April 5: My new ride

New and old

Back in December I wrote about my big decision of what car to get next. If you read it, you know I had some specific parameters to be met  -  room (I'm 6'5"), power, looks and in my mind at least, cache'. I loved my last car, an '09 Acura TL SH-AWD, but unusual for an Acura, it had many problems over the term of my lease. So what's next?

The pic above gives it away, but this one shows it in a better light........

Yep, it's the new Cadillac ATS, recently named North American "Car of the Year". I had considered the CTS, but it was going to be changed in a few months and I liked everything I was reading about this BMW 3 series competitor. About a foot shorter than the TL, it still has lots of room for my large frame. Lacking a bit in the back seats, but since they are only used about a half dozen times a year, who really cares. Actually in any car I'm driving, there is never any room, when sitting in the back seat behind me.

I went with the Performance model and the 2.0L Turbo (272 HP). A Caddy with a 4 cylinder? How things have changed, but if you read the performance stats, this is a very quick car and it handles like a 3 series. Pretty good target to aim for. It also has 18" rims and the much discussed Cue system (navi, etc). I went with the Diamond White and to make it stand out.......... 

........I selected a burgundy interior. I love it, my wife is not too sure, but she has her own car and I didn't pick her colours. It's actually a beautifully done interior with all sorts of soft touch surfaces. And that heated steering wheel!

Now about the Cue system. Initially all the reports were quite negative. With so many cars having these systems, you'd think they could learn from each other's mistakes. Anyway, Cadillac issued new software in January, that is supposed to make it more user friendly. I'm not the most tech savvy guy around, but I find the Cue quite easy to use with its soft touch technology and look forward to learning more about what it actually can do. I do love the voice command part, where I can tell it what song, radio station or media that I want (AM, FM, XM, etc) and it finds it for me. Cool.

And white instead of black. My last two black cars showed every little spec of dust, so this is a treat to have a car that is a more forgiving. But I'll be washing it twice weekly anyway, because that's the kind of car guy I am.

Haven't slept in it yet, but I'm sure that's coming.

Until next time........