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Gear Patrol: Cadillac CT6

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#1 · (Edited)
A Made-from-Scratch Shot at Full-Size American Luxury

THE 'SPIRITUAL HOME' OF CADILLAC

By HAYDEN COPLEN

http://gearpatrol.com/2016/02/05/review-cadillac-flagship-ct6/




Mass savings were so integral to the CT6 that, in one instance, Hester and Karras went toe to toe with a sheet metal engineer in an attempt to remove three millimeters of thickness from a panel above the doorframe........
Emphasis added:

....As Karrass and I careened around the hills of San Diego, I asked him if he’s ever afraid that this vehicle — with its massively expensive development and impossibly high expectations — will flop. “Yes,” he replied before I finished the question. “Yes,” he echoed again while nodding pensively. “Because people like to box things in.”
 
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#2 ·
Hester, whom Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen calls “Mr. CT6,” had no timeline for delivery and no boundaries for design, just a mission to overcome Cadillac’s baggage as high-end geriatric auto-barge. He and Design Manager Taki Karras immediately picked up dry-erase markers and started brainstorming. Along with a few other team members, they set about “inventing a car,” to use Karras’ term.
Laughed at the nickname, but Karras needs to swap his dragon for a white pony, quit, or get fired if CT6 is all he/she/it could come up with without a timeline or boundaries with the goal of reinventing and reseting perceptions of Cadillac.

Needed more detail, needed more fenders, needed more cylinders, and needed no non-turbo V6.

“Having the ultimate freedom from infancy up is pretty daunting,” Karras said. “You’re making all the decisions for the car.”
I could imagine. My biggest gripe from the cheap seats right now is that I wish it were a little bit wider.

There were sacrifices too, like a subtle spoiler that was tossed out because the team couldn’t get it to properly stamp on the aluminum deck lid (steel, though accepting of the spoiler, would be heavier).
I've gone a little back and forth on how I feel about the looks of the CT6, but have settled on "decidedly handsome."

Still, I would always prefer a better-looking car to a lighter car. I hope they're investing heavily into materials science where they can eventually produce premium-feeling (not plastic), lightweight, and malleable or easily shaped and mass-produced body panels.

Driving the car is enjoyable, but one shouldn’t eschew the additional pleasure of a backseat massage while being driven about town.
Something else that bugs me is that there seems to be plenty of emphasis placed on backseat massage functions... but no mention of it available in the front seats. Is this an option? I think it's a pretty bad oversight if not.

“You gotta do three generations of cars for people to respect the brand,” Karras told me. “Luxury products are word of mouth.”
Ding. :)

Our resident Cadillac machine strikes again.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Quote. As Karras (design manager) and I careened around the hills of San Diego, I asked him if he’s ever afraid that this vehicle — with its massively expensive development and impossibly high expectations — will flop. “Yes,” he replied before I finished the question. “Yes,” he echoed again while nodding pensively. “Because people like to box things in.... You gotta do three generations of cars for people to respect the brand,” Karras told me. “Luxury products are word of mouth.”

Above in a couple of sentences what we here have been discussing exhaustively in multiple threads. I hope that the CT6 will be more than a "please clap" luxury car. C&D was quite enthusiastic about it. Still, I am not sure about the headlights that look like they shed a tear. Can someone (MonaroSS?) do a picture with those 'tears' removed?

 
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