Stoneage_Caddy
08-22-05, 11:34 PM
2006 D T S
Cadillac Forums Road Test
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/stoneage_caddy/9bb8056c.jpg
Not everyone in the world can spend there day driving 5 generations of the Deville. Not everyone can see the long road the First FWD Deville has traveled to get to today’s DTS. In a little over 20 years she has lost her pushrods , Gained 682 Pounds and added well over twice the horsepower. If that wasn’t enough in a fit of late teenage rebellion she has also decided call herself DTS ,but to everyone that watched that little FWD grow up we know her as Deville.
So today while my 94 sits awaiting her new pinstripes I decided to try out the 06 DTS , even bring her home to meet my mother. A few calls later and there was my lady for the night , drenched in a lovely pearlescent white with butter soft “neutral” interior. Build quality is very good , if not great , all seems are gapped properly and everything is screwed on like its supposed to be. Cadillac did there best to bring over the lessons learned from the STS and its “carved from a single billet” fit and finish. You can only do so much with a unibody developed in the late 90s. Overall the new look is pretty nice. I’ve really warmed up to its new look now that I had all day to study it, but I still don’t like the chrome strip that runs across the trunk. Another styling bit that misses the mark is the steering wheel. What a ugly little bugger , the past few years airbags were starting to look like normal steering wheels. I thought we had left the age of the “box bag”, but there staring at me like a Great Dane at a cat show is that damned box. I will admit , the steering wheel mounted controls are top notch. The dash however is a great piece of work , VERY nicely done. Everything including the center console is impressive, even the lovely analog clock in the center dash has to be seen at night to truly know its beauty.
Time to go home for the day. I have been outside all day in the Florida heat ,even saveing a cts from the fate of a K car with a inattentive driver. So when I’m ready for A/C I’m READY for it. The DTS didn’t fail me , very good flow out of the vents without sounding like I’m in the wind tunnel. My work sits right next to the interstate , and more precisely an onramp to a 75 mph zone. Laying into the go pedal John Force style ran me right on up to speed and damned near into a mess. The northstar pulls very well once above 2k. Rated at 291 hp in the performance version it really still makes the 300 we all know (welcome to the new SAE rating standards). On the open highway I noted a bit of a darty condition at 65-80 mph , I had another driver run the car and he also came up with the same feeling. Something isn’t spot on with the “on center” feeling downstream from that “Boxbag”(stupid looking thing). Off ramps are kinda fun with the Yank Tank , where previous Devilles want to lay on the door handles this new one doesn’t want to lay on the handles but it still ends up there once you push it hard enough. If that’s not enough fun overcook it on entry for some nose first fun into you favorite object. Handling isn’t bad and brake dive is finally under control , each generation has gotten beater about not dragging the nose on the ground to stop the car. This one almost wants to pull the tail down first like a BMW. The car stops VERY well for something this big. So far the car is averaging 19.2 MPG , not bad considering the city driving on a car this big that isn’t quite broken in.
It’s the seats that are just TO DIE FOR. Oh my are the seats great , what a step forward, what a feeling , what great leather. For many years the Cadillacs have had this “other than leather” , the mystery material itself had no clue if it was vinyl or real leather , and most times the tires were more supple. Not this car , not these seats , man are they great. They are so great , they got there own paragraph!
So I took the car home to see mom , we piled the family in and drove up to the local steak joint. Dusk turns to night , night turns into a terrible storm. A great chance to see what it does in bad weather. High winds don’t effect this car like the 85-99 cars , and it does beater than the outgoing 00-05 cars. The triple sealed doors kept the wind noise to a minimum and the new layered windshield did a nice job on minimizing road noise. With no rain present I parked the car next to the road on the grass since no parking was available. After dinner (and another rainstorm) this error of parking judgment would prove to be a good test of the traction control. Yes I got out of “Woodstock II” , but I wondered for a few seconds.
At night the new high intensity headlamps are a great new feature. Which makes up a little for the driver side mirror losing the ability to shield the driver for headlamp glare behind. You wont realize how much you miss this until you drive this car. All LED Tail lamps are out back again , along with new high intensity LED reverse lights. Speaking of LEDs the interior is lit up with them , this lovely bluish hue of light basks the cabin upon night entry. Its quite impressive. Also Impressive is the cluster , looking almost as if it was lifted straight from the 06 STS. Very nice , done as well as a citizen watch but not a Rolex yet.
At the end of the evening like a few of my past girlfriends mom asked me about my 94 , and told me “she was nicer, I like her beater”. While we all love my old 94 , this new 06 is a very nice piece of machinery . Going unnoticed in traffic and at the steak place tells me people still think of it as a junior coffin and not a evolution of GMs best Front drive platform. I even took the liberty of interviewing folks about this car , word on the street so far isn’t as good as I hoped, most comments were “old mans car” , the folks that liked it were …….old ……Hopefully , this was an isloated incident.
Cadillac Forums Road Test
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/stoneage_caddy/9bb8056c.jpg
Not everyone in the world can spend there day driving 5 generations of the Deville. Not everyone can see the long road the First FWD Deville has traveled to get to today’s DTS. In a little over 20 years she has lost her pushrods , Gained 682 Pounds and added well over twice the horsepower. If that wasn’t enough in a fit of late teenage rebellion she has also decided call herself DTS ,but to everyone that watched that little FWD grow up we know her as Deville.
So today while my 94 sits awaiting her new pinstripes I decided to try out the 06 DTS , even bring her home to meet my mother. A few calls later and there was my lady for the night , drenched in a lovely pearlescent white with butter soft “neutral” interior. Build quality is very good , if not great , all seems are gapped properly and everything is screwed on like its supposed to be. Cadillac did there best to bring over the lessons learned from the STS and its “carved from a single billet” fit and finish. You can only do so much with a unibody developed in the late 90s. Overall the new look is pretty nice. I’ve really warmed up to its new look now that I had all day to study it, but I still don’t like the chrome strip that runs across the trunk. Another styling bit that misses the mark is the steering wheel. What a ugly little bugger , the past few years airbags were starting to look like normal steering wheels. I thought we had left the age of the “box bag”, but there staring at me like a Great Dane at a cat show is that damned box. I will admit , the steering wheel mounted controls are top notch. The dash however is a great piece of work , VERY nicely done. Everything including the center console is impressive, even the lovely analog clock in the center dash has to be seen at night to truly know its beauty.
Time to go home for the day. I have been outside all day in the Florida heat ,even saveing a cts from the fate of a K car with a inattentive driver. So when I’m ready for A/C I’m READY for it. The DTS didn’t fail me , very good flow out of the vents without sounding like I’m in the wind tunnel. My work sits right next to the interstate , and more precisely an onramp to a 75 mph zone. Laying into the go pedal John Force style ran me right on up to speed and damned near into a mess. The northstar pulls very well once above 2k. Rated at 291 hp in the performance version it really still makes the 300 we all know (welcome to the new SAE rating standards). On the open highway I noted a bit of a darty condition at 65-80 mph , I had another driver run the car and he also came up with the same feeling. Something isn’t spot on with the “on center” feeling downstream from that “Boxbag”(stupid looking thing). Off ramps are kinda fun with the Yank Tank , where previous Devilles want to lay on the door handles this new one doesn’t want to lay on the handles but it still ends up there once you push it hard enough. If that’s not enough fun overcook it on entry for some nose first fun into you favorite object. Handling isn’t bad and brake dive is finally under control , each generation has gotten beater about not dragging the nose on the ground to stop the car. This one almost wants to pull the tail down first like a BMW. The car stops VERY well for something this big. So far the car is averaging 19.2 MPG , not bad considering the city driving on a car this big that isn’t quite broken in.
It’s the seats that are just TO DIE FOR. Oh my are the seats great , what a step forward, what a feeling , what great leather. For many years the Cadillacs have had this “other than leather” , the mystery material itself had no clue if it was vinyl or real leather , and most times the tires were more supple. Not this car , not these seats , man are they great. They are so great , they got there own paragraph!
So I took the car home to see mom , we piled the family in and drove up to the local steak joint. Dusk turns to night , night turns into a terrible storm. A great chance to see what it does in bad weather. High winds don’t effect this car like the 85-99 cars , and it does beater than the outgoing 00-05 cars. The triple sealed doors kept the wind noise to a minimum and the new layered windshield did a nice job on minimizing road noise. With no rain present I parked the car next to the road on the grass since no parking was available. After dinner (and another rainstorm) this error of parking judgment would prove to be a good test of the traction control. Yes I got out of “Woodstock II” , but I wondered for a few seconds.
At night the new high intensity headlamps are a great new feature. Which makes up a little for the driver side mirror losing the ability to shield the driver for headlamp glare behind. You wont realize how much you miss this until you drive this car. All LED Tail lamps are out back again , along with new high intensity LED reverse lights. Speaking of LEDs the interior is lit up with them , this lovely bluish hue of light basks the cabin upon night entry. Its quite impressive. Also Impressive is the cluster , looking almost as if it was lifted straight from the 06 STS. Very nice , done as well as a citizen watch but not a Rolex yet.
At the end of the evening like a few of my past girlfriends mom asked me about my 94 , and told me “she was nicer, I like her beater”. While we all love my old 94 , this new 06 is a very nice piece of machinery . Going unnoticed in traffic and at the steak place tells me people still think of it as a junior coffin and not a evolution of GMs best Front drive platform. I even took the liberty of interviewing folks about this car , word on the street so far isn’t as good as I hoped, most comments were “old mans car” , the folks that liked it were …….old ……Hopefully , this was an isloated incident.