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2013 Cadillac ATS Premium 2.0T 6MT

The new Cadillac ATS is an impressive sport sedan, often considered one of the most serious threats to the BMW 3 Series. Unlike GM's previous attempts, this four door brings aggressive styling, commendable chassis dynamics and class-leading handling to the highly competitive battle. And, like its daunting German foe, Cadillac offer several powertrain choices.
I recently spent time with the ATS 2.0T Premium on my home California turf. Fitted with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox with a limited-slip rear differential, my tester was lightly optioned, with only a paint upgrade and a cold weather package. That brought the as-tested price to $46,305, configured the way I imagine most enthusiasts would prefer. This meant I fully expected to enjoy a week with a tossable sport sedan that boasted "fun-to-drive" as its middle name, but all was not well...
Driving Notes

Cadillac confirms CT8/CT9 flagship, ELR successor

Cadillac has certainly been a hot topic as of late, what with Johan de Nysschen now running the joint, moving its headquarters to New York, and overhauling the company's naming structure (only to later publicly defend all of these drastic decisions). Now, looking ahead, de Nysschen is already revealing some details about what's in store for the future, including a raft of new products that include a large, long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival positioned above the recently announced CT6, along with a successor to the slow-selling ELR coupe.
In an interview with Reuters, de Nysschen says his company has "just signed off on" a new flagship tipped to be called CT8 or CT9. It will compete with the long-wheelbase versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series, and should come to market by the end of this decade.
Among other news, the South African executive said a followup to the ELR plug-in hybrid is in development, though it may not be a two-door coupe like the current car. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since the ELR has garnered nothing but slow sales and poor reviews since its launch.

Top horsepower-per-dollar cars in 2017

Bang for the buck. That quasi-scientific statistic is bandied about by motor heads everywhere from classrooms to barrooms, though the truth of the matter is that it's exceedingly complex to measure. A fair performance-per-dollar index would include something like cross-referencing MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) with point-to-point times on a track or driving route, which is obviously hard to do comprehensively. But, for the sheer joy of talking about cars and playing with a big spreadsheet, there's always the horsepower-per-dollar index, which is more straightforward, albeit hilariously flawed. There are vagaries even with this simple formula, of course: MSRP for vehicles can change at a moment's notice, to say nothing of the bottom-line shifting that happens with local deals or showroom negotiation. For this list we're running with the straight MSRP wherever possible, and as recently reported as we can get it. All the vehicles on this list are 2017 models, and all trims are reported where the lowest price and differing power levels intersect. Some choices were made for personal preference and some for sanity, avoiding things like all 48 trim levels of the Ford Transit, all with the same horsepower). If this list were a simple top ten, or even a top fifty, you'd be bored to tears with all the red, white and blue that is represented. Following perfectly with conventional wisdom, American cars really do lead the world where hp/$ is concerned. So, for the sake of variety (and the sheer joy of seeing a minivan 'win' one round of this thing) I've sorted out some top five and bottom five lists for broad power categories. Let's dive in. Less Than 100 Horsepower Okay, okay, this is hardly a category we'll grant you. But we've often tried to click off all the sub-100-hp cars on sale in the US, and making this list gave us an excuse. It also illustrates that none of these smallish vehicles bring cheap horsepower to the table - for that you'll need a motorcycle. The segment-leading Chevy Spark (above) asks just over $139 for each hp, and that Smart Fortwo Electric Drive has hp on sale for about the same price as its very distant family cousin, the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG (insert your favorite Smart joke here... we know you want to).