Cadillac, generally you assume an older persons vehicle or a boat. Well the in recent years Cadillac have been reinventing themselves for the younger generation. With the current new comer the XTS I can see them definitely appealing to the younger crowd.
The XTS we took a look at was fully loaded XTS4 V-powered. Which means we had all the bells and whistles I’m sure I even missed some. But to start the XTS has leather seats with a suede head liner also wood grain with accent lighting all around the dash board and doors so right when you get in you feel like you’re in carvana.
When it comes to comforts it definitely doesn’t fall short either, You’ve for duel climate control and heated seats all around, yes even the back seat passengers can have warm bums. In the front you can also have vented seats for the hot summer days. The dashboard is a customizable digital screen which you have three layouts to choose from and can pick which info you want in what window. But unlike the Jaguar I reviewed last year it didn’t seem cheap or get a massive glare from the sun when driving.
The rear passengers also get an added bonus you have pull up sun shades on the side windows and the driver can raise the one on the rear window. You also get a nice large sun roof the slides under a glass pane for the rear passengers so you get air flow but can also enjoy the sunshine!
Now on to the CUE, oh man the CUE. I’ve been hearing about this from other car people but never really got to play with it. But I was always thinking “you’ve seen one digital infotainment centre you’ve seen them all”….. man was I wrong. As far as I am concerned this slaps the other ones I have tested in the face.
First off the CUE has hepatic feedback so when you push something on the screen you feel the click and a little vibrate feedback. The layout is awesome on this everything was spaced out great and if you have your radio running and just cruising the tabs all disappear so it is a very clean look and all you have to do is swipe your hand in front of the screen and it all comes back.
The CUE’s nav set up is better then most but could use some work. When putting in an address it does most of the work you don’t change city or anything all you do is type in the destination and it gives you a list of possibles based on your location. But when using the voice nav when I tell it where I want to go even talking slow and clear it still never got my address right so I’d have to pull over to type it in. It had no issues syncing up to my phone or iPod and the rear DVD players worked great with the included wireless headphones.
On to some safety features, with the XTS you’ve got sensors everywhere you have front and rear crash detection, parking assists, break assists and more airbags then you’d think but if any of these things fail you’ll be happy they are in place. One thing that threw me off was when you are reversing up a drive way or in a spot most detections just beep at you, well not with the XTS they take it one more step the seat actually vibrates for any warning. Which is good because chances are if you have a kid screaming or construction around you are not going to hear the beep but your butt vibrating I sure hope you feel that!
Now that we have covered the interior lets get to the exterior, the XTS we reviewed came in a nice deep red with chrome accents all around. Also tall slim head lights and tail lights both LED strips, along with the front having projector HID’s with turn assist directional beams which is great going around a country bend to avoid a raccoon (Tested and works!). All of this glorious package is sitting on 20” chrome rims so you can still wow the crowd.
Now we can’t let you go without telling you how this beast gets its growl. Under the hood of the XTS is a twin turbo V6 sitting at 410 hp @ 6,000 RPM, with 369 lb-ft @ 1,900-5,600rpm. That coupled with the AWD and sport suspension it made driving anywhere a treat. Gas mileage for having that much power wasn’t the worst either I got on average 13.6L per 100km which is good for how I was driving it.
Now for my opinion on this, I always looked at Cadillac as older generations vehicles but this XTS is definitely one I would consider with all these options its coming in a $78,000 CAD which is $1000 more then the Land Rover LR4 I feel you’re getting so much more with the XTS so go to your local GM Dealership and give one a test drive!
