= = 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe Vid's = =
= = 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe Vid's = =
As much as General Motors has been in the news for getting things wrong of late, Cadillac deserves notice for how much it’s been getting right over the past decade, too. From the CTS sedan that kicked off the brand’s revival as a world-class marque, to the ATS sedan that helped cement it, and now to the 2015 ATS Coupe.
Rather than a special or exotic addition to the Cadillac brand and ATS family, the Coupe is merely the next logical progression for a company now bent on filling out its model portfolio with a full line of cars for its varied and growing customer base. Fortunately for Cadillac, the ATS Coupe is one hell of an ambassador, despite its low-volume two-door body.
Style First
Sharing the same engines, transmissions, and equipment sets as the upgraded 2015 ATS sedan, the new ATS Coupe’s primary differentiation from the four-door is styling, though there are some important under-the-skin differences as well.
At the nose, the most dramatic change is the new Cadillac crest, which does away with the wreath for a cleaner, more modern look. A coupe-specific front end, plus wider fenders front and rear, give a more athletic look. The doors, rear end, roof, and trunk are also obviously unique to the coupe, and while each is well-executed, it’s the way the whole design comes together that really cements the excellence of the ATS Coupe’s visual presence. The low, wide, flared rear end and fast rear roof/glass profile give a sporty, purposeful demeanor without resorting to the almost caricatured look of the previous generation CTS Coupe.
In person, all of this melds in a way that’s both satisfying and understated—perhaps the exact right mix of taste and restraint. In every way that matters, the ATS Coupe is the design success for Cadillac that the A5 family was (and still is) for Audi.
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe (GM >Produce a Chevy Monte Carlo)
Boosted Performance
The turbocharged four-cylinder in the ATS 2.0T is a brilliant companion, turning out a stout 295 lb-ft of torque, up 14% from last year’s ATS sedan with the same engine. Horsepower remains the same at 272 hp, which is enough to accelerate the coupe with aplomb at nearly any rpm. Peak torque is available from 3,000 rpm to 4,600 rpm, while 90% of peak torque can be tapped from 2,100 rpm to 3,000 rpm.
When fitted with the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, the ATS offers 50.6% / 49.4% front / rear weight balance, enhancing the already proven capability of the ATS chassis.
Add to that the widened track, which reduces weight transfer and makes for an even flatter-cornering car without increased ride harshness, and you have a truly fun-to-drive luxury coupe with bona fide rear-drive dynamics. And underpinning it all is the third-generation magneto-rheological dampers GM has brought to bear (in different specification) on the Camaro ZL1 and Corvette Stingray sports cars.
The venerable 3.6-liter V-6 is also available, but its noise—while pleasant to a gearhead’s ear—is more obtrusive and less refined than the four-cylinder’s, and not entirely in-character for the ATS. At 321 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, the real-world performance benefit offered isn’t significant, especially when the improved weight balance and gas mileage of the four-cylinder is taken into account.
All-wheel drive is available with the ATS Coupe, and while it might be a necessary component for all-weather usage in more northerly climes, it’s certainly not a prerequisite for performance; it also doesn’t really get in the way of a good drive. While steering feel isn’t a revelation in the ATS Coupe, in the rear-drive 2.0T model, it’s still very good, communicating the state of the car’s front end well.
For the enthusiast with a taste for style and luxury, Cadillac is offering one very attractive combination that’s become increasingly rare at this point in the market: a six-speed manual with rear-wheel drive and the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. It’s an absolute blast to keep the turbo spooled, row the surprisingly slick gearbox, and dance the balanced chassis along a winding stretch of road.
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The turbocharged four-cylinder in the ATS 2.0T is a brilliant companion, turning out a stout 295 lb-ft of torque, up 14% from last year’s ATS sedan with the same engine. Horsepower remains the same at 272 hp, which is enough to accelerate the coupe with aplomb at nearly any rpm. Peak torque is available from 3,000 rpm to 4,600 rpm, while 90% of peak torque can be tapped from 2,100 rpm to 3,000 rpm.
When fitted with the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, the ATS offers 50.6% / 49.4% front / rear weight balance, enhancing the already proven capability of the ATS chassis.
Add to that the widened track, which reduces weight transfer and makes for an even flatter-cornering car without increased ride harshness, and you have a truly fun-to-drive luxury coupe with bona fide rear-drive dynamics. And underpinning it all is the third-generation magneto-rheological dampers GM has brought to bear (in different specification) on the Camaro ZL1 and Corvette Stingray sports cars.
The venerable 3.6-liter V-6 is also available, but its noise—while pleasant to a gearhead’s ear—is more obtrusive and less refined than the four-cylinder’s, and not entirely in-character for the ATS. At 321 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, the real-world performance benefit offered isn’t significant, especially when the improved weight balance and gas mileage of the four-cylinder is taken into account.
All-wheel drive is available with the ATS Coupe, and while it might be a necessary component for all-weather usage in more northerly climes, it’s certainly not a prerequisite for performance; it also doesn’t really get in the way of a good drive. While steering feel isn’t a revelation in the ATS Coupe, in the rear-drive 2.0T model, it’s still very good, communicating the state of the car’s front end well.
For the enthusiast with a taste for style and luxury, Cadillac is offering one very attractive combination that’s become increasingly rare at this point in the market: a six-speed manual with rear-wheel drive and the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. It’s an absolute blast to keep the turbo spooled, row the surprisingly slick gearbox, and dance the balanced chassis along a winding stretch of road.
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Coupe Earns Laurels While Losing Wreath
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe Review
By LAWRENCE ULRICHAUG. 15, 2014
Continue reading the main storySlide Show
SLIDE SHOW|10 Photos
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
CreditGeneral Motors
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main storyShare This PageContinue reading the main story
If Yoda were a luxury-car analyst, he would advise and soothe Cadillac with a Jedi epigram: Patience you must have.
After decades in the desert, followed by a long climb to relevancy, Cadillac came out fighting in 2013 with a veritable light saber of a sport sedan, the ATS. Measured solely on athletic handling and fun-to-drive factors, the ATS pulled off the unthinkable: It defeated the dark emperor of the class, theBMW 3 Series.
That the BMW beats the Cadillac in most other categories — engines, transmissions, mileage, seating comfort and trunk space — just shows that Cadillac must keep on training if it’s to unseat a brand and a model that have had a 40-year head start.
RELATED COVERAGE
The more troubling statistic might be that sales of ATS sedans have fallen 21 percent this year, through July, according to AutoData. General Motors is halting production of the ATS and the larger CTS for three weeks because of swollen inventories.
This all suggests that Cadillac needs to do more to get the ATS on buyers’ radar. Or that shoppers have seen the positive reviews, but aren’t yet convinced that Cadillac’s cars or image measure up to the Europeans’.
As a slowly reviving Jaguar has learned, the only answer to that is to keep pushing, delivering so many worthy models to market that you can no longer be ignored or belittled.
The ATS coupe shows Caddy pushing ahead, filling a market hole with a hot-driving foil to the BMW 4 Series, Mercedes C-Class coupe, Audi A5 and coming Lexus RC.
While its sedan cousin is handsome, the coupe looks more sporting, and seems far more persuasive on the street than in auto show displays. Bob Boniface, Cadillac’s design director, says that while the brand doesn’t put much stock in focus groups, it went back to the drawing board when consumers overwhelmingly rejected a muscled, high-waisted version that resembled a smaller CTS. “There was a lot more visual mass and heft, and people really picked up on it,” Mr. Boniface said in a recent interview. “We got religion and changed everything.”
The showroom version emphasizes width and streamlined elegance, with slimmer roof pillars, lower window sills and larger rear glass. The coupe introduces Cadillac’s modernized grille and wreathless crest emblem, which the sedan is adopting for 2015.
The coupe shares the sedan’s 109.3-inch wheelbase, but it’s nearly an inch longer and 1.4 inches wider, with a 1.1-inch lower roof. The wide-body coupe looks especially strong and well-planted from behind, with subtly canted taillamps. Eighteen-inch alloy wheels and tires are staggered, with grippier, one-inch-wider rubber in back.
You pay a price for this style in the back seat, which gives up headroom to BMW and Audi coupes. Legroom is better, with just enough space to quell most complaints. But the front seats could be more supportive for hard driving and more comfortable for the long haul. Those seats remain a weak spot for Cadillac, compared with the thrones of Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
The cabin hits its deluxe cues with reasonable aplomb, including available semianiline leather. The Cue infotainment system, while improving, remains a work in progress. A clever touch: Its central control panel powers open to reveal a hidden cubby.
Standard features, also found on the 2015 sedan, include keyless entry, Bose audio, remote starter and capless fuel filler. The coupe is also the first among dozens of 2015 G.M. models to adopt a 4G LTE connection for the OnStar communications system — said to be 100 times faster than before — that can link up to seven wireless devices to the Internet for as little as $5 a month. Wireless phone charging is another optional attraction, as is Siri Eyes Free text-to-voice functions for iPhones.
Internet speed aside, driving velocity is the ATS’s forte. Maximum torque of its standard 272-horsepower, 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder has been raised to 295 pound-feet, nearly 14 percent more than the 2014 sedan’s.
With the lightest base curb weight in the class at 3,418 pounds, the ATS can sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds, Cadillac says, and even a touch quicker for models with the 3.6-liter, 321-horsepower V6. I slightly prefer the V6’s smoother power delivery and sound, though the 4-cylinder makes the ATS feel more urgent.
The torque-enriched 4-cylinder does feel slightly more decisive than before, with less turbo lag. Starting at $38,990, this 2-liter version also offers an increasingly rare 6-speed manual shifter. Most ATS coupes will come with a 6-speed automatic with magnesium paddle shifters. All-wheel drive is an option with either engine, for roughly $1,700.
I drove both a 2.0T Luxury model that starts at $42,915 and reached $47,735 with options, and a well-stuffed 3.6L AWD Premium coupe that started at $52,430 and topped out at $54,025.
That Premium model comes with a Magnetic Ride Control suspension that adjusts to the road surface every millisecond, along with a limited-slip differential and sticky summer tires.
Unlike some competing systems, the magnetic suspension changes the Cadillac’s comportment in a way you can really feel. The comfortable Touring mode is about 10 percent softer than the standard model’s mechanical suspension, and the Sport mode is about 20 percent stiffer.
On secluded roads in northern Connecticut, the coupe reminded me of what makes the sedan such a winner: The ZF electric steering is pure and precise and the chassis is absolutely unflappable, thanks in part to excellent weight distribution: 51 percent in front, 49 percent at the rear. Even at road-blurring speeds over ruined asphalt, nothing threw the ATS off its thoroughbred stride.
For decades, automakers from Audi to Infiniti have tried, and failed, to match the soul-stirring handling of BMW’s 3 Series (and now, the 4 Series coupe). On the fleet heels of the ATS sedan, this new Cadillac coupe does exactly that. The critics are bowled over, yet the public remains unmoved. For Cadillac, the trick will be to turn all those glowing reviews into a bonfire of sales.
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe Review
By LAWRENCE ULRICHAUG. 15, 2014
Continue reading the main storySlide Show
SLIDE SHOW|10 Photos2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
CreditGeneral Motors
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main storyShare This PageContinue reading the main story
If Yoda were a luxury-car analyst, he would advise and soothe Cadillac with a Jedi epigram: Patience you must have.
After decades in the desert, followed by a long climb to relevancy, Cadillac came out fighting in 2013 with a veritable light saber of a sport sedan, the ATS. Measured solely on athletic handling and fun-to-drive factors, the ATS pulled off the unthinkable: It defeated the dark emperor of the class, theBMW 3 Series.
That the BMW beats the Cadillac in most other categories — engines, transmissions, mileage, seating comfort and trunk space — just shows that Cadillac must keep on training if it’s to unseat a brand and a model that have had a 40-year head start.
RELATED COVERAGE
Behind the Wheel | 2013 Cadillac ATS: Wielding a Classy Chassis, Knocking on BMW’s DoorNOV. 30, 2012
Around the Block: 2014 Lexus RX 350 F Sport ReviewAUG. 15, 2014
The more troubling statistic might be that sales of ATS sedans have fallen 21 percent this year, through July, according to AutoData. General Motors is halting production of the ATS and the larger CTS for three weeks because of swollen inventories.
This all suggests that Cadillac needs to do more to get the ATS on buyers’ radar. Or that shoppers have seen the positive reviews, but aren’t yet convinced that Cadillac’s cars or image measure up to the Europeans’.
As a slowly reviving Jaguar has learned, the only answer to that is to keep pushing, delivering so many worthy models to market that you can no longer be ignored or belittled.
The ATS coupe shows Caddy pushing ahead, filling a market hole with a hot-driving foil to the BMW 4 Series, Mercedes C-Class coupe, Audi A5 and coming Lexus RC.
While its sedan cousin is handsome, the coupe looks more sporting, and seems far more persuasive on the street than in auto show displays. Bob Boniface, Cadillac’s design director, says that while the brand doesn’t put much stock in focus groups, it went back to the drawing board when consumers overwhelmingly rejected a muscled, high-waisted version that resembled a smaller CTS. “There was a lot more visual mass and heft, and people really picked up on it,” Mr. Boniface said in a recent interview. “We got religion and changed everything.”
The showroom version emphasizes width and streamlined elegance, with slimmer roof pillars, lower window sills and larger rear glass. The coupe introduces Cadillac’s modernized grille and wreathless crest emblem, which the sedan is adopting for 2015.
The coupe shares the sedan’s 109.3-inch wheelbase, but it’s nearly an inch longer and 1.4 inches wider, with a 1.1-inch lower roof. The wide-body coupe looks especially strong and well-planted from behind, with subtly canted taillamps. Eighteen-inch alloy wheels and tires are staggered, with grippier, one-inch-wider rubber in back.
You pay a price for this style in the back seat, which gives up headroom to BMW and Audi coupes. Legroom is better, with just enough space to quell most complaints. But the front seats could be more supportive for hard driving and more comfortable for the long haul. Those seats remain a weak spot for Cadillac, compared with the thrones of Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
The cabin hits its deluxe cues with reasonable aplomb, including available semianiline leather. The Cue infotainment system, while improving, remains a work in progress. A clever touch: Its central control panel powers open to reveal a hidden cubby.
Standard features, also found on the 2015 sedan, include keyless entry, Bose audio, remote starter and capless fuel filler. The coupe is also the first among dozens of 2015 G.M. models to adopt a 4G LTE connection for the OnStar communications system — said to be 100 times faster than before — that can link up to seven wireless devices to the Internet for as little as $5 a month. Wireless phone charging is another optional attraction, as is Siri Eyes Free text-to-voice functions for iPhones.
Internet speed aside, driving velocity is the ATS’s forte. Maximum torque of its standard 272-horsepower, 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder has been raised to 295 pound-feet, nearly 14 percent more than the 2014 sedan’s.
With the lightest base curb weight in the class at 3,418 pounds, the ATS can sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds, Cadillac says, and even a touch quicker for models with the 3.6-liter, 321-horsepower V6. I slightly prefer the V6’s smoother power delivery and sound, though the 4-cylinder makes the ATS feel more urgent.
The torque-enriched 4-cylinder does feel slightly more decisive than before, with less turbo lag. Starting at $38,990, this 2-liter version also offers an increasingly rare 6-speed manual shifter. Most ATS coupes will come with a 6-speed automatic with magnesium paddle shifters. All-wheel drive is an option with either engine, for roughly $1,700.
I drove both a 2.0T Luxury model that starts at $42,915 and reached $47,735 with options, and a well-stuffed 3.6L AWD Premium coupe that started at $52,430 and topped out at $54,025.
That Premium model comes with a Magnetic Ride Control suspension that adjusts to the road surface every millisecond, along with a limited-slip differential and sticky summer tires.
Unlike some competing systems, the magnetic suspension changes the Cadillac’s comportment in a way you can really feel. The comfortable Touring mode is about 10 percent softer than the standard model’s mechanical suspension, and the Sport mode is about 20 percent stiffer.
On secluded roads in northern Connecticut, the coupe reminded me of what makes the sedan such a winner: The ZF electric steering is pure and precise and the chassis is absolutely unflappable, thanks in part to excellent weight distribution: 51 percent in front, 49 percent at the rear. Even at road-blurring speeds over ruined asphalt, nothing threw the ATS off its thoroughbred stride.
For decades, automakers from Audi to Infiniti have tried, and failed, to match the soul-stirring handling of BMW’s 3 Series (and now, the 4 Series coupe). On the fleet heels of the ATS sedan, this new Cadillac coupe does exactly that. The critics are bowled over, yet the public remains unmoved. For Cadillac, the trick will be to turn all those glowing reviews into a bonfire of sales.
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Oct 18, 2014 03:34 PM
