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We don't have the view of Monte Carlo from the Route de
la Moyenne Corniche or the baroque opulence of Monaco's
Hotel de Paris. But the view of Malibu from the top of
Decker Canyon is not to be missed, and the recently opened
and gracious Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village has
something not available in Monaco, the California
WellBeing Institute. And there's another recognizably
American symbol that has been a target of national aspiration
for generations. Cadillac has been wandering, a bit lost
for the past umpteen years while its parent corporation
struggled to find capable leadership. Now, finally, it is again
an American car that the most discriminating enthusiast can
enjoy both driving and wearing.
The Murciélago will still get parked street side at The
Palm, but the up-front luxury sedan row will include a factory-
installed wire-mesh grille that wears the crest and
wreath. Courageous origami edges underscore the big car's
presence and set it apart. While the discreet “Supercharged”
hint on the door might be overlooked by passers-by, spotting
the low aggressive splitter and carefully caged brake
cooling ducts will be enough to stop the cognoscenti. A
driver's Cadillac has arrived.
Speaking at the 2002 Cadillac LaSalle Club Centennial
banquet, GM product chief Bob Lutz said, “At Cadillac
we're not going to get carried away with nostalgia. We're
going to celebrate the past, sure, but we're going to keep
one eye trained firmly on the future, because it's going to
get very exciting, very quickly.”
Five years later the new Cadillac is established – and
accepted. The icing on the celebratory cake is the V-series
cars. As the gated enclaves disgorge their early-morning
string of German hardware, there are more hard-edged
Cadillacs appearing in the flow. Executive-commuter supercars
wearing Ms and Ss and AMGs are now joined by the
Vs. Muscle car Cads are no temporary manifestation of a
corporate dream like the much-loved efforts at Le Mans. The
latest iteration of Cadillac's big rear wheel drive sedans is
here and they are good.
The STS-V is dynamically satisfying and fast, but the
mid-size sport sedan is not happy as a canyon racer.
Understeer is pretty dramatic when the car is pushed into a
tight change of direction, but that was never its intended target.
On a curvy, undulating country road it is better than
most drivers. When a short overtaking window opens, the
power and suspension geometry plant its independentlysprung
tail, feeding confidence directly to the driver's seat. It
is hard not to smile.
Another fundamental change in the new Cadillac is a passenger
compartment assembled and detailed like its German
competitors. Handcrafted interiors swathed in leather, with
carefully aligned stitching on the edges of virtually every
surface, illustrate a clear understanding of the new philosophy
in Cadillac's build team. The simplicity of the design is
unforgiving of lapses in fit and finish. There was nothing out
of place in the well-used car we drove. With an instrument
cluster designed and focused in a small binnacle for an
enthusiastic driver, the rest of the dash panel is elegantly
simple, with nothing to distract from the job at hand. The
central tower is a dark-stained wood surrounding a surprisingly
simple black panel of electronic controls, including a
slot for the in-dash 6-disc changer. While the Germans have
all experimented with visually simple single controllers that
are actually horrifically complex in function, Cadillac has
remained loyal to intuitive buttons and knobs that are large
enough for a gloved north-country hand. Even the touch
screen buttons are neither confusing nor difficult to select.
Our only complaint was the need to resort to the manual to
discover how to dim the daytime screen.
The off-dash gearshift has a distinctly VW-Audi tactile
quality and function. The right-side manual-mode shift gate
underscores that connection. There appears to be no attempt
to prove that car designers are smarter than drivers. In fact,
a first time Cadillac driver will find everything logically
located and well marked. As a clear indicator of the design
team's depth of understanding, there is even a large, well
located dead pedal – in a Cadillac. The STS-V really is a
driver's Cadillac. Apparently created by drivers.
Rectangular sections make up the front seat design,
allowing for some modest bolstering for lateral support. In
deference to the commuter, though, they are not so stiff as
to become uncomfortable on a long commute or an extended
family driving vacation. That too was carefully considered
and accomplished.
Compromises made to integrate a comfortable commuter,
for 95% of the car's life, and an entertaining sports sedan,
for that occasional solo blast in the country, are nearly invisible.
The Sachs co-engineered damping is brilliant. The
high-speed damping (initial impact) effect is almost negated.
For longer duration bumps or rapid changes of direction the
suspension geometry, spring rates, and 36 and 24 mm
(front/rear) hollow anti-roll bars give both control and compliance
without ever feeling harsh. The feel is more civilized
than the competition on the daily commute with little given
away at the extreme edges of performance demands.
For more on this article and much more grab a copy of Auto Aficionado Magazine on newsstands nationwide!
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