Everyone is already well aware of the 2016 Cadillac CT6 and its advanced mixed material usage. Cadillac is the first General Motors brand to utilize the Omega platform, which uses advanced joining and welding techniques to create one of the most intelligently engineered platforms from GM to date.
Novelis, the aluminum supplier for Cadillac, has stepped into the limelight, however, to give us more details on where its aluminum can be found. Specifically, 62-percent of the company’s aluminum makes its way into the 2016 CT6 sedan, making its weight comparable to the smaller CTS sedan, despite the CT6 being a much larger car.
Aluminum spot welding technology also helps reduce the chunk of a full-size platform, and in the process, creates an even stronger and more efficient chassis. Laser welding, flow drill fasteners and self-piercing rivets are also used, along with nearly 600 feet of advanced structural adhesives.
The processes and technology help the CT6 sedan shave 220-pounds from its curb weight, creating one of the most nimble cars in its class. Now, we wait for the Omega platform to show up elsewhere within a General Motors brand.
Comments
Cadillac has no reason not to use this in their upcoming full-size CUV. NONE.
Cadillac’s CT6 is a marriage of 13 different materials with 64 percent of the CT6 body structure is aluminum and all exterior body panels including complicated aluminum castings used in the front hinge pillar (which normally is made up by as many as 35 components) and rear longitudinal rail (replacing 25 parts); but all of this is very expensive and it’s why Cadillac did ‘NOT’ use this type of structure with their new XT5 although future vehicle designs could be to replace the complex aluminum casting with composites that may be cheaper while being even lighter than aluminum.
“… but all of this is very expensive and it’s why Cadillac did ‘NOT’ use this type of structure with their new XT5…”
While I understand that there’s compelling business arguments about cost and profitability, I can’t help but balk at that statement in a luxury context. That kind of thinking doesn’t belong in the arena Cadillac is competing in. Especially with the financial backing of a top three global automaker.
Cadillac is supposed to be the brand where GM goes all-out. You can’t expect luxury buyers to “dare greatly” on a brand that doesn’t dare break the bank, for people who break the bank.
And is the Alpha platform so inflexible they can’t use it to underpin a midsize Q7 fighter, and a compact X3 fighter?
If that’s the case, the CT6 sounds like a bit of an insurance nightmare! That’s quite a lot of materials! Repair costs certainly won’t be cheap!
Nevertheless, with a platform this special Cadillac certainty has a lot of room to take the CT6! If there truly won’t be a sedan to slot above the CT6, why won’t they go ahead and produce a model that’s superior to the Platinum CT6, with better interior materials and more equipment? The $100K plus price tag shouldn’t seem too farfetched, given that the Escalade can reach close to that price with the Platinum model. Cover all bases with the CT6: from the lowly $54K base 4-cylinder to a potential $100K plus luxury barge!
Let’s see if I remember there is this thing called galvanic corrosion when dissimilar materials are used. Even with isolation materials it seems to happen. Time wil tell.
So not a closer look…
I think i’ve seen a GM press photo with 5 short bullet points list the exact same thing. “A close look at water: it’s wet!”
meh
After seeing hail 3 times in the past week I have to wonder how the aluminum on the CT6 (and the Ford F-150) will hold up to hail. Anybody seeing worse than average hail damage on the Fords yet?
Say hello to the next Impala. Camaro already has Alfa; this will be the next SS replacemen
Yes, a new impala with a SS option