Test drove a 2014 VSport premium. My background is mostly BMW M-cars (4 in last decade, all bought new except for my E34 M5 station wagon) and I greatly value driving dynamics and manual transmissions. IMHO, BMW has lost a lot of what made them special and Cadillac has always been on my radar. Test drove a gen 2 CTS-V manual wagon at Road Atlanta- what a beast.
Anyway, I loved the chassis. No surprise there. Steering was acceptable, better than BMW 550, but seemed a bit vague on initial turn in (anyone else experience this?). Interior was nice and well put together. Transmission shifted well- I am biased in favor of manuals but for an auto it seemed pretty good. Brakes had excellent feedback. Engine was powerful enough for a street car.
What I didn't like- engine noise, option packaging, and price. IMHO, except in the midrange under full acceleration, the engine sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Do you guys like the sound? Is it something you get used to? Are their aftermarket systems yet?
Option packaging- the digital cluster is so superior to the analog dash it should be standard on the VSport along with performance seats. I would be forced to get the Premium package just for those two features alone- even though I don't find value in the rest of the package. Adding up all the features in the premium package I just don't see it being worth 10K. Can the adaptive cruise control and other nanny features be disabled?
Pricing- my build came out to $72,000 (VSport Premium with Dark Adriatic Blue and Kona leather). Too much. I've read the threads about Cadillac pricing and hopefully saner heads will prevail- if I could order this car for around $62K I would be a buyer today.
Anyway, Cadillac has built a fine car and the engineers should be proud of their accomplishments. I would appreciate your thoughts on my questions regarding initial turn in, engine sound, and disabling certain electronic nannies. Has anyone investigated the possibility of retrofitting a digital dash to a base VSport? Thanks!
Anyway, I loved the chassis. No surprise there. Steering was acceptable, better than BMW 550, but seemed a bit vague on initial turn in (anyone else experience this?). Interior was nice and well put together. Transmission shifted well- I am biased in favor of manuals but for an auto it seemed pretty good. Brakes had excellent feedback. Engine was powerful enough for a street car.
What I didn't like- engine noise, option packaging, and price. IMHO, except in the midrange under full acceleration, the engine sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Do you guys like the sound? Is it something you get used to? Are their aftermarket systems yet?
Option packaging- the digital cluster is so superior to the analog dash it should be standard on the VSport along with performance seats. I would be forced to get the Premium package just for those two features alone- even though I don't find value in the rest of the package. Adding up all the features in the premium package I just don't see it being worth 10K. Can the adaptive cruise control and other nanny features be disabled?
Pricing- my build came out to $72,000 (VSport Premium with Dark Adriatic Blue and Kona leather). Too much. I've read the threads about Cadillac pricing and hopefully saner heads will prevail- if I could order this car for around $62K I would be a buyer today.
Anyway, Cadillac has built a fine car and the engineers should be proud of their accomplishments. I would appreciate your thoughts on my questions regarding initial turn in, engine sound, and disabling certain electronic nannies. Has anyone investigated the possibility of retrofitting a digital dash to a base VSport? Thanks!