Took Delivery of My New '08 CTS - Pics Inside - Page 8

gm_eng · #**106** (**permalink**) 08-30-07, 09:59 AM

Some more impressions. The cooled seats are really cool (pun intended). It was 98 degrees outside yesterday, and the cooled seats got the small of my back so cold I had to turn it down. The sitting position is higher than I was used to in the Seville. My wife mentioned it when she drove it too. She likes that. At the dealer I programmed my home address in the nav and gave it the voice tag "Home." When we got ready to leave, I just pressed the voice recognition button for two seconds, said "Go, Home" and it brought up my home address and asked me to confirn the address. I pressed "Done" and it loaded the route. With the XM and traffic restrictions turned on, it also showed and listed all the road construction going on between the dealer and home. The audio system sounds great! Normal FM sounded good but we wanted to try the surround sound (centerpoint) so I loaded a CD. Started listening to it in the "Normal" mode then toggled to "Centerpoint." Both my wife and I could easily tell the difference - centerpoint much better. She said "Leave it set that way!" Regarding the interior color light titanium. I was expecting light gray, but the color is actually so light it's hard to tell if it's gray or tan. Much nicer than light gray I expected. I'm happiest about the exterior color. I could never get a straight answer about what type of red it would be. Bright red, metallic red, guards red (Porsche red/orange). It's a beautiful metallic red, very close in color to my C6. If the sun isn't shining on it, you can't see the metal flakes in the paint. But when the sun hits it, WOW! The color really pops. I love it. Here's another picture.

RAB · #**107** (**permalink**) 08-30-07, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zymurgy

Per your request:

My initial impressions:

This car is very impressive. Very quiet inside. Workmanship is outstanding. The ventilated seats are fantastic and the seating is very comfortable. I find the seats much more comfortable than those in our '04 CTS. Seat travel range is considerably greater than in the 1st gen CTS. There is more legroom in the backseat, even with the front seat all the way back (and in this position, at 6'1" I can barely reach the pedals).

The audio system is also much improved. The ability to time-shift (TIVO like) XM, FM, AM radio broadcasts is pretty wild. Sound quality is much improved.

Handling is very nice. Smooths out the bumps nicely, but still as a good feel of the road. Acceleration (with the 304HP DI) seems very adequate (although I have not pushed it hard as it only has 175 miles at this point). One negative is that the turning radius is not as tight as the 1st gen was. It is only slightly wider, but it is noticeable.

Zymurgy, thanks for the additional pics as well as your initial impressions of the car. It's amazing how someone can pick up more useful information & detail about the new CTS from a contributing forum member here such as yourself than in any number of automotive magazines that purport to be authorities on such matters.

I mentioned this point in a recent post, but gotta say again your photos of the new car have been excellent -- as good as or better than what is typically found in the aforementioned auto mags. Can you advise what model camera you've been using, and what particular settings you chose to use (resolution, compression, other).
Also, I noticed there is chamfered perimeter framing on each of the photos. Nice touch. Is that an effect you've added via a unique photo editor program?

JBsZ06 · #**108** (**permalink**) 08-30-07, 10:26 AM

Great info!

fwiw seeing the car yesterday at the dealership really gave me a new and somewhat interesting perspective.

The front view of the car shows both the large bold grill but also shows how tight the front end is..

Its almost a small tight pulled together front end and its really sharp!

I can see how the STS can be the larger more mature vehicle by the differences in the details such as what I am hopefully describing..

The side view is also much sportier than the STS.

Both great vehicles..I just prefer the sportier CTS.

I'm still stunned over how cool looking the vehicle is..

And the interior is far superior to the other luxury vehicles ..(thats my wifes opinion too)

I don't even need to drive the vehicle to order one.. I drove the 2007 CTS and it was impressive....

RAB · #**109** (**permalink**) 08-30-07, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm_eng

Some more impressions. The cooled seats are really cool (pun intended). It was 98 degrees outside yesterday, and the cooled seats got the small of my back so cold I had to turn it down. The sitting position is higher than I was used to in the Seville. My wife mentioned it when she drove it too. She likes that. At the dealer I programmed my home address in the nav and gave it the voice tag "Home." When we got ready to leave, I just pressed the voice recognition button for two seconds, said "Go, Home" and it brought up my home address and asked me to confirn the address. I pressed "Done" and it loaded the route. With the XM and traffic restrictions turned on, it also showed and listed all the road construction going on between the dealer and home. The audio system sounds great! Normal FM sounded good but we wanted to try the surround sound (centerpoint) so I loaded a CD. Started listening to it in the "Normal" mode then toggled to "Centerpoint." Both my wife and I could easily tell the difference - centerpoint much better. She said "Leave it set that way!" Regarding the interior color light titanium. I was expecting light gray, but the color is actually so light it's hard to tell if it's gray or tan. Much nicer than light gray I expected. I'm happiest about the exterior color. I could never get a straight answer about what type of red it would be. Bright red, metallic red, guards red (Porsche red/orange). It's a beautiful metallic red, very close in color to my C6. If the sun isn't shining on it, you can't see the metal flakes in the paint. But when the sun hits it, WOW! The color really pops. I love it. Here's another picture.

Gm_eng, thanks for your further impressions. Keep them coming!
It's great to hear that the cooled seats work well to keep one's own seat from overheating when the going gets hot.

Glad to hear too that the audio system sounds good. None of the articles I've read talked much about the actual sound of the audio system, as they concentrated mainly on the various features of the Nav/Infotainment system.
Since the audio system in your new car features 5.1 surround sound (not all that common in cars as yet), you may want to go out and buy at least one DVD-A (DVD Audio disk) to further sample the sonic capabilities of the system. Some of the better music/CD stores carry a selection of DVD-A's for the discriminating buyer/listener. DVD-A's are significantly more expensive than regular CD's, but they do provide an exceptional audio experience.
Can't tell from your photo(s), but I'm guessing you ordered the Ultraview sunroof. If that's the case, how do you like the sunroof in general, as well as its controls? And the integral motorized sunshade.. how do you find using that?

Cheers
Rab.

Loveldos · #**110** (**permalink**) 08-30-07, 08:27 PM

Zymurgy: Abundant thanks for your additional fine pictures! Your images are most likely much nicer than those that will be in the brochure. As someone else said, it has [also] been quite a while since I've been so enthusiastic about a new model launch (and I am a lifelong automotive enthusiast). The comments from owners are most informative, and educational, too! Thanks!

gm_eng · #**111** (**permalink**) 08-31-07, 09:22 AM

One thing I'm disappointed with is the memory seats. On my Corvette, when I sit in the car and start it, it automatically recalls and sets my seating, mirrors, radio and climate control settings. With the CTS, I either have to push the unlock button on the fob or the memory button on the door for it to move everything to my stored positions. I think it should do it automatically like the Corvette (and the 1999 Seville I just sold). Kind of defeats part of the purpose of keyless entry. Also, page 1-7 of the owners manual says I should be able to program the seat exit position and it gives instructions on how to do it. I've tried many times and so did the salesman and it won't program. No matter what I try, when I open the door, the seat slides all the way back. Anyone know the trick to program it or the memory function?

imrf · #**112** (**permalink**) 09-03-07, 03:59 PM

If you get the time, can you post some pics of the interior at night, when the accent lighting is on. Also, do you find the accent lighting distracting at night? I'm debating whether to get LL1 as part of the CTS I'm looking at.

Zymurgy · #**113** (**permalink**) 09-03-07, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAB

... I mentioned this point in a recent post, but gotta say again your photos of the new car have been excellent -- as good as or better than what is typically found in the aforementioned auto mags. Can you advise what model camera you've been using, and what particular settings you chose to use (resolution, compression, other).
Also, I noticed there is chamfered perimeter framing on each of the photos. Nice touch. Is that an effect you've added via a unique photo editor program?

RAB, I'm using a Sony DSC F717 which has Carl Zeiss optics. It is a five megapixel digital with 10X optical zoom. I'm using Paint Shop Pro to resize and add the frame effect (3-D Buttonize).

Zymurgy · #**114** (**permalink**) 09-03-07, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imrf

If you get the time, can you post some pics of the interior at night, when the accent lighting is on. Also, do you find the accent lighting distracting at night? I'm debating whether to get LL1 as part of the CTS I'm looking at.

I posted some shots of the accent lighting in this thread: http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...g-effects.html. I do not find the accent lighting distracting at all.

gm_eng · #**115** (**permalink**) 09-03-07, 05:27 PM

imrf - There might be one slight distraction with thw accent lighting. The light on the door is reflected in the driver's side window, and the reflection if right across the line of sight for the side view mirror. No big deal. I still prefer to have them. They adjust brighter and dimmer with the instrument lights.

imrf · #**116** (**permalink**) 09-03-07, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zymurgy

I posted some shots of the accent lighting in this thread: http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...g-effects.html. I do not find the accent lighting distracting at all.

Great thanks guys. The decision gets harder now.

Zymurgy · #**117** (**permalink**) 09-14-07, 07:29 PM

Salesperson at the dealership sent this to the home last Saturday as a thank you for buying the new CTS:

And this was a GMS (Employee Pricing) purchase.

Tony407 · #**118** (**permalink**) 09-14-07, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zymurgy

Salesperson at the dealership sent this to the home last Saturday as a thank you for buying the new CTS:

And this was a GMS (Employee Pricing) purchase.

Wow. Never heard of that happening before. Cool.

Tony

sbudaj · #**119** (**permalink**) 09-15-07, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm_eng

One thing I'm disappointed with is the memory seats. On my Corvette, when I sit in the car and start it, it automatically recalls and sets my seating, mirrors, radio and climate control settings. . . .

You must have an automatic trans in your Corvette. In my 2006 Corvette with a manual trans, I have to press the button to get the seats, etc. to my settings, just like the CTS! (So I am used to it.)

Steve

lewisforjesus · #**120** (**permalink**) 06-10-08, 12:46 AM

I seen this thread for the 1st time just now linked from another thread. Thanks for all of the pics (have any more). I'm using one of them as my desk top image on my iMAC. The WDT has been the color I keep going back to when researching this car. We will be getting one around Oct. Update on how you like your car and how it's performing. Thanks Lewis