Many summers ago, I was standing outside my high school, after they had closed for the day, waiting for a buddy to come pick me up. The pick-up lane outside my high school was a single lane which turned off a main road – this meant only one car at a time and you couldn’t see what car was about to turn in, until it did.
At the exact moment that Audioslave’s “Show Me How To Live” started playing, a white 2004/2005 Cadillac STS turned the lane and I remember being blown away. In that moment, two things were born – every time I get a new car, that’s the first song I play, and, I always wanted to drive a Cadillac.
Fast forward 12 years and I still pump Audioslave’s “Show Me How To Live” first, on every single car that I buy or get to review and I’ve driven quite a few Caddys. [UPDATE: Today we learned that Chris Cornell passed away a few hours ago. May he continue to sing in the afterlife. RIP Chris Cornell.]
The Cadillac of the moment is a 2017 Cadillac ATS Coupe in Phantom Grey Metallic. Under the hood is a torquey 3.6L V6, belting out 335bhp and an eye-watering 386nm of torque. Even though it’s a heavy car (in the category), it’s the lightest Caddy you can buy which means that 0-100 comes in 5.6 seconds and the car is agile around any corner you throw at it.
Normally, I talk about a car’s performance before I dive into its other aspects, but in this case, I want to talk about the car’s presence and interior first.
On the inside, you are unmistakably in a Cadillac. Exotic wood, high quality plastics, velvet-y suede and cross-stitched leather surround you.
Outside, the story isn’t much different – the ATS Coupe is styled almost exactly like the sedan version – and that (for me) was kinda a problem. From the outside and the inside, the car doesn’t feel ‘sporty’. The trim is the same as the sedan (steering wheel and everything) and barring the seats, nothing on the inside makes you feel like you’re in a sports coupe.
Then there’s Cadillac’s CUE. While the Bose speakers were a treat, CUE made the entire experience less than desirable. Significant lagging and glitches between switching tracks made me switch it off and listen to the engine and exhaust soundtrack instead. The controls on both the main dash panel and the steering wheel were so unintuitive that, after having spent 4 days in the car, I was still fumbling about.
Lemme give you a couple of examples – the volume control is not touch sensitive, rather it’s a slider. The AC control is not a slider, it’s touch/press. I say “touch/press” because I’m still not sure if it is meant to be touched or pressed. The kicker? It all looks the same, so there’s no way to determine if something is to be pressed, touched or slid, beyond trial and error.
Another simple point – looking to change tracks and wanna use the steering control? The ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons aren’t ‘right’ and ‘left’ as every other steering wheel in the world – they’re ‘up’ for ‘next’ and ‘down’ for previous. Why?
Throughout the 4 days that I had this car, these things annoyed and troubled me. All these little inconsistencies and not-to-optimal design elements were tarnishing the experience of riding in a Caddy. Even the fact that the control panel opens up to reveal a wireless charger was something I discovered by accident, and then couldn’t immediately figure out how to open and close it. Through trial and error, I discovered it was “press” to open and “touch” to close. More inconsistencies!
Worst of all? A constantly failing adaptive cruise control which, like a faulty internet connection, kept giving me the error message below. Unacceptable.
Here’s the kicker though – if I got this car again, I would take it in a heartbeat. Why? Because all the things that I found less than desirable would immediately disappear and be forgotten the moment you drop the hammer in this car.
Man, does this car go.
Every time I put my foot down, the ATS obliged. Its weight actually helps keep it planted and Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control resulted in some mind-bending agility around corners. Custom engineered Brembos in the front deliver the right kind of stopping power for the explosive torque figures, at very consistent pedal feedback.
While I’m not a fan of 8-speed transmissions, I was still impressed by the short, efficient gear changes that delivered power whenever I needed it. I still don’t understand why cars need 8 gears (what’s fuel economy?) but I’ll grin and bear it. Also, I feel that if the ATS had a meatier steering wheel, this would have been automotive heaven.
The ATS Coupe is truly a driver’s car in a tuxedo. It drives like a proper luxury roadster minus the convertible roof. In that regard it does feel like a sports car on the inside, due to the low ceiling, which I quite enjoyed.
While I can understand why the trim is still the same as the regular sedan – they’re saving the sporty aggressiveness for the ATS’ bigger brother, the ATS V – I would have liked for it to have some indications that it’s a sport car. Although the beautiful engine roar and the exhaust note are welcome substitutions for sports badging.
If you entirely debadged/debranded the Cadillac ATS coupe and asked me to drive it, I will/would be in love. It’s a fantastic sports car. With all the trimmings and Cadillac goodness that come with it, it becomes a fantastic luxury sports car. But the question is, can you afford to ignore the little annoyances inside, for purely a good driving experience at the price point this car comes at (over AED 200K)?
I know my answer.
