Who doesn’t love an underdog? Everyone secretly roots for one, thinking of the splash it would make as it rises to the top passed cemented leaders. The 2016 Cadillac ATS-V isn’t only an underdog, it’s the newcomer when facing Germany’s finest. Yes, the Cadillac CTS-V has been around for three generations, but the ATS-V is the first crack at a proper M3/M4 rival.
So, is V the new M? Not quite yet, according to Car and Driver’s most recent comparison test. The publication rounded up a BMW M3, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and the hometown-hero Cadillac ATS-V, and put them through their sport-sedan paces. The Germans invented this segment, but Cadillac wants to redefine it.
What held the 2016 ATS-V back? Things we’ve echoed all along. The LF4 twin-turbo V6 engine lacks low-end grunt, and will never sound as nice as the burly V8 stuffed in the Benz. The interior is an utter letdown when drooling over the shape of the exterior design. Hard, shiny plastics and dull gauges distract from the overall package. And, of course, there’s CUE. Oh, CUE.
But, we say it placed third in the best way possible because Cadillac is on par. The chassis is sublime in the 2016 ATS-V, the seats are comfy and well bolstered, and all the engineering details are done so right, it’s a shame the little things couldn’t have been executed in the same way. But, for a first go, it’s a fine automobile.
Cadillac is on par but, echoing C&D, we think after this current generation the ATS-V will be more of a hole-in-one.
Comments
Nice article. Minor point…it’s a 2016 ATS-V. There is no 2015. 😉
JoeBlow,
Fixed! 2015 was on the mind.
Cheers,
Sean
Sad. ATS and CTS were GM’s salvos to finally meet and beat the Germans at their own game. All
the testing on the Nurburgring, the long hours at computer terminals and testbeds go down the
tube if plastic interiors and glitchy touchscreen interfaces make it seem like a cheap impersonator.
Now is Tesla-Time. An American manufacturer has invented and implemented a new kind of vehicle
that re-invents what a Mercedes, BMW or Audi performance luxury sedan should/could be. It’s faster,
smoother, more-inventive and revolutionary. The Model S literally blows those legacy German marques
off the map. Tesla didn’t do this by copying and striving to be like them. They did it by re-inventing what
a consumer of considerable means can aspire to drive. There are so many new and basic things a Tesla
Model S does that the Germans haven’t even thought of – it’s funny. It makes me proud.
Name a German car that seats 5 adults and 2 children while having 2 capacious trunks. Name one of them
that is better looking than the sexy American. Now let’s hit the drag strip. Name one that sprints faster
than a Ferrari or Porsche sports car while bathing it’s driver in silent bliss. Which one has a huge
iPad on the dashboard that controls every aspect of the car. Which one gets regular factory updates
improving everything from it’s automatic-lowering suspension , 0-60 times and efficiency – thus nearly
eliminating any buyer’s remorse due to new-improved models? OK – we know, there are none. No other
German, Japanese or S. Korean luxury car needs no key or fob to be pressed, pushed or inserted to know
it’s driver is present and wants to drive.
Cadillac’s biggest flaw is not that it was headquartered in Detroit and not in New York. Cadillac didn’t need
some European hotshot bigmouth president to change the brand. Nope. What Caddy needs is vision. Not
to copy what the Germans are doing. But to innovate/create and visualize what the luxury/performance
car buyer will want ten years from now and produce that.
GM has hired “spies” to watch Tesla’s every move. OK, that is weird – and while every carmaker looks at
what it’s competition is doing – it’s sad that GM spends that much money just watching a tiny
( comparatively ) auto maker in Fremont, California dupe everyone and change the game in it’s favor.
I’m not bursting with pride that Cadillac keeps striving to match BMW and Mercedes and keeps
falling just short. I am proud that an American company invented and builds a car ( and soon a CUV )
that makes those established old-time leaders look stupid and outdated.
For those sitting there ready to strike the keyboard in anger and argue that Tesla does not build a car in ATS nor CTS’s price category – We know Tesla is a new car company with resources about one-twentieth of GM’s Cadillac division, yet they are on-track for a 2017-18 introduction of the $35,000 Model III. GM better have a rival for that car or it may just fall by the wayside.
You’re going to upset the GM fanatics but I couldn’t agree more. How can the author celebrate coming in last especially now that we are talking equal money.
In the past, all GM cars prior to bankruptcy came in last in virtually all comparisons. The company’s arrogance believed that because they had distribution, they could shove anything down people’s throats. The old timers might remember Roger Smith, named one of the 10 worst CEOs of all times by Fortune magazine.
People who buy luxury cars demand the best, not 3rd best in a 3 way race. Until Cadillac understands that, they won’t be a player. In fact, outside the crumbs they pick-up in the US market, they’re not even in the game.
Give me a break. I suppose no luxury car buyer would ever buy a Lexus IS-F or an Audi RS4 considering they’re apparently not even in the 3 way race. And luxury buyers are willing to settle for 2nd best? The fact is that Cadillac understands luxury performance every bit as well as BMW, MB, Audi, or Lexus now. In a single generation, Cadillac is a hair’s breadth from the absolute best and that’s exactly what the C&D article conveys. How you can interpret that as proof that Cadillac is still out of touch is beyond me. And since when is significant global market share a prerequisite for making a great car? Sounds to me like you’re just reciting the same old tired platitudes…
You do know the Tesla is a well executed pipe dream right? Musk has yet to turn a profit, and frankly, the ONLY impressive thing about it is that he managed to get the media to rally around yet another ‘outdated tech (electric car) masquerading as the savior of the environment’ scheme.
Don’t get me wrong. The Tesla is pretty impressive for what it is, But it’s not even in the running as far as automotive game changers go.
GM does have a rival for the Model 3. It’s a lowly Chevy that’s likely to make it to market a full year before the Tesla. I hope the Model 3 has more than just Tesla’s image to differentiate it from a Chevy…
The fact is Tesla is hugely successful right now because it almost literally has no direct competitors. That also contributes to the companies astronomical valuation in the stock market. Once the competition heats up, the bubble’s going to burst and Tesla’s valuation is going to plummet, making them an acquisition target for a deep-pocketed global automaker looking to jump-start their electric vehicle program. I, for one, am looking forward to test driving a Model 3 at my local Lincoln-Tesla dealership.
Or better yet, seeing the Uconnect infotainment system factory-installed on all new Teslas. lol
Just to be clear, the ATS-V didn’t lose because it couldn’t keep up with (or beat) the Germans, right? So, these other things can be fixed. If your platform sucks, well good luck to ya. Alpha is a great platform and I think we’ll see that play out over the next few years, as it already has. The details people are getting hung up can be fixed much easier. These things will come, but it’s going to take more time. I believe Sean was trying to communicate this. Let’s celebrate the fact that Cadillac is leaps and bounds where it was 2 years ago. Is GM overselling it right now? Probably, but it’s being built up over time in the right way. I think 2020 is the year Cadillac is looking to have all the pieces in place which is about 4 years off in the future.
Very good article and comparison. I guess I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. This generation C-Class definitely sets the standard in interior quality and comfort, and would also be my top choice in this segment were I in the market for such a vehicle. The Bimmer once again shows how to assemble the whole package when it comes to a good interior and overall driving dynamics. But I must give the GM engineers their credit. They’ve truly done at least a significant part of their homework and have truly developed a chassis and suspension worthy of making the ATS-V the handling champ it is. But can a well-rounded chassis and best handling title garner the sales Cadillac desperately needs? In one sense yes: as buyers in this segment can be won over by such accolades. Yet, the Germans remain dominant for a reason, and a big part of it has to do with interior quality! Cadillac has made great strides in the interior department as of late, but for once it’ll be nice to sit inside a GM vehicle and not levy some complaint towards the designers! I’m in total agreement with the C&D staff on their assessment of the ATS-V; GM, this is a problem you cannot afford to overlook going forward with the brand! Go above and beyond what your customers expect! Offer the complete package of luxury and performance! Don’t sacrifice practicality to have the best driving car in the segment!
GM engineers have done a great job with the powertrain and suspension and the driving dynamics . But it seems that they always get it wrong inside the car where you spend most of your time ( other than the seats ) . Hard plastic on the door panels and instrument panel just dont pass anymore , escpecially in higher end cars . That alone can turn a customer to look elsewhere . They need to focus on this NOW and not wait ’till 2020 . The year some folks think Cadillac will be a force to be reckoned with .
You gotta wonder sometimes how things like CUE end up getting the nod for production. Did the benchmarking process fail or was it somebody’s baby that defied frank opinion? GM vehicle history is riddled with miscues, some minor, some major, that many noticed the first time that they experienced the product.
When you work closely with systems like this they appear easy to you as you are familiar with them. To a new user it can be frustrating for a short period of time to learn the system. Many products go through this and are soon refined for better integration.
I Drive at BMW had the same issues.
To be honest the Cue once you learn it is not really hard to use but get in and new car and never having used it before it can be frustrating.
James,
The 200 + mile Bolt EV is coming from Chevrolet -perhaps a year ahead of the Tesla model 3. It looks like an excellent competitor and another excellent All-American entry. I agree with the rest of your comments.
I expected it to place 2nd but oh well. It took the CTS 3 generations to get where it is today, and I expect the comparison with the cts-v and m5 to have a very different result. And the ATS was far from a failure, they made an amazing chasis and a vehicle with stellar driving dynamics. And that all got passed down to the Camaro, which is great. Hopefully the 2nd gen ATS V improves its interior quality and Cue gets substantially better.
beat, kill ,beat and kill germans and so on. funny young childrens story. go and beat and kill germans i want to see this and i want this. germans germans. german story is so funny. gm built better cars. germans, japanes, russians, and all who cares who. just built better cars.
GM IS GLOBAL US.EU.AU.ENG german and american car manufacture you stuped people. go beat and kll your self. first open your eyes and think to. beat and kill pla pla pla children
I saw this story a little while ago in an advanced copy. It is fair and must be taken in context.
#1 The areas Cadillac failed to lead in were mostly ergonomic subjective areas. While I agree with some I disagree on others and it is more of a point of view area.
#2 Keep in mind that the past Cadillac leadership and GM Board considered this car competitive. Now Segway to last August when the new management came in. They acknowledged that the cars were good but needed to be better and convinced GM to invest more money to Cadillac to make them what they should be. The CTS and ATS both will see a significant update that will address the areas needed soon. They then will take the new CT names ands replace the present models.
James the problems has been inside GM culture where for years many thought close is good enough. Mark Ruess has spent a lot of time in the last couple years trying to change this alone with Mary and even before them Lutz started the fight and has gone public over many of the issues they tried to stone wall him on.
The fact is to get the board to listen Mary and Mark have brought in a Ex BMW guy and Audi guy to get the thinking changed inside GM. They need bold loud people to get through some thick skulls to convince many on the board that it takes more than close to dominate a segment.
Right now this car is a good car but it is clean up work on the old regime. The people in place now are not of the old school and some are not of GM at all in the past. These are the folks as Lutz called not the problem. They now have an upper hand and just need the time and money to fix things. At this point they now have the tough part the money. Next will be just trying to make the most progress in the time they have been given. This part just can not be rushed too much or you take a step back.
I am ok with the results here as it is nothing that can not easily be fixed. Lets face it if we had an old STS vs. the same year BMW in the past we would not even have seen the Cadillac win a single category.
Things in this segment need to be earned and we are making progress here and we still have some more work to do.
This is why the CT6 is not your flag ship as while good it was deemed by the new staff as not good enough. They were honest about this from the start and did not try to make this a flagship of the moment like they tried to do the XTS.
The progression is as such. The old Cadillac flagship was the STS. Then it was the XTS then it was expected the CT6. As you can see all are major improvements but they all fall a little short of where they need to be in class leading. But once you get to the CT6 It at least has a seat at the table and is respected. This is how the ATSV is. It has a seat at the table but it still needs a little bit more that the new managers have finally gotten the go ahead on.
Old GM always cheaped out on the interiors and that is just what happened here with some of the old people who were still left to fight spending. They are now out of the picture and you will see a change once the product that was so far along that it could not be changed is out.
Not true ! Initially when the CT6 was an un-named car it was being sold to the Media as the S-class competitor . It was 6 months before the new name was inserted into the program that they did a 180 . If we are going to be preached too , lets get the facts straight .
Spike the fact is the car was changed buy those who are helping lead Cadillac today “The Good Guys” and not the old school guys who were intending this to be the best cars in the line up.
Johannn, Mark, Mary and others were all involved with the future upgrade to Cadillac’s plans.
The plans did not revolve around the name. Get your facts straight.
Remember when you hear things it often can be months after the decisions are made. The fact remains the car that is the CT6 was the intended flagship and they changed that path as those who wanted Cadillac to do better won their argument with those in GM that wanted to only make it good enough.
The Germans did not beat you or kill you. have the opportunity to build the best cars. GM currently builds the best cars and is built, however, audi-bmw-mb-vw … there is much more ahead in everything nowadays. the quality is lower gm
You don’t win bronze. You lose gold. In fact, you lose silver, come to think of it.
PS June sales figures are out. How low can Cadillac and Buick go before somebody says ‘hey, wait a second’?
(Buick down 18.1%. Ouch. And that’s with the Encore available at $109 down, and $109 a month).
Thankfully, truck and other SUV sales just keep chugging along.
Well regardless they are at least in the conversation in performance and will still make a healthy profit even at low volumes.
This yet was a model done under duress of old GM Culture that finally has been eradicated. Still it is respectable and of a nature that can be fixed.
C&D used to be about the best handling car. Now it’s about interior decorating. The Cadillac out handled the Germans.
GM engineers have done a great job with the powertrain and suspension and the driving dynamics . But it seems that they always get it wrong inside the car where you spend most of your time ( other than the seats ) . Hard plastic on the door panels and instrument panel just dont pass anymore , escpecially in higher end cars . That alone can turn a customer to look elsewhere . They need to focus on this NOW and not wait ’till 2020 . The year some folks think Cadillac will be a force to be reckoned with .