At
a time consumers are notoriously fickle and don't tolerate
boredom, they won't mistake the Caddy look for anyone else's
auto. The pulse beneath the bold, defined exterior of the
new full-size STS luxury sedan is all Cadillac. Gutsy rear-drive
power. Road manners as smartly crisp as its aggressive,
no compromises styling with such just-right visual touches
as slightly raised wheel well framing that keeps it from
looking austere. A lot of European attitude with a definite
American accent.
STS
is the all-new GM flagship -- what Caddy calls its luxury
performance sedan -- that replaces the previous, slightly
larger Seville. And in new Cadillac stance, it's the well-toned
Olympic athlete of the vehicle world rather than the turgid,
mooshy couch potato of yesteryear.
STS
has come on stream decked out in the finest luxury touches,
with tonier models sporting eucalyptus wood and aluminum
trim, Tuscany leather seating, Keyless Access with push-button
start, Adaptive Cruise Control, Intellibeam, and advance,
four-color Head-Up Display (the plural from an earlier,
less intuitive predecessor now long gone). Magnetic Ride
Control and StabiliTrak enhance the driving athletics.
The
folks at Cadillac take pride in its quiet ride. While not
on the muted scale of Lexus (but then, almost no vehicle
matches Lexus's cloistered damping) it keeps unwanted outside,
and irritating inside noises at bay, letting in just enough
well-toned exhaust rumble to augment the feel of authority.
We
all know GM's star performer is its On Star safety-communications
system, and the STS's available navigation system is a continuation
of the idea of cutting edge electronics complete with Bluetooth
capability. (But there are those of us who really do like
to simply push a button rather than scroll through endless
electronic menus for a function. Listen and you'll hear
the complaints.)
Power
comes from two well-respected performance engines, both
with variable valve timing, tweaked even more for the STS.
The 3.6-liter V6 puts out 255-HP while the 4.6-liter V8
churns out 320, with available all-wheel-drive.
Cadillac
has positioned its award-winning sedan to take advantage
of the widest possible range of wannabe owners, with about
a $20K spread from base to top-of-line above $60,000. Do
we think it's a good deal? Lets just say the new STS has
replaced "Boulevard ride" with "Autobahn
ride."
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