Clubbing with the 265-hp four-cylinder CT6.
Car & Driver
May 2016
By: Andrew Wendler
Four or five decades ago, the country-club parking lot would have been considered the natural habitat for any vehicle wearing Cadillac’s wreath and crest. But things changed somewhere in the latter half of the 20th century, when the idle rich and the aspirational merely wealthy moved on to European, and later Japanese, marques in search of the exclusivity and status that the domestic offerings seemed to have lost. Still, here I am, wheeling up to the entrance of the club in a 2016 Cadillac CT6. Ostensibly, I’m here to deliver my mother to a social engagement, but really I just wanted to see what the khaki-and-madras types who loiter about the club think about Cadillac’s latest (which, it must be noted, doesn’t even have a wreath).
Since the 2016 CT6 Platinum AWD with the turbocharged V-6 in our previous test represents the top of the model hierarchy and wears a price approaching $90,000, we thought it prudent to check out a model with a more reasonable buy-in. Cadillac splits the trim levels of the CT6 into four groups: Base, Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum. Looking for the sweet spot in this lineup, we’re now reviewing a Luxury trim with the base 265-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder mated to an eight-speed automatic and traditional rear-wheel drive. (All-wheel drive is offered only on six-cylinder models; it’s standard on Premium Luxury and Platinum trims.) Our test car had but four options: the Bose Panaray sound system with 34 speakers, which added $3700 (that’s $108.82 per speaker); 19-inch “ultra bright” aluminum wheels ($700) in place of the stock 18s; Moonstone metallic paint ($495); and the Enhanced Vision and Comfort package ($2025), which brings a sunroof, ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror that doubles as a wide-screen camera for improved rearward visibility. All in, the as-tested price of our CT6 Luxury was $66,310, nearly $24,000 less dear than that Platinum AWD edition we tested earlier.
Not surprisingly, the first question fielded is from the valet stationed near my drop-off point. “Is that the new Cadillac*? What’s it cost?” “About $70K,” I answer, wondering if he’ll notice the large and recently de-wreathed logo. He doesn’t. He stands back and squints. “My dad always drove a Cadillac,” he says. I nod knowingly as I wave him off. “I’m just dropping off Mom,” I say. As I pull away, the stop/start reignites the engine with all the subtlety of a chicken bone caught in a garbage disposal.
Full article available at link.
Car & Driver
May 2016
By: Andrew Wendler
Four or five decades ago, the country-club parking lot would have been considered the natural habitat for any vehicle wearing Cadillac’s wreath and crest. But things changed somewhere in the latter half of the 20th century, when the idle rich and the aspirational merely wealthy moved on to European, and later Japanese, marques in search of the exclusivity and status that the domestic offerings seemed to have lost. Still, here I am, wheeling up to the entrance of the club in a 2016 Cadillac CT6. Ostensibly, I’m here to deliver my mother to a social engagement, but really I just wanted to see what the khaki-and-madras types who loiter about the club think about Cadillac’s latest (which, it must be noted, doesn’t even have a wreath).
Since the 2016 CT6 Platinum AWD with the turbocharged V-6 in our previous test represents the top of the model hierarchy and wears a price approaching $90,000, we thought it prudent to check out a model with a more reasonable buy-in. Cadillac splits the trim levels of the CT6 into four groups: Base, Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum. Looking for the sweet spot in this lineup, we’re now reviewing a Luxury trim with the base 265-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder mated to an eight-speed automatic and traditional rear-wheel drive. (All-wheel drive is offered only on six-cylinder models; it’s standard on Premium Luxury and Platinum trims.) Our test car had but four options: the Bose Panaray sound system with 34 speakers, which added $3700 (that’s $108.82 per speaker); 19-inch “ultra bright” aluminum wheels ($700) in place of the stock 18s; Moonstone metallic paint ($495); and the Enhanced Vision and Comfort package ($2025), which brings a sunroof, ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror that doubles as a wide-screen camera for improved rearward visibility. All in, the as-tested price of our CT6 Luxury was $66,310, nearly $24,000 less dear than that Platinum AWD edition we tested earlier.
Not surprisingly, the first question fielded is from the valet stationed near my drop-off point. “Is that the new Cadillac*? What’s it cost?” “About $70K,” I answer, wondering if he’ll notice the large and recently de-wreathed logo. He doesn’t. He stands back and squints. “My dad always drove a Cadillac,” he says. I nod knowingly as I wave him off. “I’m just dropping off Mom,” I say. As I pull away, the stop/start reignites the engine with all the subtlety of a chicken bone caught in a garbage disposal.
Full article available at link.