2014 Cadillac Escalade Esv Platinum on 2040-cars

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GM recalls full-size truck, SUVs and vans over faulty shifter mechanism

Twelve different General Motors vehicles from the 2013 model year, up to 54,686 units in total, are being recalled over two potential issues with their steering columns. The models in question, all full-size trucks, SUVs or vans, are the: Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Savana, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL.
The affected vehicles were built with a fractured parking lock cable or "a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly." As a consequence, they could shift out of park without the brake pedal being applied or with the key removed or in the off position.
A bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that the recall should begin on January 17. GM will notify owners, at which time they can take their vehicles to their dealers for repair free of charge. Have a look at the bulletin below for more information.

Ghostbusters' Ecto-1 detailed in behind-the-scenes video

The Ghostbusters reboot is coming, ready or not. And along with a gender swap between the 'busters and their secretary, the team's trusty chariot, Ecto-1, is getting a refresh. It's still a specialized Cadillac, but that's where the similarities end, judging by the new featurette you see above. Instead of a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance, 2016's Ecto-1 is a 1982 Cadillac Deville. And instead of being built to keep people from dying, the new car is meant to transport the dead. Yep, it's a hearse. It's hard not to find some kind of hidden meaning there, but this video doesn't mention it. What we have learned here is that the way the new Ghostbusters acquire their vehicle is a little bit different than it was in the original film. In the 1984 version, Dr. Ray Stantz, played by Dan Aykroyd, bought the 1959 ambulance for $4,800 – the equivalent of $11,000 today – despite a litany of problems. It was clear in the film that Ecto-1 was dilapidated long before the Ghostbusters breathed life back into it. But in the new film, the team acquires Ecto-1 from the uncle of Patty Tolan – Leslie Jones' character. And based on the film featurette, it looks like it's in solid shape before the team adds its distinctive livery and logo. You can learn more about the car, see parts of the build process, and hear the cast and crew talk about it in this two-minute featurette. Ghostbusters hits theaters on July 15. Related Video:

2016 Cadillac CTS-V First Drive [w/video]

A million insects lost their lives today. Boxelder bugs and mayflies making the ultimate sacrifice in Elkhart Lake, their carapaces no buffer against a rocketing rectangle of safety glass. Their bodies gorily streaking into spangles along the diamond-faceted face of the Cadillac CTS-V. Road America is a four-mile ribbon of pavement snaking its way through the emerald center of the country's northern heartland. Since the 1950s it's seen uncountable fields of diverse racing machinery rocket over its hills and around its 14 corners. I would imagine that on those occasions the tramping of onlookers and hubbub of vehicles, both competitive and commonplace, would dissuade a great number of our six-legged friends from making their way onto the track. But today it's just me turning laps. Inconceivably just one journalist, driving the baddest roadgoing Cadillac ever made, on one of the loveliest circuits America has ever carved out. So big-winged bugs made it out to me in a vast array and a tragic sum, and I drilled through them oblivious to anything but one of the greatest days of driving I've ever had. Cadillac has turned its CTS-V from a performance sedan to a monster. For 2016 Cadillac has turned its CTS-V from a performance sedan to a monster worthy of the carnage described above. The words "epic" and "awesome" are hilariously overused on the Internet, but in the case of the CTS-V's 6.2-liter supercharged V8, their literal meanings are fitting. The capacity to produce 640 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque is astounding. Feeling those outputs come to growling life under my foot arch, uncorks different reactions in my brain as the day wears on: first trepidation, next cautious optimism, finally red-eyed bloodlust. A glance at the power and torque curves will show you that the charged V8 behaves more like a naturally aspirated thing than a turbo'd on/off switch. Peak torque arrives at 3,600 rpm, horsepower at 6,400, giving the engine lovely, linear power delivery. Even with top torque happening near the middle of the tach, there's no small amount of the stuff when the engine first spins up, so launching all 4,145 pounds of Detroit iron still feels exotic. Launching all 4,145 pounds of Detroit iron still feels exotic. On the roads around Wisconsin, using all of the available power is hardly advisable, but I have no trouble driving this fast car slowly (sort of).