What is it?
Cadillac’s first (recent) four-door coupe, the CT5, which Cadillac’s president – and former General Motors Canada head honcho – Steve Carlisle proclaims as “elevating every drive” and “rewarding the senses.”
Why does it matter?
Unlike, its Detroit confrere, Ford, The General is not completely abandoning the four-door sedan – though it has axed Chevy’s Cruze and Volt, as well as the Cadillac XTS – and is, for Cadillac, at least looking to strengthen its bona fides in the lower echelons of the luxury segment (though commitments to a flagship sedan of some sort seem as elusive as ever).
What might make the CT5 work is its marriage, á la Audi A7 and Mercedes-Benz CLS, of coupé(-ish) styling and four-door practicality. Besides the styling and a couple of turbocharged engine, the CT5’s best foot forward is the vast array of technology – almost as impressive as the gadgetry that Mercedes ladles into its best vehicles – that Caddy has built into its latest offering.
SuperCruise, for instance, is arguably the most sophisticated semi-autonomous driver in the biz – Cadillac says the CT5 is good to drive on more than 200,000 kilometres of “limited-access freeways” in Canada and the USA – thanks to LIDAR mapping, high-precision GPS and a network of camera and radar sensors.
Something called Adaptive Remote Start automatically activates features such as the adaptive heated/ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel and other climate systems, depending on the temperature. Frigid cabin, be banished forever!
There’s also a hi-def 10-inch touchscreen inside, something called Near Field Communication (I’m still trying to figure out what that is) and Cadillac swears the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters are made of magnesium.
As for git-up-and-go, the base CT5 gets Cadillac’s familiar twin-scroll Turbo 2.0-litre four, only I suspect that GM’s engineers are still futzing with it because there are no official power figures as of yet. However, we do know the Premium Luxury and Sport models’ 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 pumps out a stellar 335 horses and an even more impressive 400 pound-feet of torque.
According to the Yanks in New York’s Javits Center, the CT5 will be offered in both rear- and all-wheel-drive formats though it remains to be seen what we’ll get here in the Great White Frozen North.
When is it coming?
Of that we’re not yet certain.
Should you buy it?
Well, sedans are a hard sell these days, Cadillac sedans perhaps a little more than most. But, the fact remains consumers are short-changing themselves by ignoring the Caddy crest.
The ATS-V was one of my favourite sporting sedans and the CT6, with essentially the same 2.0-litre Turbo as this car, was one of the steals of the luxury segment. Cadillac’s technology is current, its powertrains powerful and the cabin commodious. I’ll let you decide if the styling is your cup o’ tea.