In-Depth Automotive Review: 2008 Cadillac CTS Test Drive & Virtual Tour
It’s not easy to form biased opinions about the cars we drive and dream about. Being an automotive consultant, sometimes your emotions get in the way of the truth. Seeing the new 2008 Cadillac CTS literally brought tears to my eyes. It’s one of the most superfluous cars to come out of Old Detroit in a long time. I lived with parents who used to talk about classic cars, Mustangs, old Plymouths, full-size Blazers, you name it. It was Americana, and they were great memories.
What the newly formed CTS had to offer was plentiful, what was missing was me being behind the wheel full time. The car was balanced, with a super smooth drivetrain and transmission. I didn’t drive many other European stalwarts, but this one was stylish and unique. Unique as he had never seen anything that deviated from the cheese ball shape, it was an appearance of its own. It was the Cadillac stealth fighter!
The car was quiet, with a clean fit and finish and excellent ergonomics. The seats were comfortable and the dash panels were soft to the touch. Finally, Cadillac has put the money where its mouth is, and it won! I drove a model without direct injection and the smart navigation system. Although I have seen the navigation at work on a demo model, I must say that it is nothing short of revolutionary. Remember the globe in Geography class, it’s so detailed? You would almost think that you can touch the screen and feel the mountains and rivers on the graphics, job well done.
My favorite feature has to be the taillights, just a work of art. Cadillac designed the lights with LED bullets and LED light tubes, it was an impressive display of lighting. The seams were tight and the wheel arches flared at the front and rear, it looked like an Italian design. The White Diamond metallic paint was also beautiful.
Overall I was impressed with the whole package. But I can’t do a review without spotting a couple of uhhh, why did they do that, negatives. One gripe I did have was with the rear seats, I’m six feet tall and just wasn’t that comfortable with my knees digging into the back of the front seats. Cadillac should also have made the remote start feature standard on all models, not just the Luxury Collection package. Pricing was competitive with this test model price hovering at just 35,890, fully loaded DI models with Navigation and AWD can run into the forties. That’s in line with the rest, the base model is a bit cheaper than others.
So in closing, this car was definitely a breath of fresh, luxurious air. Not only do I give the highest recommendation for the new 2008 Cadillac CTS, but the consumer no longer has to settle for those American scoundrels. A really inspiring story about the boy who comes back and a new car love story that we can implant as a happy thought in our future memories.