With whole steep gas prices thing going on, Car and Driver is reporting that Cadillac will begin offering four cylinder engines with the debut of the ATS and XTS. And while we expect the upcoming Cadillac ATS and XTS to start with an ECOTEC four-pot, they will also serve as little experiments to test the waters of their market for the brand. And if consumers react positively, we may even see four cylinder engines in the SRX and next generation CTS as well, according to Car and Driver. And while this move plays to the opposite tune of the 556-horsepower LSA V8 engine found in the CTS-V, it still makes a lot of sense.
For one, Cadillac’s European rivals — namely Audi and Mercedes — already offer four cylinder engines in their models in the U.S. market, while BMW is beginning to join the club as well with its TwinPower boosted 2.0-liter four cylinder engine in its Z4 roadster. So in terms of Cadillac offering more engine diversity with four cylinder engines to go with V6 and V8 offerings in order to more effectively compete with its rivals, it makes perfect sense.
Source: Car and Driver
Comments
How are they going to put 4cyl in the XTS or or the range topper flagship even if it’s turbocharged and like 3 liters? If they do it will propably not achieve the goal of being very fuel-efficient or being a well performing euro-fighter.
By the way, this is off topic but I am a ford fan as well as a GM fan and I recently discovered a Ford Authority, after a bit of excitement, I realized that while it is almost identical to GM Authority, it is not updated as frequently or as comprehensive. Is their any connection between Alex Luft and Ford Authority founder or did they just copy GM Authority? They seem to be developing just like GM Authority was in late 2009-early 2010.
B,
Good eye! As Alex Luft, myself, William Maley, Kevin Alford and Jeff Ross (of Autotropolis fame) also write for and run Ford Authority. We’re working on building the content for The Ultimate Destination For Everything Ford every day, and we plan on providing enthusiasts with just as much daily content that GM Authority provides today in hopefully a shorter amount of time than it took for GMA to be where it is today.
As for the XTS, it doesn’t seem to be targeted at German flagship models. If anything, it could very well be the last Baby Boomer luxury barge we will see from Cadillac. The rumored Omega platform-based flagship is still too far out to get much details, but if it’s going to be an A8, 7-Series and S-Class fighter, it most likely wont see anything as small as a four-banger.
A boosted 2.0L ECOTEC in the ATS that can achieve around 260 horsepower, however, sounds promising.
Don’t forget that the horsepower numbers for the 2.0 turbo aren’t the impressive part, it’s the torque.
In the Regal GS, it produces 255 horsepower, which is lackluster, but it produces 295 lb/ft of torque – which is awesome.
Looking forward to whipping one of these around in an ATS!
Hey B! Yup — Ford Authority sure is us! It will be kicking up a storm shortly — as Manoli mentioned before me. Thanks for taking notice — and we really appreciate you as a reader!
And yes — the XTS seems to be a transitionary (read: stopgap) vehicle to cater to DTS buyers and get Caddy’s toes wet with the full-size flagship game. As far as we know, the “true” flagship, based on the new Omega platform, is coming after that.
Alex
4 cylinders and front wheel drive?(XTS) I thought that was where Buick came in…
Yeah. Thing is, most are doing this as well. For example, the 7 series will have a 4 cylinder in Europe (and soon in North America). It’s those fuel efficiency regs 🙁
*Smh* I cant stomach reading anymore new Cadillac news. I will believe when I see it in showrooms. They shoulda held off on the “standard of the world” tagline, btw.
As for Ford Authority, thats great but I would have much rather you guys did a Chrysler! Sorry, big fan of anything American but Chrysler had my heart ever since they relaunched the RWD American V8 car! Kudos to you all though! 🙂
^I should have added to that bit: fullsize RWD car when everyone else abandoned the segment…