carmudgeons.com  

Go Back   carmudgeons.com > Automotive Forums > Car Talk

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-03-2018, 04:52 PM   #1
JST
195
 
JST's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 24,593
Cadillac ATS

Rented an ATS 2.0T in St Louis the other day. It definitely lives up to the hype; the chassis tuning is excellent, and it feels very very German in how it drives.

The engine is unremarkable; it has decent power but the 8 sp auto is slow to kick down and generally makes the car feel much less responsive than it should. CUE has gotten a lot of shit but in its current implementation it’s fine—no worse than Audi’s MMI.

Rear seat remains small. Might be a deal breaker, if the deal wasn’t already broken by the transmission. But it’s a nice car overall.
JST is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 12:02 AM   #2
clyde
Chief title editor
 
clyde's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,599
Quote:
Originally Posted by JST View Post
Rented an ATS 2.0T in St Louis the other day. It definitely lives up to the hype; the chassis tuning is excellent, and it feels very very German in how it drives.
Need to get together so you can drive the Camaro.
__________________
OH NOES!!!!!1 MY CAR HAS T3H UND3R5T33R5555!!!!!!1oneone!!!!11

Team WTF?!
What are you gonna do?
clyde is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 08:16 AM   #3
nate
Oh, are they?
 
nate's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: S4
Location: H-town
Posts: 10,268
I'm curious how it is with the manual transmission option. The ATS-V comes standard with a manual...
__________________
"People keep saying I'm crazy as hell, but sooner or later they're going to realize I know what I'm talking about." - Charles Barkley
nate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 09:00 AM   #4
lemming
Western Anomaly
 
lemming's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: White Orca
Posts: 16,582
Quote:
Originally Posted by JST View Post
Rented an ATS 2.0T in St Louis the other day. It definitely lives up to the hype; the chassis tuning is excellent, and it feels very very German in how it drives.

The engine is unremarkable; it has decent power but the 8 sp auto is slow to kick down and generally makes the car feel much less responsive than it should. CUE has gotten a lot of shit but in its current implementation it’s fine—no worse than Audi’s MMI.

Rear seat remains small. Might be a deal breaker, if the deal wasn’t already broken by the transmission. But it’s a nice car overall.


Nice!

I’m always curious how/why GM has not been able to tune the transmission here to get more out of the engine.
__________________


lemming is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 09:32 AM   #5
ff
.
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 13,514
Quote:
Originally Posted by nate View Post
I'm curious how it is with the manual transmission option. The ATS-V comes standard with a manual...
I'll bet they're hard to find. Caddy + manual transmission just doesn't seem like a likely combo.
ff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 09:55 AM   #6
JST
195
 
JST's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 24,593
Quote:
Originally Posted by nate View Post
I'm curious how it is with the manual transmission option. The ATS-V comes standard with a manual...
I guess I'd forgotten (or never realized) that you could get one with the turbo four and a stick. That would be a compelling car.

Clyde--yes, we should do that, before it gets too cold.
JST is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 10:51 AM   #7
kognito
older fart than ZBB
 
kognito's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: On the road again
Posts: 8,887
Is the ATS on the same platform as the current Buick Regal? I really enjoyed an extended test drive of the Regal a couple of years ago (has now been facelifted) I wanted to buy one, but it was going to be the wife's car and she preferred the loaded, AWD Fusion instead
__________________
2017 GMC Sierra 1500 SLE
2020 Fusion Titanium
kognito is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 11:31 AM   #8
JST
195
 
JST's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 24,593
Quote:
Originally Posted by kognito View Post
Is the ATS on the same platform as the current Buick Regal? I really enjoyed an extended test drive of the Regal a couple of years ago (has now been facelifted) I wanted to buy one, but it was going to be the wife's car and she preferred the loaded, AWD Fusion instead
No, ATS is RWD, Regal is FWD/AWD. The ATS and the Camaro are pretty closely related, though.

EDIT: I guess no ATS sedan in 2019 at all, so this is a zombie car like the Quattro manual.

Last edited by JST; 09-04-2018 at 11:43 AM.
JST is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 11:44 AM   #9
nate
Oh, are they?
 
nate's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: S4
Location: H-town
Posts: 10,268
Quote:
Originally Posted by ff View Post
I'll bet they're hard to find. Caddy + manual transmission just doesn't seem like a likely combo.
The dealer nearest me has 1 ATS Coupe on the lot in manual, a former demo car.

But yeah, I'd expect that you'd have to do a special order.

Amazingly, my S4 was one of 2 manual S4s on the lot in inventory.
__________________
"People keep saying I'm crazy as hell, but sooner or later they're going to realize I know what I'm talking about." - Charles Barkley
nate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2018, 12:54 PM   #10
clyde
Chief title editor
 
clyde's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,599
Quote:
Originally Posted by JST View Post
I guess I'd forgotten (or never realized) that you could get one with the turbo four and a stick. That would be a compelling car.

Clyde--yes, we should do that, before it gets too cold.
Yes. And probably before a hurricane comes and knocks a tree on it, leading to it being totaled, thus needing replacement with something like a 2019 2.0T 1LE or a 2017 1SS 1LE in a manner that will not disrupt domestic tranquility.

Not that I've been planning anything or anything.
__________________
OH NOES!!!!!1 MY CAR HAS T3H UND3R5T33R5555!!!!!!1oneone!!!!11

Team WTF?!
What are you gonna do?
clyde is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:28 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Forums © 2003-2008, 'Mudgeon Enterprises - Site hosting by AYN & Associates, LLC