2013 Cadillac Ats Luxury on 2040-cars

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Consumer Reports loves the 2014 Cadillac CTS

Our first drive of the 2014 Cadillac CTS was just published today... we really liked the Vsport version. And Consumer Reports has some even stronger words of praise for the all-new luxury sedan. We already knew that Cadillac had stepped up its game with the third-gen CTS, but CR bluntly states that the sedan drives better than its German luxury counterparts.
While CR shows plenty of love for the new CTS, the outlet still takes issue with some of the in-car technology including the CUE infotainment system - no surprise there. The testers' offer all manner of positive comments where the impressive handling capabilities of the sedan are concerned, with lots of drifting around CR's private test facility in evidence to bear them out. Scroll down to watch the CTS get put through its paces.

Cadillac V-Performance Academy joins free driving school party

Just in case you needed another reason to want one of Cadillac's hottest performers, starting with the 2017 Cadillac CTS-V and ATS-V, the first owner of each vehicle can score a free two-day course at Spring Mountain Motor Resort with the V-Performance Academy. According to Spring Mountain's website, the V-Performance Academy "is designed for drivers of all experience levels and includes dynamic car control exercises, visual skill development, and proper cornering techniques," with "brief" classroom sessions sprinkled in. Driving programs like the V-Performance Academy are all the rage right now. In the last few weeks alone, both Fiat and Ford announced free one-day academies baked right into the price of cars like the 124 Abarth and Focus RS. As with the Ford and Fiat courses, Cadillac is providing the learner cars. But where those other courses call on vehicle owners to shell out for airfare, food, and in Fiat's case, lodging, Cadillac covers tuition – a $2,420 expense for non-owners – along with two nights in one of Spring Mountain's "luxury condominiums" and breakfast and lunch during both driving days. Students are still on the hook for airfare, although Caddy will shuttled attendees from Las Vegas McCarren to the track/resort, some 55 miles away. If you can't shell out for the flight to Las Vegas, a new CTS-V or ATS-V, or simply can't spare two days for a driving school, Cadillac is ramping up for another year of its one-day, traveling V-Performance Lab, which will run at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut and at Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Related Video:

Cadillac's de Nysschen takes aim at Porsche 911, Cayenne

Johan de Nysschen has big plans for Cadillac. He's moved the brand from Detroit to New York, revamped its model nomenclature, and planning a raft of new models for the near future – including a $250,000 luxury sedan to take on the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley. But the veteran executive of luxury automakers has some more performance-oriented machinery in mind, too. Speaking with Car and Driver at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, de Nysschen suggested Cadillac could be ready to launch a flagship sports car sometime in the next decade. The halo model would take aim at the Porsche 911 and do for Cadillac what Audi did with the R8, Mercedes is doing with the AMG GT and Acura once did (and is aiming to do again) with the NSX. Just what form it would take remains a big unknown, but de Nysschen indicated that the brand would need to be built up further before the sports car would be launched, lest it emerge too detached from Cadillac's image. The last time Cadillac delved into that territory was with the Corvette-based XLR, of which it sold only 15,000 or so examples – far below initial targets. The 911 rival isn't the only performance model de Nysschen has in mind, however. He plans to further expand the V series into a more substantial sub-brand to include a crossover to take on the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 M and all those many AMG-tuned Mercedes utilities. The idea of an entry-level model to slot in below the ATS was mooted as well. A range of diesel engines are slated to help Cadillac break into overseas markets in similar fashion to how Maserati has expanded its market reach with oil-burning versions of the Ghibli and Quattroporte. And we wouldn't be surprised to see Cadillac get in on a new flagship SUV being launched by Opel in Europe, either.