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 new orleansCadillac Means Quality
Part of the General Motors Corporation, and produced and mostly sold in the United States, the Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobiles. And in the United States, this brand name of luxury automobiles has become a synonym for “high quality”. Certainly, because of this, it has been used in certain lingo and phrases like “the Cadillac of clocks”. Cadillac was formed from the Henry Ford Company, and the automobile was named after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who was the founder of Detroit, Michigan in 1701.
One of the vehicles running under the Cadillac name is the Cadillac Escalade. This vehicle is a luxury spin-off of the large Chevrolet/GMC SUVs, and is made available in three trim levels – the base SUV wagon, the longer Escalade ESV wagon, and the Escalade EXT pickup truck. The first two versions are sport utility vehicle wagons that has three rows of seats and can take in a capacity of seven passengers. The Cadillac Escalade EXT, on the other hand is a crew-cab pickup truck that has four doors. It is similar to the Chevrolet Avalanche, has a “midgate” wall between the cab and the cargo bed.
All the versions of the Cadillac Escalade feature an all-wheel drive and a 6.0 liter V8. The base wagon also comes as a 2WD model. All have automatic transmission, front side airbags, ABS, antiskid/traction control, tire-pressure monitor, and Cadillac’s automatic-adjusting Road Sensing Suspension. Also standard features for all trim levels of the Cadillac Escalade include a trailering package, power-adjustable gas and brake pedals, a rear obstacle detection, and OnStar assistance. The Escalade ESV Platinum Edition includes features like a navigation system, rear DVD entertainment, specific appearance touches, and 20-inch chrome alloy wheels instead of the usual standard 17-inch alloy wheels of the Escalade.
Acceleration for this vehicle is found to be ample despite occasional transmission delays in full-throttle downshifts. It has towing capacities of 7,400 lbs. for 2WD Escalades, 8,100 lbs. for AWD models, and 7,300 for EXT versions. It has an averaged 13.7-15.6 mpg in city or highway driving. The vehicle could get quite staggering at times. It is also very truck-like. The Cadillac Escalade ESV models have a longer wheelbase that provides a smoother feel on rough roads. As per the vehicle’s steering and handling, it is generally ponderous and has a slow response to steering inputs. It has light and vague steering that demands continuous attention on the highway. Also, it has a rear-leveling suspension that is standard and improves control with a heavy load. The brakes, however, feel soft but have adequate power. It provides a fine isolation from the wind, road, and engine noise. It also offers plenty of head and leg room and a vast shoulder width. Plush seats with fold-down armrests complete the interior. Commanding road view is given to drivers, and added in is a helpful audio/visual rear-obstacle-detection system that warns of the unseen when backing up.
By Stacey Wilson.
