God knows TTAC has upbraided GM for downsizing the Cadillac brand and taking it downmarket. Adding oil burning insult to mid-sized injury, "the standard of the world" has unveiled a diesel-engined CTS Coupe. Speaking to our man Mehta, GM Powertrain's Executive Director of Diesel Engineering defended the oil burner sitting in the snout of Caddy's overdue two-door. Charles Freese says new 2.9-liter V6 diesel's "closed loop feedback system" means the new engine runs lower compression ratios (16.5:1) so the system is "less volatile for more controllable emissions." This maximizes the operating properities of a diesel engine when it runs in the cleanest times, when it spits out less soot, CO, NOx. (Think of it as the diesel-loving tree-hugger's sweet spot.) Meanwhile, GM design chief Ed Wellburn marked the CTS Coupe's launch by pronouncing that his employer's empowering its designers to make "wild cars like this." What's more, GM has the "conviction" to turn them into reality. Well, a concept car anyway– with a rear that looks a little too much like a 1970s Buick Century Aeroback (Google is your friend) and a little too little like a G37.
[Reported by Sajeev Mehta]
“…upbraided for downsizing…” I love it!
screw the diesel….make a CTS-V coupe and I’m there. But then again, I have a strange soft spot for the aforementioned Century Aero coupe/sedan too. Talk about an ugly duckling!
http://www.hemmings.com/users/163114/gallery/620.html
Hmmm…
Cadillac diesel… How could they possibly go wrong!?
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/13/rr-of-the-day-1981-cadillac-eldorado-diesel/
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1970-1979-cadillac7.htm
Funny how putting the words “Cadillac diesel” into google spits out some jems like “horrid” and “worst piece of engineering” and “failure”.
i am sort of willing to give GM another chance on diesels even though what they did to their customers with their late 70’s/early 80’s cars was a crime.
but still, in a coupe? seems to me that coupe buyers are looking for sportiness, not the sedate long range cruising of a diesel. wouldn’t it make more sense in their big sedans?
If Cadillac wants to be a player in Europe, they need *good* diesel engines. Diesel is a huge part of the Euro market at this point. (My understanding was that big-engined petrol cars tend to have really dismal resale value, too.) From that standpoint, it doesn’t really matter if those engines come here or not.
European coupe buyers are looking for style, and, below the Maserati/911 price range, there seems to be a market for smaller petrol engines and diesel.
As for whether it makes sense for a Cadillac coupe, it get back to that tricky question of what you want or expect a Caddy coupe to be. If we’re talking Coupe De Ville, then a low-revving engine with a fat spread of mid-range torque sounds like just the thing. If we’re talking M3 fighter, maybe not. (Although the 330d coupe is, in a number of respects, the most desirable of the European 3-series line; it doesn’t sound as pretty or steer as sharply as the petrol car, but it has a useful measure of speed and exceptional fuel economy.)
This is the first thing I have EVER seen that would get me to step foot in a caddy showroom.
I have been a longtime reader of TTAC and love the site. However, I have to take Robert & Co. to task for chastising Cadillac over their choice to offer a Diesel engine. Not but a few days ago on TTAC, there was positive indications for BMW finally bringing their oil burners to the US https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/news-blog/bmw-x5-and-335i-oil-burners-finally-arrive-stateside/ .
I’m no big GM fan, in fact I’m usually the first to criticize them for reasons often brought to light here. I think this move by Cadillac is a smart one not only for Europe but for the US as well (assuming they can get it 50 state legal). Properly designed and tuned diesel engines are the “have your cake and eat it too” engine for pistonheads. You can have your torque AND fuel economy (not to mention durability).
Sure, the 350cid Cadillac diesel V8 from the 80s was pure concentrated evil. I’m going to give GM the benefit of the doubt here. Surely even GM wouldn’t foist a horrible diesel engine on the public, would they?
I was intrigued by the CTS-V, but still prefer coupes as daily drivers…. this one might have me interested. I’d like to see it trimmed down to (gasp) even smaller proportions – the front overhang looks a little large and the top of the bonnet seems to be a bit to high; could just be the angle of the pics though.
I’d actually welcome a GM version of the G37
as it’s on the current shortlist for my next DD – which probably won’t happen till 09….
pretty hot coupe. The G37 is NOT a good-looking car, IMO.
The hood mark up front and the wallopy headlights look like the car has spent too much time in an oven, while the aluminum (or whatever) integrated spolier is some poor attempt at goth piercing by a decidedly bourgeois vehicle.
That caddy, on the other hand, is maybe the best treatment of “art and science 2.0” I’ve seen so far.
eamiller: The Cadillac 350 diesel (and the 350 diesel used across the GM portfolio) was based on Oldsmobile’s gas 350.
Also: This thing is hot. It’s like an American M-B 300 CD for the 21st century.
Cadillac CTS coupe: Love it
Cadillac diesel: Don’t love it. Not right for the brand in the U.S. Europe is another story (it’s necessary), but it doesn’t fit the image they should be going for here. Also, for whatever reason 2.9 liters is an uncomfortable engine size to publicize. There are actually legal reasons why many engines are 2.8/2.9 liters in Europe, but 2.9 just sounds as awkward as 3.1. Maybe they should just lie and call it a 2.8 or 3.0.
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who doesn’t agree with the unrealistically narrow view of Cadillac others have. I think this could very well be a big part of luxury in the future, not only in Europe, but America as well, and GM would be ridiculous to ignore it simply because they didn’t do it in the 50s.
I have been a longtime reader of TTAC and love the site. However, I have to take Robert & Co. to task for chastising Cadillac over their choice to offer a Diesel engine. Not but a few days ago on TTAC, there was positive indications for BMW finally bringing their oil burners to the US https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/news-blog/bmw-x5-and-335i-oil-burners-finally-arrive-stateside/ .
I’m no big GM fan, in fact I’m usually the first to criticize them for reasons often brought to light here. I think this move by Cadillac is a smart one not only for Europe but for the US as well (assuming they can get it 50 state legal). Properly designed and tuned diesel engines are the “have your cake and eat it too” engine for pistonheads. You can have your torque AND fuel economy (not to mention durability).
Sure, the 350cid Cadillac diesel V8 from the 80s was pure concentrated evil. I’m going to give GM the benefit of the doubt here. Surely even GM wouldn’t foist a horrible diesel engine on the public, would they?
You’ve said it better than I could.
That is awesome.
If GM really did kill the Northstar replacement, then Cadillac really will be moving towards V6 diesel engines in the short-term for the US market. 2020 will be here before you know it, and only so many people are going to buy hydrogen/E85/plug-in cars.
Merc and BMW all feature diesels in heavy rotation. Since Cadillac is now benchmarking these two brands, it seems only logical.
Except that Cadillac isn’t supposed to benchmark a damn thing. It’s not supposed to ape everyone’s product lines. It’s not supposed to be American Toyota. In its hey day, it sat above Merc and BMW. It is where Buick and Pontiac should be right now.
In its hey day, it sat above Merc and BMW. It is where Buick and Pontiac should be right now.
Except that this isn’t Cadillac’s heyday. It’s more than 50 years later. Seriously, move on. The luxury game has changed dramatically, and trying to move the brand that far upward (and taking BPG with it) is a losing battle. Cadillac is where it is now. What happened way back when doesn’t matter. That’s the biggest schism between people on this subject.
Some people just don’t realize that things aren’t the same anymore and never will be. And because of that, they’ll be forever blind to Cadillac’s current and future successes, because it’s not the success they envisioned for the brand. And that’s a shame. Being a car fan shouldn’t mean you miss out on a good reality by chasing a fantasy.
Being a car fan shouldn’t mean you miss out on a good reality by chasing a fantasy.
Very well said. What matters is that Cadillac should make cars that enough people buy. Our perceptions of what Caddy should or shouldn’t be matter only so far as they affect our individual purchase decisions.
In that respect, I see the new products coming from Caddy as a very good thing.
That is a sexy beast there. CTS-V coupe, would be so hot. They need a higher HP V-6 or a 400hp V-8 to compete with teh TT6 in the 335i.