REVIEWS: First Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe

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REVIEWS: First Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe

January 24, 2010
By David Zenlea
Automobile Magazine

Goodbye, XLR & STS

Cadillac’s big product push a decade ago cost GM a pretty penny and earned lots of press, but in many respects, it failed to stick. The 5-series-fighting STS and XLR hardtop convertible never really hit their stride and are going away without redesigns. Ambitious halo models like the Sixteen and Cien never got beyond concept-car stage. With that in mind -- along with the limited nature of GM’s resources – it’s easy to understand why this time around, Cadillac is looking to work smarter, not harder.

Hello, CTS coupe

Meet the CTS coupe. Sure, it looks like a concept car that took a wrong turn leaving the convention center, but in fact, it’s an entirely logical and even conservative progression based on Cadillac’s most successful vehicle, the CTS. Starting at about $40,000, it will cost less than half as much as an XLR and offer two more seats, though there’s no way to open the roof (and never will be, as the platform was never designed for a drop top). It’s also much cheaper for GM, as it shares its sheet metal from the cowl forward and almost all its mechanical components with the CTS sedan and wagon, and it will be built at the same plant in Lansing, Mich. What’s most important to us though, is that unlike some of the brand’s promising, but ultimately unpolished earlier efforts, the CTS coupe feels and drives like a car that’s been to finishing school.

Full Story: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...upe/index.html