Part 1 – Overall impressions
Part 2 – Interior and Storage
Part 3 – Electronics and Entertainment
Part 4 – Ride and Drive
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Oh, how the times have changed. It really wasn’t that long ago that a credible luxury/sports-sedan could get by with great handling, world-class powertrain, and crystal-clear audio from a multi-CD changer (in-dash would be really trick) with steering-wheel mounted controls. Cadillac at the time raised the bar with their OnStar ‘telematics’ system that provided such slick features as airbag deployment notification (calling the authorities for you) and nice features like door unlocking.

But, when Cadillac announced the packages available on the CTS – it was obvious that the status quo had moved up several rungs in just the 5 years since the initial CTS’ release.

Entertainment
Standard on the base CTS is a Bose, 8-speaker, AM/FM/CD/MP3 (meaning it can read MP3s off of a data CD) system with XM satellite radio and 3-months of complimentary service. OnStar has been upgraded to include 1 year of complimentary service as well as their ‘turn-by-turn’ feature that allows you to call the OnStar operator, give them your destination, and then the turns will be called out to you by the stereo as you drive.

But, I think it will be hard to find a CTS so equipped given the juicy systems available for a few (thousand) dollars more.

Let’s go through what you can get on the new CTS in the way of entertainment (our test car had this as part of the $8000 Premium Luxury Collection package):

• Bose AM/FM/CD/DVD (audio DVD as well as video) system that will also play MP3 CDs
• XM Satellite radio


• 5.1 Surround Sound with 10-speakers


• 40 GB hard drive
• USB port with power jack in the center armrest storage compartment for your MP3 player or flash drive full of MP3s


• Navigation system


• XM-based traffic information (first 3 months service included)

What does all of this mean? Well, it is the details that make the system so impressive.

1. Record AM/FM/XM radio directly to the hard drive for later review
2. USB port in the armrest storage bin allows you to insert a USB flash-drive full of MP3 or WMA music and navigate/play the songs through the Nav screen’s touch interface
3. Plug an iPod or MP3 player into that USB port (our test car had an iPod dock cable that connected not only to the USB but also to the power jack to both charge and control your iPod)
4. ‘Rip’ CD audio directly to the hard drive for later playback (the Gracenote database is built in to the system so your CTS will be able to identify the artist and track names automatically).
5. Play DVD video as long as the car is stopped and in park.
6. System powered by Microsoft’s Windows Automotive operating system (more on this in a moment).

So, how does it all work?

Well, unlike some makers (*cough* bmw cough), the system keeps a good deal of direct access buttons on the center stack and doesn’t cover up functions for the sake of a graphical, knob controlled, interface. That isn’t to say that a few hours with the owners manual won’t make you a safer CTS driver (since you won’t be spending too much time, like I did, hunting for functions) – but at least you won’t find basic functions like seek and scan buried 3 menus down.

If you want to control audio – click the audio button and then seek/scan/play/record/etc. to your hearts content. Need to do something to navigation – click Nav and go for it. Basically, if it is a category – there’s a hardware button. Then you use the main dial in the center of the stack to cycle through the options on the screen (or if the nav screen is up, touch the option on-screen).

What if you don’t like all of these buttons, real or virtual? Well, if you spent some time getting familiar with the voice recognition system. You can push and hold the mute button on the steering wheel for a couple moments and a tone will let you know that you can give a voice command. The system, once you learn the commands, is very accurate and provides access to most functions (some even quicker than poking around the interface.

What doesn’t work so well?

Despite Cadillac’s claims to the contrary, my iPhone with the latest firmware (1.1.2) wasn’t recognized (and even required a reset on the phone itself and a restore from iTunes to get sync again) Update: Alpine builds the head unit for Cadillac and claim that iPhone firmware 1.0.1 and newer should work fine. This could have just been an issue with my phone. On the other hand a 3rd gen iPod nano worked without an issue. Cadillac claims this to be a known issue with a fix that was already released (but I won’t be able to confirm that it works now that the car is no longer in my hands). The moral of the story? Be careful before plugging in your device.

Also, navigating some functions on the iPod (such as playlists) seems a bit clunky. You can enter a playlist but, once you have selected a song, there is no way up a single level to pick another track in the playlist (at least that I could find).

Of course, I’m an Apple guy at heart, so intuitive interface is a personal passion of mine. I’d love to see how Apple would develop a similar level of functionality for a car based system (I hear they are working with VW on just such a system). I’d advise GM to approach them for some interface help – if just to smooth over the few rough edges.

Comfort
Obviously. as a Cadillac, the CTS is a pretty comfortable automobile with plenty of creature comforts.

This time around, the dual-zone climate control has been enhanced in a couple ways. First, the controls are canted toward the driver and passenger, each getting their own climate control display. Gone are the amber lit displays in favor of a cool blue/white LCD display.

Next to the simple controls for temperature are buttons for the heated and cooled seats (part of the aforementioned Premium Luxury Collection). Each has 3 settings and pushing the button a single time goes to the max setting with each subsequent press lowering the heating or cooling until you reach ‘off’ again.

Convenience
Our loaded up test car had quite a few technologies aimed at making the CTS incredibly easy to live with day-to-day…of note:

Keyless entry and starting: Rather than a key hanging from a keyless entry transmitter ‘fob’ – Cadillac has joined the trend of offering a system that allows your car to recognize you as you approach.

Looking like a large-ish key fob with the standard buttons for lock/unlock/trunk open – you can leave this device in your pocket/purse and let the magic of computers and radio do their thing.

If the transmitter is within about 6 feet of the car, the door will unlock and open as you pull on the door handle. Walk up to the trunk and a simple press of the hidden pressure switch above the license plate recess will open the lid.

Get inside, grab the very key-shaped nub, found exactly where a normal ignition slot would be, and give it a very intuitive push and twist to start the car (after you’ve put your foot on the brake pedal as a safety measure).

Take the fob out of your pocket and put it in the cupholder? The CTS will notify you if the transmitter is left in the car and the driver’s door is opened and then closed (as if the driver forgot to take the transmitter with them).

As you walk away from the car, the doors will lock automatically once you’re about 15-20 feet away. It is quite an intoxicating experience having the car ‘know’ you and automatically let you do things with confidence that the car will secure itself once you walk away.

Where does the system fall down? Well, if you and a passenger both have transmitters – be sure to take both – otherwise it won’t know to lock up when you leave and will be perfectly happy to start for any bad guys that get in – a bad situation to leave a $48k in.

What if the battery of the transmitter runs out? Well, access to the inside of the car is easy by pulling the base of the transmitter out to expose a physical key that lets you open the driver’s door. However, without a working transmitter, don’t push too many buttons or you will be greeted by all sorts of anti-theft noise that will attract your neighbors’ attention (not that I would know). So, be sure to have a spare transmitter battery available – just in case.

Also, it would be nice to combine the seat/mirror/steering wheel mirror positions (you can program 2) settings to your specific transmitter. That way the car could be driven by two people of varying builds without having to worry about the tall driver not being able to get into the car after ‘shorty’ drove it last. Of course, this would require the system to better differentiate which transmitter is nearest the driver’s seat – and would completely fall down in the case of a transmitter in the driver’s jacket or purse thrown in the passenger seat.

Despite some failings, another slick feature of the new transmitter is remote start. Press the ‘lock’ button and then press and hold the ‘start’ button and the car will fire up and run for 10 minutes (cooling or heating the interior as weather requires). When you get in the car, just press and turn the ‘starting nub’ to ‘on’ and away you go. This is sure to be a hit in climates that get either very hot in the summer or very cold in the winter (which is probably everywhere).

There are a couple trick features in the new CTS that can help you in tight maneuvers. Firstly, shifting into reverse causes both exterior side mirrors to tilt downward in order to give you a clear view of curbs and other obstacles that might cause damage to your expensive 18” wheels. Also, you will see a series of lights above and at the center of the rear window that will give you feedback on the distance any obstacle might be to your rear bumper. Again, a nice feature to have to protect your investment.

The CTS also has a few interesting technologies to help visibility forward. Most important are the new high-intensity headlights that also steer into corners. This was my first experience with a system like this and I loved it. At any speed on the inky black mountain roads around our house – the system was always there giving that added degree of visibility. I want my next car to have these lights. Other visibility enhancements on the new CTS are Rainsense wipers – when moisture reaches your windshield, the wipers automatically take action to clear the view. Also, you have heated washer fluid at your disposal. In cold weather, heated fluid helps to clear frost and ice. Again, nice to have and sure to help reduce the chance of getting into trouble in your new CTS.

Combine this with other cool features like standard StabiliTrak stability control, ABS, traction control, and our test car’s all-wheel drive – and the CTS should be a great all-weather, every day luxury-sport sedan that would keep you entertained even when the road doesn’t.

Next up…ride and drive.

Categories: News, CTS, Reviews