I have been waiting quite some time to drive Cadillac’s all new ATS, a compact luxury sport sedan touted by the press as ‘General Motors bid to take on BMW’s 3-series cars.’ I feel General Motors has been doing a great job at making most of their upscale cars as competitive in price and quality to many of the Asian and European counterparts. Earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show, the Cadillac ATS received the coveted title of ‘2013 North American Car of the Year.’
At a glance, the ATS looks very similar to its stable mate the Cadillac CTS. I was not over fond of the angular design of the CTS when it first came out, but strong sales have made this look very popular and I have to admit it has kind of grown on me. The car just comes as a 4-door sedan, unlike the other Cadillacs.
The ATS comes with three different engines depending on the model of the vehicle. Since I was given the premium model to test, it was equipped with the optional 3.6L V6 with 321hp and 274lbs-ft of torque. The base engine is a 4-cylinder turbo 272hp and is available with a six-speed manual or six-speed auto, which I had in my test car. My test car was also equipped with Cadillac’s all-wheel-drive, which was fabulous during a heavy snowfall that I encountered while test driving the car.
My test car being the top-of-the-line came with a beautiful, tan coloured leather interior (all but base models come with leather). All the seats were very comfortable and I have to say comparable or better than many of the European models I have driven in the past. In the back seat area due to the vehicle’s size, legroom can be a little tight if the driver is on the tall side and moves the seat back.
As you might suspect, in this price range the car has heated seats that work quickly when turned, which is a real plus on cold days. One feature I loved was the heated steering wheel. Push the button on the steering wheel and the heat was almost instantaneous, as I hate driving with gloves.
Since this is a first model year car, I figure that the designers are on a learning curve when it comes to the ATS’s control feature and gauges. It took me a week to really catch on to how to work the heating and sound system and I didn’t even bother with the navigation system. Things you would expect to be simple, such as resetting the trip meter were not.
Lastly the dash gauges, here designers have made the gauges on the smaller side, which takes time to read and in turn, takes you eyes off the road longer when driving. To compensate, designers have incorporated a heads-up display, which projects the speed and a bar graph tachometer up to the windshield in front of the driver. A feature I did like as your eyes were always on the road.
Overall I liked the ATS – it handled well, was fun to drive and had adequate power for an all-wheel-drive. My test car lists for about $54,000, which is very reasonable for a car of this level of sophistication.
By Glen Konorowski