Post by
MinisterofDOOM »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/ministerofdoom-u16506.html
Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:41 pm
What sucks is that, at the end of the day, the ATS and CTS are still the best whole-package cars in their segments. BMW has faults, too, they're just not as superficial as interior design (not a trivial matter, but not the most critical, either). So does Mercedes Benz (is there ANY single selling point to the C-class other than allowing "entry-level" buyers to say "I drive a Benz"????) . So does Audi. So does Ja...wait...no, got me there.
Okay, so the ATS and CTS are the SECOND best cars in their class. The benchmark is pretty damn high.
As an owner of a PHENOMENAL to drive car with a HORRENDOUSLY cheap and badly designed interior, I have this to say to Cadillac's interior critics: GO BUY A SMEGGING LEXUS AND LEAVE THE REAL CARS ALONE. My LS8's interior is spectacularly bad. There are modern economy cars that are nicer inside (admittedly 10 years changes a lot, but nevertheless...). There are Camry trims that make it look bad. And yet that interior has never ONCE prevented me from enjoying the car. Yes, it's a source of very legitimate complaint. Yes, it's inexcusable. But it also doesn't matter one damn bit because once I'm actually into the act of DRIVING the car, the interior becomes a non-issue. You know what matters where interiors are concerned? Pedal/seat/wheel/shifer ergonomics. THAT'S IT. I don't care what my dash is made from. I don't care if my control buttons look like Fisher Price quality assurance reject bin parts. I don't care that the space is used so inefficiently there's no spare space for ANYTHING not built into the car from the start. I just don't. Because I bought the car to drive, not take a f*** nap in. I bought the car to drive, not boast about. Not to run my hands across the dash or treat with expensive leather conditioners or any other pointless crap.
I bought. The car. To drive.
If that's not what you want, you can have all the interior you want if you go with any of the other boring brands out there. All the R&D Cadillac sunk into creating the lightest modern small RWD platform short of the all-aluminum XE was spent on fancy-a** contrasting-colored stitching on fancy-a** leather, and shiny wood-grain and brushed this and matte that and chrome this and shiny that.
Sorry, I'm buying a car, not a barcalounger. Yes, I'd like a properly designed interior. But the fact is this: NOBODY ON EARTH offers a good interior AND great driving dynamics in the same car, except Jag.
And, for a dose of extra perspective: by Jag standards (as established, the only valid benchmark for this combination) Cadillac sells a LOT. They might not sell 3-shifts-at-a-GM-factory numbers, but that's probably part of the perception problem right there. More importantly, they sure sell well enough to run a company from. And very mild exclusivity is kind of the sweet spot: sales volume PLUS pastiche. Win/win. For crying out loud, Cadillac averaged about half as many "rare" V-series models as Jag did XFs of all trim levels over the last several years. That's not bad. That's not low sales. It's just not full-tilt all-out factory capacity, which isn't what one would expect from an upscale luxury brand anyway. And they manage this despite pricing that matches Jaguar's almost exactly. They sell a lot more. They charge the same. I can guarantee an ATS doesn't cost as much to manufacture as an XE nor a CTS as much as an XF. Cadillac wins.
Now, the number has dropped off (to somewhere around 1/2 to 2/3 the historical average) for CTS alone, and other models generally reflect that. But they're still selling over 30,000 CTSs a year. That's a bucketload. One month of Camrys, sure, but only about 1/3 off a year of 5-series, which has spent many decades building reputation and buyer desire where the CTS has only been at work for one.
30,000 people willing to overlook a less-than-perfect (nowhere near LS8-levels of failure) interior for a great driving experience at a great price.
30,000 smart people in my eyes.
I want 3 things:
A balanced Chassis.
RWD.
Torque.
A fancy-a** interior is prerequisite to none of those.
In fact, I think it's a damn crying shame that you have to go to luxury brands to get anything resembling a proper car platform anymore.
Maybe if we didn't have to go upscale to get the right drivetrain with a decent amount of power, interior quality wouldn't be an issue.
GM's own SS is a great example of this. Feature creep and cost creep push what should be a modern musclecar--a family sedan with big power and low pricing--into the luxury car pricing bracket because...honestly I'm not even sure what the thinking is there, other than broken.
The interior is not the point. The drive is the point. Unless you're driving a Yugo with seats made out of rusty screws, I have a hard time imagining one impairing the other.
