Cadillac BLS Bags Winter Car 2007 Award
Recently at the 77th Salon International de l'Auto Geneve (77th annual Geneva International Motor Show), Tekniikan Maailma magazine, one of the leading automotive publications in Finland named the 2007 Cadillac BLS 4-door compact sedan as the recipient of their Winter Car 2007 Award. Martti Merilinna, Chief Editor of Tekniikan Maailma handed the award to Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor.
In the past 12 months, the Tekniikan Maailma conducted a winter test drive for 20 European vehicle models, including the newest models from Volvo, Honda, Peugeot, Skoda, and other European brands. Tekniikan Maailma crew brought the vehicles in a winter test track located Ivalo, a village in Northern Finland. The Ivalo village is noted for hosting some of the largest winter sports events like down-hill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and slalom skiing. Moreover, the place is also one of the areas in Europe with the most harsh winter driving conditions.
The Winter Car 2007 Award aims to determine which of the 20 vehicles could: "… in this sparsely populated land of the cold and dark winter… take us to our destination in safety, comfort and warmth."
Among the 20 competitors, Tekniikan Maailma has chosen the Cadillac BLS sedan as the winner because of the vehicle's impressive performance in winter driving conditions. The Tekniikan Maailma winter test crew made their selection based on certain criteria including low-grip handling, braking stability, grip on uphill starts, headlamp performance, and the ability of the vehicle to "heat the interior to a comfortable 15 degrees in just 10 minutes from a sub-zero startup".
The Cadillac BLS scored high during the evaluation, bagged the Winter Car 2007 award, and most of all, achieved what the Cadillac BLS design and engineering team aims, which is to integrate with the "toughest European driving conditions." The Tekniikan Maailma winter test crew commented: "Here is the best ever Cadillac one could hope for in winter use."
The Europe-only Cadillac BLS compact sedan was released in 2006, based on GM's Epsilon vehicle platform and was built in Cadillac assembly plant located in Trollhättan, Sweden. The car features the very first turbo diesel engine from GM's luxury brand. It also comes with elegant exterior design and GM parts like GM mud flap, comfortable interior features, as well as impressive vehicle driving and handling performance. The Cadillac BLS sedan has a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of 19,000 Euros or about $25,000 USD.
By Noah Scott.
Visit the Blog about cadillac mi real estate2006 Cadillac CTS: Steering and Control Reviewed
They had to make sure that they got it right this time and they did instead though they got it spot on and it is truly stunning to get behind the wheel of one of these Cadillac’s. These are exactly the cheapest cars to purchase so you have to make sure that you save up before you buy one of these cars.
Cadillac and racing usually are not found in the same sentence or in the same place. However, the 2006 Cadillac CTSV was tested on a race track in Europe. The 2006 Cadillac CTS is Cadillac's speed machine with a combination of art and science and marketed that way. The 2006 CTSV was created and produced to compete with comparable cars in the auto market place like the BMW 528i. The ride is extremely smooth which fights against hard turns but not to the point that it hurts your neck. The steering is always linear and the engineers working on the 2006 Cadillac CTSV used racing cars as influence to CTSV position of pedals, operation of the brakes, and the design of the interior especially the design of the seats. Additional features include the extended length of the control arms, anti roll bars in the front and bas, and gas charged shocks. There is also a suspension system levels itself, increased handling, and huge 17 inch tires.
Even the base model of 2006 Cadillac CTS comes with assistance for steering but does not have the critical acclaimed StabiliTrak. But the base model rides just as well as the 2006 Cadillac CTSV high end model. The CTS comes with a five speed transmission which is manual. There is also an option for an automatic transmission. The manual transmission offers the driver 60 miles per hour in less than eight seconds. The engine sounds great and vibrations are subtle but not annoying. The 2006 Cadillac CTS offers tires that are V rated that wear well under extremely speeds up to 147 miles per hour. The base model of the 2006 Cadillac CTSV offer H rated tires that wear well up to 128 miles per hour.
The standard model of the 2006 Cadillac CTS costs just under $35,000. Cadillac engineers do a good job of balancing refinement and handling in the CTSV series of Cadillac cars. For example the suspension in the rear now has a rubberized cover on the frame. The steering rack, engine harness are both better attached. This increased quality in attachment and construction can be felt in the better steering control.
Be warned the 2006 Cadillac CTS after just a little bit of use reported high oil temperatures. Not only is high oil temperatures bad for the engine it is accompanied by a ringing to signal the driver something is wrong. While the tires are supposed to be high end and of high quality of construction, there have been reports that 2006 Cadillac CTSV tires off the lot lose air and continue to lose air until new tires have to be purchased.
The 2006 Cadillac CTS steering is extremely good. And many people claim even better then the BMW M5 which is state of the art driving and steering systems. Needless to say the Cadillac is not perfect but like every other car in the luxury car line – it is a work in progress. High end cars which are only affordable to an elite number of wealthy people are usually simply a show place to exhibit new technology, and modern design. But when you see people driving around in these cars then they will no doubt get the respect from other people because they are one of the lucky few to own one of these stunning cars.
By Kevin Dark.
