Hot on the tail of the spy photos of the Cadillac ATS compact sport luxury sedan come the spy photos of the larger Cadillac XTS full sized luxury sedan. And it already looks good, even with all those layers.Â
The outer shell is masked fairly well, though we can still kind of make out that the imposing front fascia is nearly identical to the XTS Platinum Concept that was revealed during NAIAS 2010 and stays true to Caddy’s Art and Science design language. Different are the wheels, which are more aggressive and look like they will slice your fingers off if you touch them the wrong way. The tail seems unchanged from the concept.
We should point out that despite the XTS being wrong wheel drive FWD-based and sharing no DNA with the acclaimed CTS, the spy photos do reveal hints of performance orientation. Check out those Brembo brakes for instance. If it’s mechanically like the XTS Platinum Concept, then we can expect a plug-in hybrid drivetrain and all-wheel drive equipped with torque vectoring as well.
The interior spy shot revealed that the center stack and steering wheel are virtually identical to the concept car we saw last year, though the sexy BMW-esque gear lever seems to have been replaced by something a little more clunky looking. We also cannot make out whether or not the LCD display screen instrument panel made its way into the IVER version. Still, it looks very promising. As the rumored RWD “flagship” vehicle, there’s nothing new to report.
For the full gallery, head over to Edmund’s Straightline.
Source: Straightline
Comments
I don’t think I’d put too much faith in those Brembos being on the finished product.
I can’t wait to see this vehicle revealed drool…
The calliper position has NOTHING to do with the primary driving wheels of a car and therefore the assumptions being made about the XTS being front drive based on this is rubbish. There are many instances of front drive cars that have callipers towards the aft side of the front discs (Hyundai Veracruz, for example) and instances rear drive cars with the calliper being on the forward side of the front disc (Mercedes C-Class, 2000-2007 model, for example). While I admit that we have heard that it will be front drive, the argument that Edmunds is using is seriously flawed.
We didn’t say anything about caliper positioning, but it doesn’t mean Edmunds has a point (“excluding a few oddities”). However anyone with half a brain knows that if the XTS is utilizing the Epsilon II platform it will be FWD-based. Not to mention… just look at that front overhang — a trait that nearly every FWD-based vehicle carries. The big surprise here are the Brembos.
It looks good. And I hope it is good in all respects, ESPECIALLY RELIABILITY. However if it follows the trend of the Catera, CTS, DTS and SRX by being unreliable despite relatively high roadtest scores, be prepared for this vehicle to be called out on it. It is my hope that Cadillac bring their reliability to a CR ranking of “much better than average” consistently . It would be a shame for this awesome looking car along with other Caddys to be blemished by reliability that is less than. “General Motors, I hope ur reading this!!”