2020 CT5 photo on Car & Driver

[Robert Hall]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26839759/cadillac-ct5-sedan-confirmed-2020/

Front looks like the XT6.  Weird trim on the c-pillar.  

[regfootball]

Whoa. This is gonna be hard to digest.  Not sleek at all, at least in the one photo    Rather stocky looking  

Cadillac Altima + Saturn Ion?  Ok maybe not Ion  how about Altima + Infiniti  

But. 3 liter twin turbo 

Edited March 18, 2019 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, I get a strong Ion vibe to the greenhouse.  And that cheesy black plastic trim on the C-pillar.   Uninspired and uninspiring.  Not an improvement over the CTS styling, IMO. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Robert Hall

[regfootball]

1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, I get a strong Ion vibe to the greenhouse.  And that cheesy black plastic trim on the C-pillar.   Uninspired and uninspiring. 

Re-using the old platform. Must have had strange compromises. So it might be more comfy now and more spacious greenhouse but it doesn’t have the flow the current one does. I think the CTS just started gaining resale value. 

That’s not a hofmeister kink. You’re right that is some weird sort of C pillar treatment. 

[regfootball]

I think the front and rear are interesting. The side profile is the hardest to digest.  And thick window frames and lots of very upright cuts. It’s like the 90’s or 00’s called and wanted it’s greenhouse designs back

There’s also almost a French sort of weirdness in that side profile 

[Robert Hall]

Front and rear look good.  Looks better w the chrome side window trim.  A bit of Escala in the profile.  Profile looks better than the gray front 3/4 view.   A little window in the C-pillar would have looked better than a black triangle, IMO. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Robert Hall

[regfootball]

They are going to get absolutely crucified for that triangle. 

[Robert Hall]

13 minutes ago, regfootball said:

They are going to get absolutely crucified for that triangle. 

Yeah, I’ve already seen a couple journos going off on that on FB. 

[regfootball]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2019/03/18/2020-cadillac-ct-5-price/3152864002/

[regfootball]

[ocnblu]

3 hours ago, regfootball said:

This is GM at its best though, reg.  It's that old Sloan system of retaining customers for life.  In this case, the new CT5 is for folks who've been holding onto their IONs, waiting for the perfect replacement that doesn't upset their apple cart of style sensibility.

[ocnblu]

I understand they wanted to extend the greenhouse "daylight" area into a point it was not practical to glaze.  From here I cannot tell if the trim piece is glass or plastic.

This is a break from Art & Science, to be sure.  Even more of a clean break than what has come before.  Art & Science is dead!

[oldshurst442]

I saw new Honda Accord in the side profile with the same type of funky C-pillar treatment. Like a retarded Hofmeister kink. 

But I happen to like the new Honda Accord and I dont mind the retarded Hofmeister kink both on the supposed CT5 or the Acccord. 

The only thing to bother me is why would a Cadillac try to look like a Honda? 

[Robert Hall]

The Honda at least has a window in the C-pillar, and looks good in person, IMO.  And a different shape.  Not sure why they changed the rear door shape and C-pillar from the current CTS style, it worked well...this is going to take some getting used to, will probably look better in person than in a photo on a tiny phone screen.   

It looks better in the dark red w/ the chrome trim.   But that C-pillar trim looks really cheesy in black and I can only imagine how bad it will look in black on a white car...

Edited March 18, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Accord rearmost window shape is fine - it's the chrome trim that is jarring & not harmonious with the glass. I think it's poorly done there.

CT5 A- & B-pillars are identical to the CTS. The rearmost panel is better done than Hondas, literally looks nothing like the Ion. Of course there will be people that automatically pick at something, esp WRT Cadillac, throwing down vehement 'WTFs', but IMO there's nothing stylistically to hang one's hat on here. It's compact front overhang looks great vs. the long nose of the accord, but that's RWD proportions for you.

CT5 looks pretty great up front. My desired changes? Chrome up front; grillework & lower air intake. And I am pleased how the horizontal lighting works with Cadillac's signature vertical running lights. Not as nuts about the 'fastback' greenhouse / 2-box profile vs. the CTS. 2-box sedans generally look downmarket to my eyes.

[Cmicasa the Great]

I loved the Escala and I love this. Coupla observations.. I see exactly what they did.. but because of size, the design exercise of the longer Escala (2010.5 inch vs this being probably 193-195 inch) could not be completely translated over to a smaller car particularly in profile. I still doubt that the CT5 will be much smaller than the current car with the CT4 still yet to debut. I am betting a longer wheelbase for both, even if the actual length drops a bit.

 Anyway,.. The black "faux window in the rear doesn't even bother me because tinting the car as I always do will make it a moot point. Only real disappointment is the door handles aren't the hideaway like the Escla.

 So cool that they are done with the 3.6L NA in this car and have gone onto feature forced induction as a sole means of propulsion. I am expecting changes in current HP rating from those as well. If the SPORT is available with the 3.0L... outside of an actual V, I see very little reason to break from the "Y" philosophy and offer a V-Sport. What I have noticed Cadillac has done of late with the VSeries program is put them on their website as separate models. Thus allowing them to stick to the Y with Lux, Prem Lux, Platinum cars even in the V

 As a current CTS owner I love it.. and look forward to the VSeries debut in a year or so. I'll be sitting that one out as I want to go into the CT6-V, but curious and excited nonetheless

 

 

 I say just from this pic alone they have upped the ante interior.. and I think the current CTS interior is very nice and quite competitive almost 6 years later... this one looks very promising 

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

 

 

[ccap41]

56 minutes ago, balthazar said:

literally looks nothing like the Ion.

I'm seeing zero Ion as well. 

[Robert Hall]

30 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I'm seeing zero Ion as well. 

It's the rear door upper frame shape that is reminiscent of the Ion.   Not the c-pillar trim.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Robert Hall

[regfootball]

Yes it’s that. On the car and driver Facebook post page there are multiple commenters saying it looks like the Ion

[ccap41]

I still don't see it at all and I'm trying to look for it now. I think you need your morning coffee.  

So this is the area you're talking about? "Rear upper door frame"

[Robert Hall]

11 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I still don't see it at all and I'm trying to look for it now. I think you need your morning coffee.  

So this is the area you're talking about? "Rear upper door frame"

Yes..the rear door upper window frame...similar downward curve at the top and vertical rear edge, with the arching roof above it.   I wasn't the first that noticed the resemblance... it was 1am and I had insomnia and was in bed on my phone when I noticed it...a couple auto journos have noted the resemblance also..

Not that there is anything wrong w/ that shape.  Though I think the CTS rear doors and greenhouse are nicer and better executed.  The CT5 door shape and C-pillar trim aren't as a clean or graceful, IMO. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

That is such a generic shape on 90% of cars' rear door..

 

[frogger]

Hopefully like the Honda it looks better in real life vs pics.

 

[regfootball]

8 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

It's the rear door upper frame shape that is reminiscent of the Ion.   Not the c-pillar trim.

 

 

GM parts sharing, I think that rear fixed window on the door is the exact same part number as on the Saturn ion.

 

And that window frame cut, that's done with a t-square on a drawing board.  that's almost an exact 90 degree straight line perendicular to the line of the base of the window below. and the edge of the door / frame is almost exactly paralle with it, no hofmeister kink to speak of. 

that's why it looks like an Ion.

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by regfootball

[balthazar]

😆😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
That's a CRAZY bit of imagination there.
Now that the specific itty bitty bit has been identified it's still yeah; no resemblance to the Ion at all.
 

[regfootball]

On 3/18/2019 at 4:34 AM, ocnblu said:

This is GM at its best though, reg.  It's that old Sloan system of retaining customers for life.  In this case, the new CT5 is for folks who've been holding onto their IONs, waiting for the perfect replacement that doesn't upset their apple cart of style sensibility.

One of the jarring things on the 2003 Ion was that those rails surrounding the door opening were contrasting color.  That threw the world into chaos. They could do that with the Saturn because of the plastic. I hope they don’t get that daring on the CT5 to try that lol

[balthazar]

'Gretchen, stop trying to make 'Ion' happen. It's not going to happen.'

[Robert Hall]

Who's Gretchen? 

[David]

50 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Who's Gretchen? 

I believe he is talking to @regfootball

[Robert Hall]

28 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I believe he is talking to @regfootball

I got that, but I don’t think Gretchen is reg’s name.  Something lost in translation. 

[balthazar]

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

5 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I got that, but I don’t think Gretchen is reg’s name.  Something lost in translation. 

LOL good ol' Moltie with his faulty sensors.

[Robert Hall]

Ah, a pop culture reference to a film I haven’t seen (since I was a teenager in the 80s, wouldn’t have seen an ‘00s teen comedy film)  😁

 

Anyway, back semi-on-topic w/ compact lux sedans, BMW has a fwd 1 series sedan in China that is about 175 inches, looks like a shrunken 3 series....about the size of the E30 E series...smaller than the new A-class sedan it sounds like.   

Edited March 20, 2019 by Robert Hall

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Dimensions of CT5:

The 2020 CT5 measures 193.8 inches (4,924 mm) in length, 74.1 inches (1,883 mm) in width and 57.2 inches (1,452 mm) in height, with a wheelbase of 116.0 inches (2,947 mm).