2014 Cadillac CTS

[Minty]

I like LEDs. It makes a good way for manufacturers and designers to make their cars stand out at night, and when done well it looks nice. I'm not a huge fan of how they were done on the new CTS, but its not something I have a problem with.

 

[Tornado]

I'd generally prefer if the whole LED thing just stopped. It looks downright silly, and now that people are trying to put them on their used-ish 2005 Chevrolet Malibu sedans, it's a little too popular.

Isn't that illegal as hell anyway?

 

[ShobThaBob]

Isn't that illegal as hell anyway?

It could be, yes. I'm attempting to write up a review on my parents new 3.6 '14 CTS. It's not easy trying to do this correctly.

 

[YSSMAN]

Isn't that illegal as hell anyway?

I honestly have no idea. I see it so often, people putting the LEDs on their Malibus, Jettas, F150s, and anything else in between. If it is illegal, the police don't care around here. If it isn't, it's caught on, but not enough for most people to care.

 

[Keef]

My favorite trend with LEDs is not to leave them bare as points of light, but to illuminate a light bar, a la BMW.

I wish Cadillac would have done this with the front running LEDs instead of the points of light. This glowing bar thing is looks much more refined in my opinion.

 

[ShobThaBob]

I honestly have no idea. I see it so often, people putting the LEDs on their Malibus, Jettas, F150s, and anything else in between. If it is illegal, the police don't care around here. If it isn't, it's caught on, but not enough for most people to care.

Plenty of people get cited for incorrect lighting. You just don't hear about it.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

After watching Motor Trend's videos, it seems like a pretty amazing car. However, I just can't bring myself to like it, as the styling is putting me off so much. The back end looks like it's for a stereotypical 60 year old Cadillac buyer, with no excitement, originality, or elegance, and at the front everything has been pushed out to the edges making it seem a bit weird and surprisingly flat-faced. I don't like the interior much either, especially as it probably has CUE. That's just my take, though, and I know it's an excellent car to drive.

 

[Keef]

I really hate the touch controls of all new cars. I think that Lexus GS has a nicer looking center stack than the Cadillac. Still, I love the idea of the American brand Cadillac competing with the best of the rest. I would always lean toward Cadillac or Lincoln in such a situation. I really have big hopes for Lincoln in the next few years. I can't wait until both American companies are besting Lexus at the same time. That's what I really want to see happen.

 

[Nicksfix]

Isn't that illegal as hell anyway?

LED lighting is D.O.T compliant. It is not illegal for new cars or as an upgrade to older cars.

 

[Omnis]

Am I the only person that just can't stand Lexus? I think they're what Toyotas should be. Perfect example is the new Avalon. But, anyway, something about them just rubs me the wrong way.

I just love the CTS though. It's a refreshing design. And I hate-hate-hate the previous Caddies. CTS coupe looks like a wedge of barf cheese. This new one looks fantastic, even with the LEDs-for-the-sake-of-LEDs.

Only thing that sucks: EWW, look at all that orange peel! Robots can't paint a car worth a damn. First thing I'd do is get a proper wet-sanded paintjob.

 

[ShobThaBob]

LED lighting is D.O.T compliant. It is not illegal for new cars or as an upgrade to older cars.

If it's not OEM, it most certainly could be illegal for older cars as an upgrade.

 

[YSSMAN]

Am I the only person that just can't stand Lexus? I think they're what Toyotas should be. Perfect example is the new Avalon. But, anyway, something about them just rubs me the wrong way.

You're not alone, I simply don't understand why they seem to get to do what they do. Granted, I applaud their direction with the GS (make it lighter, add more feel), and the LS will almost always continue to be a curiosity, but the rest of the lineup mostly consists of overstyled exteriors covering mechanical bits and interiors that seem to be at least a generation behind it's competition. Throw it back to the '90s, though, and I'd likely have a different opinion.

Cadillac taking top honors in COTY, and all the positive press on the CTS has to put some worry in the minds of the Germans, Lexus and Infiniti. No one was counting on the car being this good, let alone being able to be better than the Corvette. More value, better performance, and arguably better looks than the majority of their competition is a mega win in my book.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

To be honest, I doubt the Germans are that worried. The CTS is still definitely a North American market car. Once they offer some world class diesel four cylinders, then then Germans will have the crap scared out of them.

 

[Nicksfix]

If it's not OEM, it most certainly could be illegal for older cars as an upgrade.

No, it's not illegal. As I said, LED lighting is D.O.T. compliant. You are allowed to upgrade your older vehicle without any penatly / fine / repercussions.

Recent advancements in LED allow for aftermarket products to have the brightness and whiteness that original equipment (OE) LED products are known for – and the new product line from SYLVANIA mimics the lighting look on luxury vehicles – while still being street legal. The LED product line from SYLVANIA includes a unique fog daytime running light (DRL), 7-inch round (H6024 replacement) sealed beam retrofits, DRL pipe and pixel designs that do not need a switch, retrofit light sources for dome, map and license plate applications, and a wireless ambient light for interior applications.

"As LED applications in automotive lighting continue to become more popular, we're taking the technology to new levels and giving auto enthusiasts options that help them legally customize their vehicles," said Brian Noble, marketing manager, SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting.

Full article

Or you can browse this and this for any further info.

 

[kjb]

I'm a little disappointed by the new CTS but it is good to see that they are taking COTY honors.

 

[Omnis]

The car is tighter fitting than I thought it would be. It looks huge on the outside for such a tight-fitting car. Materials are good and it's probably the best car in GM's portfolio, but it still has that "I'm sitting in a kayak" feeling. Ingress/egress sucks. Pedalbox is nice, but it feels like a rectangular prism of that cross-sectional area all the way to the seatback. It was a two hour wait to drive one so I chose to drive an Impala instead (ugh...) Basically, it looks like a 5 series on the outside, but it felt like a 3 series on the inside. Front and back. It's like... where did all the space go? It's like they sized it to be bigger, but it's just small enough in areas to be annoying. Like the back seat... man, it's so annoying. They couldn't add that extra inch here and there?

The Lexus GS is way more comfortable just because of the space you have. (Funnily enough, after I sat in one, I felt the GS was the only acceptable car in Lexus's lineup.) It looks like a tank from the outside, but you feel like you're in a car. The Cadillacs, however, all feel like the car is wrapped around you.

 

[Kent]

Just watched that head 2 head with the v-sport and the f-sport... My goodness, I think I'm in love with that cts v-sport. Not sure when I can step up to the 60k range, might be a while (especially since I don't plan to get rid of my Sti any time soon) but I'm definitely keeping an eye on these new CTSs.
My father has a CTS from 11 or 12 and it's a great car but not sporty like what's shown above. Really can't wait to drive the v-sport some time.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I have to say I'm not liking the looks of this CTS and I think I'll pretend that 2014 didn't happen when it comes to this car.

 

[ShobThaBob]

No, it's not illegal. As I said, LED lighting is D.O.T. compliant. You are allowed to upgrade your older vehicle without any penatly / fine / repercussions.



Full article

Or you can browse this and this for any further info.

If it's not calibrated to project properly (which an addition or non-oem replacement often is) then yes, it is quite possibly illegal. You don't get to just add lighting to your car at your leisure.

 

[Nicksfix]

If it's not calibrated to project properly (which an addition or non-oem replacement often is) then yes, it is quite possibly illegal. You don't get to just add lighting to your car at your leisure.

You just don't get it do you ? Did you read the links provided ? The LED product would not be offered to the public is it was not properly calibrated per the vehicle in question. This I can attest to in full. I am affiliated in the class 7&8 trucking industry. They hold some of the most stringent compliancy laws in the transportation industry .... automotive up to and including the class 7&8 semi trucks and trailers you see going down the road every day. As a matter of fact, some of my clients are upgrading their fleets to all LED lighting. Marker lights, turn signals and headlights are being fully upgraded to LED lighting.

So yes, you can add LED's to your vehicle at your leisure.

* I know this is a thread about the 2014 Cadillac CTS and I do apologize for my off-topic posts*

 

[Joel]

To be honest, I doubt the Germans are that worried. The CTS is still definitely a North American market car. Once they offer some world class diesel four cylinders, then then Germans will have the crap scared out of them.

I'm sure they're worried. Even if Cadillac is truly only competitive in the NA market, that's a pretty important market when you consider the size and how much more viable a car like this is in NA vs Europe. 4 cylinder diesels or not, Cadillac and this new CTS have a serious opportunity to cut into the market that's held by the C class and 3 series, and the Germans certainly don't want that to happen.

There's a lot of brand loyalty in NA towards GM, and now that Cadillac is actually starting to offer products that are competitive and look the part, that's a scary thing for foreign makes. A lot of people are only buying other makes because the big 3 were churning out such crappy cars for so long.

 

[Kent]

I'm going to agree with Noob616 on this one.
There's only so much time we can go before people have to start recognizing what Caddy is doing with these cars. I mean, style aside (which I don't really have a problem with, it's very limousine imo), the performance of the mid-level V-sport is astounding. When the type-v comes out I have a feeling we are going to see some really interesting head to head battles with the likes of the new M3. 👍

 

[Keef]

The car is tighter fitting than I thought it would be. It looks huge on the outside for such a tight-fitting car. Materials are good and it's probably the best car in GM's portfolio, but it still has that "I'm sitting in a kayak" feeling. Ingress/egress sucks. Pedalbox is nice, but it feels like a rectangular prism of that cross-sectional area all the way to the seatback. It was a two hour wait to drive one so I chose to drive an Impala instead (ugh...) Basically, it looks like a 5 series on the outside, but it felt like a 3 series on the inside. Front and back. It's like... where did all the space go? It's like they sized it to be bigger, but it's just small enough in areas to be annoying. Like the back seat... man, it's so annoying. They couldn't add that extra inch here and there?

The Lexus GS is way more comfortable just because of the space you have. (Funnily enough, after I sat in one, I felt the GS was the only acceptable car in Lexus's lineup.) It looks like a tank from the outside, but you feel like you're in a car. The Cadillacs, however, all feel like the car is wrapped around you.

Everybody take this man's opinion with a grain of salt. He's on the big-and-strong side of big-and-strong. I, on the other hand, would probably compare the CTS to being in an 18-man life raft by myself.

 

[Joel]

Everybody take this man's opinion with a grain of salt. He's on the big-and-strong side of big-and-strong. I, on the other hand, would probably compare the CTS to being in an 18-man life raft by myself.

Yeah that's the one positive of being 5'10", very few cars are actually too small for me.

 

[Omnis]

True, but when I make my comparisons it's all relative to other vehicles. Lexus, Beemer, and MB were all more comfortable.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I wouldn't be surprised if the new CTS is unusually small. The previous one was unbelievably cramped. I can't think of any car with worse packaging.

 

[YSSMAN]

HULLO.
​

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I wouldn't be surprised if the new CTS is unusually small. The previous one was unbelievably cramped. I can't think of any car with worse packaging.

It wasn't that bad I'm 6'2" and I had plenty up front, the back wasn't as cramped as you make it out to be I could fit and do fine. Also if room is that big of an issue, they do have the wagon. I had room in that for days.

As for your earlier comments about the competition factor, these cars don't need to compete overseas in places like Germany because they have Opel which is German and owned by GM with GM platforms.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

It wasn't that bad I'm 6'2" and I had plenty up front, the back wasn't as cramped as you make it out to be I could fit and do fine. Also if room is that big of an issue, they do have the wagon. I had room in that for days.

As for your earlier comments about the competition factor, these cars don't need to compete overseas in places like Germany because they have Opel which is German and owned by GM with GM platforms.

The front was okay, but I thought that the back was just awful. the seat was reasonably comfortable, but my knees were always touching the seat in front of me, and I'm only 5' 8". That's in the wagon, I haven't sat in the saloon.

Thing is, Cadillac is a premium brand and Opel/Vauxhall is not at all. They're quite cheap and don't at all compete in the premium sector, which is much larger here given that you can get a BMW 3 series that'll do 68 MPG imperial. If they had a proper lineup of engines, then they might be able to sell a lot of CTSs here, as the Cadillac name still has a lot of respect here. However, in the UK, 80 percent of cars sold in the CTS/5 series/E class/A6/XF/etc. class have diesel I-4s, and 50 percent are estates, so that leaves 10 percent of the market for the CTS right now.

I think the issue is that in America, people don't mind buying a big car with a big engine, whereas here people tend to go for a big car with a small, torquey diesel since fuel is so much more expensive. It shows that GM is keeping Cadillac in North America and perhaps China, and leaving Europe to Vauxhall/Opel who make cheap, basic cars, and the Insignia, which sells mostly to corporate fleets.

 

[Dennisch]

HULLO.​

​

That. Is a damn fine looking automobile.

Much better than the CTS. Which looks like a Xerox'd Mercedes.