One of the dear friends we call a commenter, ace47, doesn't want to read any more about how the Cadillac CTS rides nicely or how its navigation system performs. Okay, ace. Here's something you haven't read before: Did you know that if you leave the Caddy's ignition in accessory mode while filling the car up with gasoline, you can watch the miles-to-empty readout climb as each drop of fuel fills the tank? Didn't think so.
Further, we're not sure if our man ace47 (let's face it: there's no chance he's a woman) knows that after you fill up the tank and go into the Norther New Mexico gas station and purchase a bottle of water and a coffee, the woman behind the register will ring it up and say, "Woo, boot da bead off da bat."
Other items of potential interest to ol' ace
The Caddy's iPod interface probably works beautifully when it works at all. For me and my antiquated, steam-powered iPod, the interface shows no love. It simply taunts me with a "device not supported" message. So it's the old-school AUX input for this Luddite.
We found down-sized version of the famed Cadillac Ranch along the side of an expressway off-ramp in Northern Texas, which uses half-buried VW Beetles in place of vintage Cadillacs. Hey, times are tough.
We witnessed a distressing tendency of drivers in New Mexico to roll their vehicles for no apparent reason. We saw two such single-car incidents on dry, straight, lightly trafficked roads. How do you do that?
The CTS has now racked up 1,625.8 miles on this trip and its average speed (68.5 mph) and average fuel economy (24.2 mpg) continue to inch ever upward. Also the ride quality is quite good.
Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit @ 19,612 miles
ddoouugg says:
07:11 AM, 12/12/08
That second picture just makes me want to floor it!
johnmarco says:
07:59 AM, 12/12/08
Nice try Dan. But I believe the request was for you to return home, pick up the A4, and then continue the journey.
felonious says:
08:16 AM, 12/12/08
"We saw two such single-car incidents on dry, straight, lightly trafficked roads. How do you do that?"
Bored to death, literally?
adavis2493 says:
08:44 AM, 12/12/08
ace47 got pwnd
ps. I enjoy reading about the CTS.
1487 says:
08:48 AM, 12/12/08
dont acknowledge ACE's existence in future posts. You will regret it later.
tomslick2 says:
09:05 AM, 12/12/08
It's great to hear about this car. An American lux car that people actually like. How much do we hear about the BMW's? I cannot wait for the wagon version.
chavis10 says:
09:35 AM, 12/12/08
Cadillac seems to love that red paint for the CTS but I hate it. I love the blue, white diamond and grey though. How's the power at highway speeds?
tomslick2 says:
09:40 AM, 12/12/08
It's great to hear about this car. An American lux car that people actually like. How much do we hear about the BMW's? I cannot wait for the wagon version.
roar02ram says:
09:53 AM, 12/12/08
What?! No love for the Candy Apple Red Caddy, Chavis? Watch your back - there are probably a bunch of old country club biddies out to get you now!
kingkhalas says:
09:54 AM, 12/12/08
cool pictures. this site has great photography.
misterfusion says:
10:03 AM, 12/12/08
Was that convenience store lady Jamaican or what? Doesn't sound like any New Mexico accent that I'VE ever heard.
As for the one-car wipeouts, my mother reports from Santa Fe that DUI is the state pastime. Oh well, I'd still like to live there!
chavis10 says:
10:54 AM, 12/12/08
roar02ram- I like Crystal Red Tintcoat on the Malibu and Impala but for some reason not the CTS. It's the color the used in all the ads so maybe I'm just sick of seeing it. I guy on my street has the Ultra Violet which is just truly digusting. On a car with this much chrome and that many creases and angles, the color has to be carefully selected. When I go to get my pre-owned CTS, I'm sure I'll have a hard time finding the perfect combo.
PaulBubel says:
10:55 AM, 12/12/08
"We saw two such single-car incidents on dry, straight, lightly trafficked roads. How do you do that?"
Simple, you fall asleep at the wheel. It's a pretty common problem on long straight Interstates.
1487 says:
10:58 AM, 12/12/08
someone on my street has a black one and it looks great
ctpax says:
12:04 PM, 12/12/08
24mpg? Pathetic.
boxermike says:
12:17 PM, 12/12/08
"Simple, you fall asleep at the wheel. It's a pretty common problem on long straight Interstates."
Exactly why the Autobahn has slight curves.
mercedesfan says:
01:19 PM, 12/12/08
Glad to see a nice series of posts about the CTS. It is car that I have really warmed to over time and enjoy reading about it. I am really glad Cadillac erred on the side of luxury rather than performance for the standard CTS. I have a feeling most owners are far more likely to drive their cars like this (on long road trips) than carving back roads.
Also, Dan does the CTS ride with a firmness on the highway like a Benz or a floatiness like a Lexus?
Lastly, I agree with ctpax that the fuel mileage so far is pretty disappointing. I do better than that at those speeds with my car, and its twice as big and weighs 1000 lbs more.
chavis10 says:
01:49 PM, 12/12/08
"24mpg? Pathetic."
I'll take it- I only average 29mpg during highway trips with 156hp. Sounds like a fair trade to me.
desmolicious says:
02:16 PM, 12/12/08
I'm averaging 32mpg on highway trips with my 06 BMW 330i.
blueguydotcom says:
02:42 PM, 12/12/08
24 mpg at 80 is horrendous.
That's a sad thing to read as I was just following a CTS home and thought, "Maybe...maybe..."
24 mpg on a freeway trip is sensationally awful. My 2006 330i would pull low 30 at an average of 80. I got 26 MPG running at an average of 110 in Germany - that included long stretches at 140+ on the Autobahn - that drive was over 600 miles from Avignon to Munich.
My old 2003 ZHP would get 31 mpg easily running 80.
tmanz says:
04:25 PM, 12/12/08
" I do better than that at those speeds with my car,"
Doesn't pretty much everyone do better than Edmunds when it comes to that? Maybe it's a new math/old math thing.
I can't think of a single post they've made with any car where anyone has replied with "Wow, you guys got way more mpg than I get"
They should just do a survey of what people (claim to) get in their cars and be done with it.
Or am I the only one that finds that it gets old after awhile?
ctpax says:
05:43 PM, 12/12/08
chavis10,
go ahead and take it then. =)
carfreak8394 says:
06:07 PM, 12/12/08
For the CTS, I like most of the colors, except for the red and gold. I especially like the Black Cherry and Black Ice.
tmanz says:
08:08 PM, 12/12/08
"two such single-car incidents on dry, straight, lightly trafficked roads. How do you do that?"
Long, straight, boring roads are bad. I remember seeing a program once where when they were first building the freeways they'd make them straight because it seemed logical but people kept doing what you saw so they started putting a bit more variety in them.
ace47 says:
12:55 AM, 12/13/08
"One of the dear friends we call a commenter, ace47, doesn't want to read any more about how the Cadillac CTS rides nicely or how its navigation system performs."
Given the tiny details you guys are picking out about other cars, its surprising that you guys can only come up with ride quality and the navigation. Or are these the only two good things about the car? I don't think so. The Ipod bit was actually useful. No need to flame up like a mother hen though.
"Nice try Dan. But I believe the request was for you to return home, pick up the A4, and then continue the journey."
I wasn't suggesting that. I was hoping to read something other than, "Also the ride quality is quite good."
ace47 says:
12:59 AM, 12/13/08
"dont acknowledge ACE's existence in future posts. You will regret it later."
Still bitter about something 1487? Why don't you just think about your Aura? It might calm you down.
autoboy16 says:
05:46 AM, 12/13/08
Can you do a post like this for me on the 05 jetta tdi? All I seem to read is about biodiesel and gas mileage. There is more to it than that! Thanks!
-Cj