10BEST CARS
When we heard Cadillac Alpha-platform chief Tony Roma talking about some of his team moonlighting behind the wheels of their own race cars, we thought it might be fun to meet a few of them. Wary of the flack-favorite “our-guys-are-car-guys-because-they-own-cars” stunt, which is both overused and often overblown, and expecting just a handful of engineers to show up, we asked Cadillac if we might be able to set up a track day. When that Friday afternoon came, enough racers had RSVP’d that we could have filled a grid.
Communication is as critical to car development as it is to any workplace, and these engineers speak a common language learned in competition and while loitering in paddocks. But what isn’t said—or rather, what doesn’t have to be said—allows Roma’s teams to move faster and accomplish more. It’s not just lead development engineer and two-time SCCA National champion John Buttermore, who campaigns his T1 C6 Corvette Grand Sport in the slower T2 class with a throttle restrictor and ballast, just because he wants more-challenging racing. It’s also Kristen Holdway, a design release engineer who, to the dismay of her colleagues, tracks a Ford Fiesta ST. They all know what a firmer bushing can do for steering feel, or how an oil cooler will impact durability and reliability. Roma says that when his team of racers uses its knowledge to speed through development faster, it saves money that can be spent elsewhere. Roma never has to explain why allocating budget to improve the ride or steering response is worth it. The results are obvious to these track rats.
To us, too. The attention to detail in suspension tuning puts the CTS a notch above the Germans in this class. The Vsport chassis speaks to drivers as if they’re all weekend warriors, but without forgoing the balance between handling and ride, which in this case is among the best on the road today. The steering is natural, talkative, and well weighted. It is the kind of chassis harmony that BMW championed in the 1990s. (One might argue that the full-boat CTS-V improves the balance even further over the Vsport, but that version exceeds our 10Best $80,000 base-price limit.)
CTS critics point to an interior that tries too hard and the sometimes-frustrating CUE infotainment interface, which doesn’t try hard enough. For 2016, Cadillac has responded by making Android Auto and Apple CarPlay standard features.
“For racers, by racers” is the internal motto for the Cadillac Alpha teams, and it fits. But it doesn’t take reading those words to know that Cadillac makes a great car. Drive a Vsport and the communication from the chassis is clear and concise, just like the unspoken communication between these racer-engineers.
How We’d Build It
The Vsport package is mostly complete as-is. We’d add the optional Dark Adriatic Blue Metallic paint ($495) and the performance brake pads ($100) for an out-the-door price of $61,545.
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire