Cadillac Owners Forum banner

Consumer Reports blasts CUE system

3K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  zr1mom 
#1 ·
#2 ·
I have my issues with Cue (I shared some of them in another thread). The video comes across as a very bad April Fools Day joke.

My favorite dumb comment from the video, "The problem with these buttons is that you have to take your eyes off the road to make sure you push the one you want." No kidding Sherlock! Buttons on the center console (flush mounted or not) you're going to need to look to see where they are!

I don't think the guy in the video knew there are controls for the radio on the steering wheel. (Sigh)

I really have almost none of the "fussy" issues the video noted. His video seems pretty far off. Here are a few of my bigger gripes about Cue:

Could Cue be one hell of a lot faster? Yes

Does Cue go off the deep end as far as wanting confirmation for damn near everything? Yes

Does Cue talk way way way too much (for my tastes)? Yes.

All of these can be fixed/tweaked with updated software. Shame CR for the FUD!
 
#5 ·
LouisG said:
What ATS owners think of this review of the CUE System?
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/21/consumer-reports-lambasts-cadillacs-new-cue-system/

- A future ATS owner
As a self proclaimed techie guy, I have to admit it wasn't until I actually RTM, that I was able to use it effectively. The voice recognition is better than Siri, that's for sure. It's just that they imply its like a iPad, but in reality aside from the multi-touch and gestures, CUE is not iOS and it doesn't always work as expected, but you can do a lot by RTM. Apparently Consumer Reports doesn't know the acronym RTFM!

You can disable proximity, which I did. The default is for the older XTS drivers ( and maybe a few ATS seniors ) to not get too confused. Once you set your apptray correctly ( and you can always see it ) it starts to become effective. But still different than iOS.
 
#6 ·
rustybear3 said:
You do realize you can set your prompts to be short in the menu....:)
Not trying to hijack the thread but even with the prompts set to short, there is still way way way too much talking. I know you can also (slowly) interrupt the voice prompts with the hands free button, but pushing but button to quiet her (and the lag in responsiveness) still gets old fast.
 
#8 ·
There are a few bugs but nothing too bad that can't be fixed with software updates.

My biggest problem is that it doesn't support gapless playback with iPods. The pause between songs is a little long but I suspect that could be fixed with a bit more aggressive indexing. Also the voice commands still need some work because they are way behind what Siri or even OnStar can do...

Overall much better than systems I have played with on other cars.
 
#9 ·
I've had my ATS for a couple weeks and I simply can't understand what the fuss is about CUE. The thing works and works as well as I've seen in any such system on any car. It can be a little intimidating if you've never encountered anything like it before, but there is simply nothing critically deficient that I've been able to identify. Sure, now that I see the massive capabilities that it enables, there are a few things I wish it could do a little bit better in a few corner cases. But like I said, nothing critical.

Don't forget that CUE doesn't end at the 8 inch display in the center stack. There are the steering wheel controls and instrument cluster display (and HUD) as well. For those still clamoring for "real" buttons and knobs for say the volume, there they are right there on the steering wheel. Also, I rarely use the home button. Between the customizable shortcuts at the top and bottom of the center stack screen, I'm rarely more than one touch away from a critical or important function. And there are dedicated controls for the climate control, etc... They carry on about how you have to look at screen to see what you're pressing. I would like them to explain to me how BMW's iDrive, Audi's MMI don't require you to look at the screen while indirectly manipulating what is on the screen using controls (wheel knob button press thingimabobs) located some 12- 24 inches away. This versus, oh I don't know just directly touching the damn thing you're already looking at on the screen. The rationale I've seen tabled so far amount to little more than post facto explanations for simply being unfamiliar with what is effectively a paradigm shift in vehicle human interface design.

Don't get me wrong, CUE does take some getting used to. But remember that just because it exposes a wealth of functionality doesn't mean that driver is absolved of the responsibility of focusing on his primary responsibility: Driving. Trying to pair two bluetooth devices while adjusting the lane departure warning sensitivity while trying to store the last navigation destination in your vehicle contacts while creating a new Pandora channel or browsing your 32 GB music collection in the middle of rush hour traffic is not a CUE problem. It's a driver problem. What I've learned over the course of my use is this: Be a responsible driver and you'll find CUE mostly fades into the background, doing what it needs to when called upon.
 
#11 ·
Excellent comments; I totally agree. I have a new ATS on order to replace my '10 CTS (which I have loved); I'm 71, but consider myself a 'techie', as I have the latest generation iPad, iPhone, and iMac... I've tried out the CUE system several times, and find it to be mostly supportive of what I want to do while driving, etc.

As for Consumers Reports: I long ago stopped my subscription to the magazine; their continuing bias towards all things Toyota got just a little too much for me. In spite of their "below average reliability" they give to each and every Cadillac model they test, I would beg to differ, at least from my experience with the over 10 Caddys I've owned over the years.

David
 
#12 ·
jamboarder said:
Trying to pair two bluetooth devices while adjusting the lane departure warning sensitivity while trying to store the last navigation destination in your vehicle contacts while creating a new Pandora channel or browsing your 32 GB music collection in the middle of rush hour traffic is not a CUE problem. It's a driver problem.
Well said!
 
#15 ·
Have CR check out a Lexus GS 350 system. Good grief! I am a computer engineer and I've never seen so many screens. You have to pull over to the side of the road just to use it!
Lexus Enform® App Suite with Bing™, iHeartRadio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable®, Pandora®, Yelp® and Facebook Places.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top