Toss aside any preconceived notion you have about small Cadillacs. Forget Cimarron. Forget Catera. The only thing Cadillac's smart new CTS has in common with its predecessors is that its name starts with a "C." The CTS's sharply chiseled lines, jaunty rake and snarly exhaust note mark it as a sharp departure from bigger, plusher brethren.
The CTS is just what Cadillac needs to effectively battle Mercedes-Benz's C-Class, BMW's 3 Series and Lexus's IS 300. It's a feisty, not-so-little, rear-drive sports sedan, with the first stick shift in a Caddy since 1951! The 5L40-E automatic option is a velvety five-speed that, believe it or not, GM supplies to BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but until now, Cadillac has not had a model to suit its installation. Cadillac's new management insists it's serious about building a world-class entry-lux competitor. The CTS is a car that'll change people's minds about Cadillac ... and if they buy or lease one and like it, by trade-in time, there'll be a next-level car to trade up to that could keep them in the Caddy family.
It goes without saying that Cadillac (and also Lincoln) has taken it on the chin from the luxury imports. GM's oldest division (now that Oldsmobile is about to disappear), Cadillac has revealed a gaggle of angularly-styled show cars with names like Evoq and Vizon. Although their styling elements appear in present-day Cads, the CTS is the first production model to really walk that walk. Everybody looks at it. Not everyone will like it. But if you're in the market for an agile, roomy and fun-to-drive sports sedan, you'd be missing something if you didn't test it. (After a week with the car, I'm convinced that the styling grows on you. It did on me.)
Author: Ken Gross
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