Drew Dowdell

Yeah, Kia is becoming a weird part mainline / part premium brand with the Stinger, Cadenza, and K900.

A3/4/5 are not RWD, but otherwise, yes. The Stinger may also be included although it is not a true compact it is smallish inside and bases at $33k

I agree with this study and @regfootball word for word

The 9-speed was being worked on by GM, so I'm not sure how much they could have speeded it up.

That's what we have in the Encore. It was a dealbreaker for me to not have it when buying the car

I like the interior in the pictures. Overall shape looks a lot like an Infiniti to me from the outside.

I love the blue interior. I'm tired of tan, gray, or black as my only choices.

Yes, it absolutely depends on how they are equipped. However, if you're looking for the best 0-60 for your dollar, there is only a narrow band between $55k and $60k where BMW beats the equivalently priced Cadillac. I personally don't care about a few 10ths of a second, even a whole second. I have fallen out of love with turbos, so I head towards the most displacement I can get. For me, that means either the 340i or the ATS V6, but it's not about full throttle acceleration, it's about effortless around town scoot without having to wait for turbos to spool.

I know that I just posted that 0-60 is largely meaningless, but I want to point out a few things. 1. The change to the 8-speed means the ATS 2.0T matches the BMW now. 2. You need to specify which 2.0T BMW you are referring to. I know what you mean, but BMW offers a 180hp 2.0T as the base engine and that certainly doesn't do 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. 3. You also need to align price points. The BMW 2.0T you are referring is the 330i that starts at $40k. The Cadillac V6 is $44,9k, but comes with a lot more equipment at that price. When you configure them about the same, the BMW is.... $44,9. So for the same $44,9k, the Cadillac is just slightly faster. The base model ATS is substantially faster than the base model 320i, so if you're shopping in that territory, the Cadillac is the way to go. The 340i is a tweener that Cadillac doesn't have a direct offer to, however, that 3-series model sits mostly in the $50-$60k range,start adding things like heated seats and navi, you'll get to $60k pretty quick. At $60k, you're into the ATS-V which will blow away a 340i no problem since the ATS-V runs with the M3 pack. TL:DR, you can't align the cars just on cylinder count, you have to look at price also. BMW is selling 4-cylinder cars for the price of Cadillac 6es.

Yes, just like 0-60 is largely meaningless for any "normal" vehicle that isn't the GT

It's kinda like seeing a brand new W-Body Impala out there. You'll never notice it because it looks 10 years old. They sold 86k of them last year and seem to be on pace to meet or exceed that number this year. Not too bad for what is essentially a 10 year old vehicle that has two brand new competitors on the market. I rarely see any incentives on them either, much to my annoyance, because the current one is actually a decent truck if you accept it for what it is. They ride well and in the V6 have decent pull. I've never had one off-road, but I understand they're fairly capable there too.

But are you actually saving any money by cord cutting and getting all of those subscriptions? You might enjoy House of Cards particularly in the current political climate. I didn't even start the series at all until11/9/2017

Maybe they can chase Benz down market and make an EV CLA competitor for the green $2999 down $299 a month for 36 months crowd. Heck even make it front wheel drive like Benz did.

The only series I even watch are on Netflix. Most of them older series, some of them current. I love House of Cards and The Crown is pretty good too.

I watch very little TV. I only have cable because Albert watches it sometimes. I was scrolling through the on screen guide this evening...... what utter crap is on TV these days?! I seriously pay for this?

It actually sells reasonably well.

Cadillac benchmarked the 3-series period. I was at the reveal for the ATS. They benchmarked BMW and then did the performance one better specifically to make a point that they were capable of it. And the result of that is that today, no one argues which entry to mid-lux compact handles better, Cadillac or BMW, it's largely a wash there... people are relegated to arguing about infotainment systems and glovebox linings. The point is that BMW and Cadillac can now be credibly mentioned in the same sentence and cross-shopped. That was then, this is now. These days, and this is just my impression, Cadillac is chasing the market in a different way. I think they realized with the most recent CTS that no matter how great it is... no matter how strong the halo of the V-Series, people like SMK will turn their nose up at it and walk away since it doesn't have a 3-point star. The CT6 is the first step in that direction of going back to offering tweeners. The CTS, CT6, and XTS are all overlapping each other in the showroom right now, and that is one of the biggest things holding the CT6 back in my opinion, as the CT6 is clearly the superior vehicle of the 3. That is a discrepancy that JDN is working to correct. Cadillac rightly did not chase the X3 and has been rewarded with second best sales in that class, right after the sales king RX. Cadillac does need more crossovers, but they should not chase the germans car for car. The Escalade doesn't need to change the formula, but it does need a substantial update before the Navigator comes to eat its lunch.... and it will eat the Escalade's lunch. You guys know how much of a fan of the Escalade I am and I'd probably still go with the new Navigator at this point. If Cadillac doesn't knock it out of the park with an interior to match or beat the Navigator, the Escalade is toast and will become the alsoran that the Navigator has been these last 10 years. In that regard, the Navigator is the new benchmark of the segment.... not the GLS, not the Range Rover, not that hideous new X7 concept. Cadillac needs to look at their friends in Dearborn because they have a huge hit coming.

Those niches are growing rapidly. Subaru is on pace to outsell all of Mazda and VW combined this year and Subaru only has 7 models (less if you don't count Outback as a separate model from Legacy). They outsold all of Ford's car lineup. Subaru's biggest concern is matching manufacturing capacity to meet growth. With results like that, how much longer can we call Subaru a niche market vehicle? Volvo is in a similar growth trajectory. They've outsold Lincoln YTD, they've outsold Jaguar/Land Rover YTD, they're neck and neck with Infiniti YTD. The new XC60 just hit the showrooms, a new S60 is coming, plus a smaller crossover I think, @William Maley will correct me as I'm out of the loop, the XC40. Acura, Audi, and Buick need to be looking in their rearview mirrors. Even if Volvo is niche today, they won't be niche for long.

Volvo is doing quite well with their latest floating couches. But Cadillac is by far in the best position to offer both in a single vehicle. With magnetic ride control that they already have and air springs they could easily add as an option.... there could be a dial for "Serenity", "Touring", or "Sport". click it to whichever you prefer.

But that's not what Cadillac is doing. Is the CTS comfortable by current standards? Sure, it's the same as a BMW or Audi with firm suspension and firmer seats. I don't expect a boaty ride like my Olds, but something akin to the more cloud-like ride of the S80 with air suspension would be good. And plush seats rather than the park benches that all cars seem to come with these days

We have hybrid busses here in Pittsburgh. Not completely silent, but there is a substantial difference in the amount of noise they make.... they can also creep up on you if you've got headphones in because they can be as quiet as a gasoline car at slow speeds. The drivers here however, drive them like they're on the 'Ring

To me, chasing on road ultimate performance rather than comfort.

Indeed. At least the Escalade stays true to it's roots. I will say that the CT6 is probably an excellent blend of America and Euro. The CTS and ATS are too Euro even for my tastes.

If they had Wells Fargo car loans, WF bought gap insurance for them automatically..... so what might be a scandal for WF might be a win for those they scammed.

To put it another way, the 2.3 Ecoboost is an excellent option in the Mustang, the lower weight improves balance, the engine pulls strong and performs like a V6. However, the "Eco" part of the engine just isn't there. I've never had a chance to drive a 2.3T Mustang next to a V6 Mustang, but I suspect that in the real world (not EPA fantasy land), the V6 gets the better economy.