08CTS
02-24-08, 08:25 PM
So I picked up my new Blue Chip over Cashmere CTS4 on Friday night. It is equipped with Nav, Ultraview, Lux 1, Performance Package, Polished Wheels, Wood 1 and 2, and spare tire. The only thing it doesn't have is Lux 2.
Unfortunately, on the afternoon that I picked it up, it snowed about 10 inches here in Mass. I drove what usually takes about 1 hr to Rhode Island to pick it up and bring it home, but it took me over an hour and a half because of the conditions. I saw many cars slipping and sliding all over the place on unplowed roads, but the CTS never missed a beat. Man am I happy to have AWD. So it passed it's first test in very inclement weather.
Interior: I love it. The automatic climate control works extremely well; I haven't touched anything except the temperature control to stay comfortable in over 200 miles. In my BMW, I was constantly adjusting the fan, direction, and temperature to stay comfortable. I love the Onstar, and the hands free calling is great. I can't wait to get the Bluetooth capability that I keep hearing is coming. I don't like the Exit feature on the drivers seat, and have disabled it. The seats are very comfortable and the seat heaters work quickly. I don't have the sunroof noise that many have complained about, but I am feeling the vibration from the shifter and the gas pedal at highway speeds. I'll keep an eye on that. I simply am blown away by the cockpit feel, particularly at night. The LED ambiance lighting is very nice. WOW am I happy that I didn't lease a C class with that $hitty interior. I love how the gauges cycle when starting the car.
Nav: I'd read many posts about how bad the Nav is before picking up the car and wondered if I'd made a mistake. However, it hasn't missed a beat yet, albeit with limited use. I have tried purposely to fool it but it quickly recalculated the directions. I like how the voice announces the next street, something my Garmin doesn't do. I love the startup process it goes through when starting the car, ending up with the Cadillac logo. I agree that the radio should mute when the voice is talking, and I keep accidentally turning the voice down when it speaks while trying to turn the radio down to hear the voice! But I will get used to it. I still have a lot of reading to do to figure out the voice commands; I've played with them a little bit with limited success. The Bose system is simply the best car audio system that I've ever owned....it's that good. My Porsche has the $1800 Bose system and it sucks in comparison. The iPod connectivity is great, and so are the touchscreen commands. I haven't played with the HDD much yet, but I look forward to digging into my CD collection to start ripping my favorite songs. Should take a few weeks to get them all in there. I wish the sound system controls on the steering wheel were on the left side...because I'm right handed and hold my cellphone with my right when I'm not using my handsfree, it's more convenient to have the audio controls on the left (save the driving and talking is unsafe, thanks).
Performance: The performance of the 3.6DI, while not breathtaking, is more than enough. The automatic is very responsive, and shifts very firmly in manual mode. It won't shift on it's own at redline while in manual mode, something I found out today! I love how it blips the revs when downshifting, although sometimes when trying to engine brake, the revving makes the car surge forward a bit. The exhaust has a nice little growl to it. The steering on my FE2 car is very tight and responsive. The Xenon headlights are EXCELLENT, and the way they turn with the steering wheel is a great touch. I hate DRLs (I'll decide when to turn on my headlights, thanks) so I'm constantly rotating the switch to "off" during the day.
Appearance: The outside is breathtaking. The front bumper and lower spoiler, as mentioned elsewhere on the forum, are verrrrrrrrry low and will need to be watched carefully. I don't like the placement of the front plate, and will do some research on the best way to remove the bracket that holds it. The 18 inch wheels are nice, but the brake calipers aren't very attractive. I wish Cadillac had done something better with them, such as black powdercoat, etc. My blue chip paint had some swirls in it from the dealer's prep department...the manager agreed to reimburse me for a full detail from my detail guy as I didn't trust them to touch the car again. The Cashmere interior is going to be difficult to keep clean, but if kept up with should be fine. I'm still deciding if I'm going to "debadge" the CTS4 and the 3.6DI badges on the back...I like a nice clean look. I like that the radio antenna is in the rear window, and the only antenna is the "fin" on the roof for the XM and Nav.
Sorry for the long winded post......I'm sure I'll think of more items to mention but my hands are getting tired from typing! :o
Unfortunately, on the afternoon that I picked it up, it snowed about 10 inches here in Mass. I drove what usually takes about 1 hr to Rhode Island to pick it up and bring it home, but it took me over an hour and a half because of the conditions. I saw many cars slipping and sliding all over the place on unplowed roads, but the CTS never missed a beat. Man am I happy to have AWD. So it passed it's first test in very inclement weather.
Interior: I love it. The automatic climate control works extremely well; I haven't touched anything except the temperature control to stay comfortable in over 200 miles. In my BMW, I was constantly adjusting the fan, direction, and temperature to stay comfortable. I love the Onstar, and the hands free calling is great. I can't wait to get the Bluetooth capability that I keep hearing is coming. I don't like the Exit feature on the drivers seat, and have disabled it. The seats are very comfortable and the seat heaters work quickly. I don't have the sunroof noise that many have complained about, but I am feeling the vibration from the shifter and the gas pedal at highway speeds. I'll keep an eye on that. I simply am blown away by the cockpit feel, particularly at night. The LED ambiance lighting is very nice. WOW am I happy that I didn't lease a C class with that $hitty interior. I love how the gauges cycle when starting the car.
Nav: I'd read many posts about how bad the Nav is before picking up the car and wondered if I'd made a mistake. However, it hasn't missed a beat yet, albeit with limited use. I have tried purposely to fool it but it quickly recalculated the directions. I like how the voice announces the next street, something my Garmin doesn't do. I love the startup process it goes through when starting the car, ending up with the Cadillac logo. I agree that the radio should mute when the voice is talking, and I keep accidentally turning the voice down when it speaks while trying to turn the radio down to hear the voice! But I will get used to it. I still have a lot of reading to do to figure out the voice commands; I've played with them a little bit with limited success. The Bose system is simply the best car audio system that I've ever owned....it's that good. My Porsche has the $1800 Bose system and it sucks in comparison. The iPod connectivity is great, and so are the touchscreen commands. I haven't played with the HDD much yet, but I look forward to digging into my CD collection to start ripping my favorite songs. Should take a few weeks to get them all in there. I wish the sound system controls on the steering wheel were on the left side...because I'm right handed and hold my cellphone with my right when I'm not using my handsfree, it's more convenient to have the audio controls on the left (save the driving and talking is unsafe, thanks).
Performance: The performance of the 3.6DI, while not breathtaking, is more than enough. The automatic is very responsive, and shifts very firmly in manual mode. It won't shift on it's own at redline while in manual mode, something I found out today! I love how it blips the revs when downshifting, although sometimes when trying to engine brake, the revving makes the car surge forward a bit. The exhaust has a nice little growl to it. The steering on my FE2 car is very tight and responsive. The Xenon headlights are EXCELLENT, and the way they turn with the steering wheel is a great touch. I hate DRLs (I'll decide when to turn on my headlights, thanks) so I'm constantly rotating the switch to "off" during the day.
Appearance: The outside is breathtaking. The front bumper and lower spoiler, as mentioned elsewhere on the forum, are verrrrrrrrry low and will need to be watched carefully. I don't like the placement of the front plate, and will do some research on the best way to remove the bracket that holds it. The 18 inch wheels are nice, but the brake calipers aren't very attractive. I wish Cadillac had done something better with them, such as black powdercoat, etc. My blue chip paint had some swirls in it from the dealer's prep department...the manager agreed to reimburse me for a full detail from my detail guy as I didn't trust them to touch the car again. The Cashmere interior is going to be difficult to keep clean, but if kept up with should be fine. I'm still deciding if I'm going to "debadge" the CTS4 and the 3.6DI badges on the back...I like a nice clean look. I like that the radio antenna is in the rear window, and the only antenna is the "fin" on the roof for the XM and Nav.
Sorry for the long winded post......I'm sure I'll think of more items to mention but my hands are getting tired from typing! :o