solid, but not heavy. Precise, with just the right amount of resistance from the speed-sensitive power steering. The cts suspension was developed on germany's legendary nurburgring circuit, because that's where the german sports sedans are developed, and cadillac was eager to challenge them on their terms. It shows in the car. It was the correct point, not too early like some others, particularly some mercedes-benz models. We gave the abs with brake proportioning a good test, and it passed with flying colors. It shifted down and up a lot, especially at a casual pace. But with sport mode engaged, the transmission takes on a new attitude, sharp and decisive. Enthusiast drivers might want to wait for the six-speed getrag gearbox. as for the corvette-powered cts-v, we can think of worse ways to spend 50 grand. Cadillac didn't use its own great northstar v8 with double overhead cams (as it does in the srx sport-utility) because it couldn't quite fit under the cts hood. Its styling is distinctive and its image fresh and reborn. For 2004, it adds two new engines, one of them high tech and the other high performance. The cts needs to be good because it will be sold in europe and japan as well as the u. Cruise Control✔ Climate Control✔ Power Seats✔ Sport Package✔ Sunroof/Moonroof✔ Navigation System✔ Leather Seats✔ Alloy Wheels
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