Drew Dowdell

You're not convinced that GM can build a car that can last, yet you run straight to the manufacturer with the absolute shortest testimony on build quality (of which the jury is still out on) just because of a 429hp V8........ You make no sense dude... not that you ever have.

What's wrong with the TC?

Just because they aren't offering it here doesn't mean they aren't offering it in Europe. Engine/Transmission combinations need to be certified for sale in the US in each car. That takes money to do. They could very well have an all manual lineup available in the ATS for the EU because that's where it would sell. The bigger omission is the lack of a diesel at the moment, but I suspect that will come for Europe at least.

I wouldn't bother offering the manual on the 2.5, the people who buy the car with that engine won't care. The 2.0T is the "sporty" car of the bunch having performance rivaling the 3.6, so it get's the manual. The 3.6 V6 is for driving the AWD system and will mostly be purchased by upper middle class housewives (Your wife excluded Z) but most are not going to care if it doesn't have a manual. The 3.0TT V6 or the LSV8 is the ATS-V and will certainly come with a manual. Seems like a fare distribution to me.

What rust? That's just dust as far as dirt is concerned. It's way cleaner than my '81's engine bay and my car is stored in winter too. Looking at the firewall, hood hings, Brake system, I just see lots of rusts for a car that supposedly been always garaged. I agree it is very very clean overall, but then again, I am OCD about how I degrease and detail my own auto's. You're spoiled living in the North West. That is cleaner than they normally come around here.

I don't know if they've made any modifications to the 2.0T for the ATS, but I doubt they would go as far as adding balancers...

Ampera is also built in the US. It is such a specialized car with relatively low volume, I don't see them expanding production globally until the next generation. They are built at the former DTS/Lucerne plant. This is for the Silverado/Sierra 1500s and the Avalanche/Escalade EXT which are going out of production.

What rust? That's just dust as far as dirt is concerned. It's way cleaner than my '81's engine bay and my car is stored in winter too.

Not approving it would have been one of the biggest boneheaded post BK moves GM could have made.....

Consider this... when you have to start picking on stuff like the thickness of the steering wheel rim is "not as good as BMW", when you have one reporter amazed at how thin the A-pillar is and another complaining about how thick it is, when you have to start complaining that it is priced too close to BMW, when you have to start making up reasons why the base engine is so smooth but then complain that the engine isn't smooth enough, when you call one of the least smooth competitor's engines "buttery", when you start complaining that a loaded model can price over the base version of the next car up while forgetting that the EXACT same thing happens at BMW, Audi, and Benz.... well... maybe Cadillac is just hitting too close to home for the BMW humping journalists.....

Sure. The 2.0t is fine in the regal

GM already brought the Sonic back to the states. Kept the Cruze in the US and exporting from the US for some markets. Volt, ATS, Malibu, all here. They are bringing Spring Hill back online to be the most flexible plant in the world. It's a balancing act, but that means that some things will still be built outside of the US.

The Olds, Merc or Buick

Impala isn't being built in China like the XTS is for Chinese consumption. We don't know is the 2.5 will be deployed in China just yet. The other thing is familiarity. The SLS runs around with a 2.0t now.

The 2.0T can put out more horsepower and torque than any of the naturally aspirated Northstars and the torque comes on sooner too. No additional engineering. It's all been done already with the 9-5.

In the chinese livery market, i'm not sure how much power it really needs. Even just lifting the engine directly out of the 9-5 would likely be sufficient.

September 16th, 10:00am, Seven Springs Resort in Donogal PA is the Fall Oldsmobile show. I'll be working it in addition to showing, so if you came, I'd only be able to hang out a bit.

The Aztek was GM daring to be different and being punished for it. Once they lost the cladding, I didn't mind them so much and actually considered them as a work/light construction vehicle to beat around in.

They did a really nice job re-skinning the civic....and I agree with you, they are an attractive car! I love those! Glad your involved with a car club, I belong to several...lots of fun! Is your local Pittsburgh group very active? Yes, we're one of the larger Oldsmobile clubs in the country. I'm taking an active roll in the club with regards to event planning. Eventually I see myself as an officer, but not till after my job situation changes. They already want me to take over all of the communication and web related stuff for the club, but I simply have too much on my plate right now.

Doesn't Chevy do this for the high end Vette's also?

As I was leaving the Oldsmobile club meeting, I spotted a beige VW Type 3 Combi in perfect shape.

+SRX

"The naturally aspirated four-cylinder idles smoothly enough, though that's thanks largely to some cleverness in the engine mounts." no... it totally has nothing to do the fact that it is a brand new engine that was designed with NHV control in mind... "We fully expected the turbo four-cylinder to be the sweet spot in the ATS line, and while it feels properly quick, the engine still lacks the buttery refinement of offerings from Audi" ... uh... has the dude actually driven a 2.0T Audi? Fun engines, sure, but I don't dare call them "buttery" "On the street, Sport Mode simply devolves into a button to make the transmission worse. The overly sensitive programming will kick down a gear and hold it on mild freeway onramps, sticking the transmission in third or fourth gear and keeping it there long enough for us to wonder if we've broken something. In the end, it does exactly what shift logic shouldn't do: make the driver aware of the transmission." .... you mean that when you drive normally in sport mode, you don't like the way the car is performing? My CTS had this sport mode... it was meant solely for hard driving situations. Put it in sport mode and drive it like you stole it, otherwise, let the transmission stay in normal mode.

July 23, 2012 Drew Dowdell - Managing Editor CheersandGears.com Cadillac is readying a 2.0 turbo version of their full size XTS sedan model according to a diagram obtained by a CheersandGears.com reader. The diagram, sourced from a U.S. Cadillac dealership parts catalog, shows the 2.0T badging along with the FlexFuel badge we are familiar with from other GM vehicles. When we first saw the diagram, we thought we were looking at evidence of a US bound livery model of the XTS similar to Lincoln’s MKT 2.0 Ecoboost. However, a source inside of GM informed us this was not the case, so do not expect to see the 2.0T version on the road if you live in the U.S. This version of XTS will be for sale only in China and likely be an eventual replacement for the Chinese only Cadillac SLS 2.0T. Being a cousin of the now departed Saab 9-5, we can expect the XTS 2.0T to have no less than 220 horsepower and 258 ft-lb of torque at 2000 rpm. The possibility exists for more performance as GM has been actively improving their 2.0T, so any engine spec between those above and the 270 horsepower 295 ft-lb of torque available in the Buick Regal GS is possible. All-Wheel-Drive is not expected to be offered. In other XTS news, we have confirmed that there are no plans to sell the XTS in Europe contrary to what had been previously reported by other outlets, making the XTS limited to the North American and Asian markets. Drew Dowdell is managing editor of CheersandGears.com and can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter as @Cheersngears View full article