[Shotimes] (OT) CTS-V in Detroit Free Press

[Ron Porter]

Don, your "pro-American" bias is understandable, but be realistic.

I have driven the new DeVille DHS. The interior is comparable to a Cavalier,
it's pitiful. The STS/SLS is superior in quality. If you are gonna play in
the high $$$ segment, do it right. Yes, the LS1-LS6 motor is a triumph of
Detroit prowess, but this segment won't accept a Chevy motor in a car that
is to compete with the class standards. What Detroit doesn't seem to
understand is that to be a success in this market, you have to be BETTER
than what is available. I'm sure that the CTS-V will cost $60k+. For that
kind of money, I'll buy the $70K M5 without a second thought.

Not that I like the Honda Element better than the Aztec, but they have
outfitted the Honda with an interior that is better suited to the intended
use, ie rubber mats and other fittings for hard use.

When you are appealing to the top-end buyer, the little things matter. Using
a Chevy engine.....whether it runs as well as an import or not.....won't get
it. To me, Cadillac is appealing to a move-up customer from an American car,
and won't sway the guys looking at the M5.

There is an element of quality that the BMW and MB have that American mfrs
have not yet approached. If you have spent time in a BMW or MB you will
understand......and the market has proven this.

BTW, the new M5 in the new bodystyle is reported to have 500 HP.

And I don't want to hear that there is better bang-for-the-buck with
American cars. They have said that they are trying to compete with the other
mfrs head-to-head.........cost is not a factor in this market.

And no, the fact that I think that the CTS is as ugly as the Aztec has
nothing to do with it. FWIW, if my company does as well as I hope it will
over the next few years, a high-dollar sedan could be in my future, and the
CTS will not be a consideration.

Ron Porter

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
[mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Donald Mallinson
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 3:10 PM
To: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
Cc: Shotimes
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) CTS-V in Detroit Free Press


I thought we SHO folk were above the bias that you hear in
the typical American enthusiast press (AutoWeek, Car &
Driver, Road & Track etc.).

In those magazines, NOTHING made by an American company has
a chance of anything other than damning with faint praise.
But anything by Japan and Germany Inc. gets a free pass.

Take the Honda Element.  More grey CLADDING than the Pontiac
Aztec, especially after the recent Pontiac restyle, but even
in its original guise, the Aztec was only JUST as ugly as
the new Element.  Still, the magazines call the Honda "cute"
and still bash the Pontiac.  If there isn't a better example
of bias, I don't know where it is.

Now the CTS and the new performance version comes with a
great six-speed manual, RWD, 400 hp, performance tested
suspension with parts that almost NOBODY else puts on at the
factory!  Yes, strut tower braces are well known and proven,
and it was a PR flack that incorrectly built up the item as
something new on the new CTS, but still, why not praise
Cadillac for putting on something that we go out and search
for, and make up from scratch for our own cars! Be fair here.

Also, have any of you actually driven the CTS?  I have, the
base automatic version.  It wasn't under powered, it had as
much power and performance as a typical more expensive 6 cyl
BMW, but the BMW gets a pass on putting out 45k cars with
only 225 hp, when Caddy gets hammered for putting out a less
expensive car with modern styling and virtually the same hp
and performance... How biased is that?

The CTS is a superb handling car.  And something else, the
DeVille is no longer a "barge" or "Land Yacht" as magazines
like to say.  It rides firm, has 275-300 high-tech hp, and
weighs no more and usually less than the competition from
Japan and Germany, while offering more value for the dollar.
  I have driven all of these cars and the Caddy offerings
are right in there with them.  All that holds them back is bias.

So the engineers at Cadillac work to solve that with a new
high po version of a car that truly WAS developed in Germany
so it could come up to the standards set by BMW.  They
acknowledged that BMW was the target, and they spent more
than just a "trip to run the 'ring".  They spent months
there working to get it right, just what you would expect
from BMW or any other company that you might respect.  How
can you put down an American company for going the extra
miles to bring out a truly competitive car?

Put down the car just because it doesn't have four cams?  I
thought the goal was performance, value, ability,
reliability, etc.  IF it is just gadgets then, admit that is
what you are after.  There is nothing wrong with the small
block Chevy.  You don't need 10,000 rpm potential to go fast.

Come on folks, let's evaluate the car BEFORE we make
judgments.  At some point all of us had to give the SHO a
chance, even though Ford had NO history of making
sophisticated fast mid-size sedans.  And they managed to
make a good one, that we love and wish they would make
again.  Don't assume, just because it says Cadillac on it,
that it can't be any good.  It just MIGHT be as good as a
BMW.  It might be a better value, if people give it a
chance.  Everywhere except in the enthusiast press, people
know that Cadillac has been making superb cars for a long
time now, and EVERYONE made some junk in the 70's, so don't
drag those cars into the fray.  EVerybody is getting better,
and Cadillac is trying.  Why not give them a chance and see
if maybe, just maybe they can succeed?

Don Mallinson
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