Review: 2003 Cadillac CTS

THE AUTO PAGE
By
JOHN HEILIG
SPECIFICATIONS
MODEL: Cadillac CTS
ENGINE: 3.2-liter V6
HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 220 hp @ 6000 rpm/220 lb-ft @ 3400 rpm
TRANSMISSION: Five-speed automatic
WHEELBASE: 113.4 in.
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT: 190.1 x 70.6 x 56.7 in.
STICKER PRICE: $37,565
It's hard not to like the Cadillac CTS. It's been a long time since
people have been able to say they like a Cadillac.
CTS is the type of car that gets admiring glances from everyone. It gets
thumbs ups all along the road. And everyone who drives it appreciates it.
The first thing that strikes you about CTS is its inspired styling. So
many cars these days have what can only be classified as uninspired styling.
In many cases that makes sense, because you want a conservative look to your
sedan.

But if you're plunking out $37,565 for a car you want something that
is instantly recognizable and something that people will appreciate when they
see it coming down the roadIn truth, the Cadillac Catera, which was the predecessor to the CTS, had
uninspired styling. It had nice styling, but it was pretty normal looking.
CTS, on the other hand, embraces Cadillac's edgy styling, with hard lines
and sharp angles. The "face" of the CTS will be seen in Cadillac's two-seater
sports car that is due in the near future. It is similar to the Escalade and
Escalade EXT faces as well, sharing the edgy styling. There are angles to the
headlight and taillight nacelles that are striking. It is a beautiful car by
my standards, and by other people's standards as well.
There's one disadvantage to the edgy styling of the CTS. We discovered
that the paint on the rear "bumper" was chipped at the extreme point,
probably from too much "hunt and feel" parking. This could obviously be
corrected on future versions of the car.
Inside the CTS, you sit behind a wood and leather steering wheel and the
standard complement of gauges, as well as an analog clock. Obviously, all the
other functions are handled by computer readouts on the dash. There is an
excellent Bose sound system that offered great entertainment and was
relatively easy to figure out. There were times when we had trouble exploring
some of the options, but in general you don't need a Ph.D. in computer
science to figure out the radio.
The radio had a tuning knob so you didn't have to figure out some graphic
symbols to find the stations you wanted. It was easy to figure out, tune and
set the stations you want in memory.
In the center of the sound system was a CD player and there was a
cassette player as well.
The HVAC system was equally easy to decipher. It was a dual zone system
so my wife and I could figure out what temperature we each wanted the vehicle
to be with a minimum of haggling.
Under the hood is a 3.2-liter V6 that delivers 220 horsepower. It is
connected to the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic gearbox. There
was no auto-stick option, which would have been a help on more challenging
roads.
The dash itself had a nice look to it, with a minimum of wood trim. As
with much of the trim in the vehicle, there was a wood shift knob and wood
pieces on the door pull handles. Those, and the wood on the steering wheel,
were the only pieces of wood trim in the car.
I had one problem with the instruments. I happen to like my instruments
to be bright. The brightness control is on the overhead console, and I had to
look in the owner's manual to find where it was.
Performance of the CTS is very good. Obviously, if it's competing against
the Lexus ES300, the Infiniti GS350, so it's in the same performance class.
It would have been nice to have a slightly more powerful engine, but the CTS
is well powered.
Ride quality is slightly on the soft side. I might have liked it to be
slightly firmer, but firmness reduces ride quality, and this is, after all, a
Cadillac, so one would assume a softer ride than one would expect from a more
sporty brand. I think a sport suspension option with stiffer springs and
shocks would be a valuable option for the CTS.
Cruise control switches are on the steering wheel, as is a sound system
volume knob and station hunter. Wiper controls are on the right stalk with a
down to wipe one-wipe function.
All in all, I think the Cadillac CTS is an excellent vehicle. It gives a
good example of what Cadillac styling is going to be like over the next
couple of years and I find that to be exciting. There are no fins, and in
this case it's fine. It has vertical taillights, though, which is close
enough.
© 2002 The Auto Page Syndicate