Preface
I previously did a review of the
Cadillac CTS which I helped my mom choose as a replacement for her cherished Oldsmobile Aurora that met a premature end at the hands of an incompetent mechanic. She ended up going with Cadillac due to the great experience she had with one of their dealers and their service department. After having recently been burned by an independent auto repair place she was seeking peace of mind in her new car selection.
She looked at both the STS, which she drove for several days while the dealer tried to investigate what had gone wrong with the Aurora, and the CTS, which she ultimately chose. The STS was a great car in many ways and she certainly enjoyed driving it. When it came down to the decision, the price of the STS, at over $10K more than the CTS, with the features she needed helped make up her mind.
The Car
The Cadillac STS replaces the Seville which had already won acclaim in the early 90's with new sport styling and the very fast Northstar motor. The move to the STS seems like the next logical step in Cadillac's move from stodgy American luxury car aimed at retirees to a viable competitor for the import luxury market and it's younger buyers who are apt to change cars more frequently.
The STS is available with either a 3.6L V6 with 255HP or a monstrous 4.6L Northstar V8 with a very respectable 320HP. My mom, having driven V8s for all of her life, opted for the Northstar equipped model. The Northstar motor allows the STS, even with a curb weight of just under 4K lbs, to rocket from zero to sixty mph in about 6 seconds, a solid second faster than the CTS. Unlike the CTS that lurches slightly with hard acceleration, the STS is all about smooth Northstar power and a transmission you may not even realize is changing gears.
Interior
Aside from the difference in power the STS comes off more as a luxury touring sedan whereas the CTS feels more like a sports sedan. Both cars have molded front bucket seats that seem, like many modern bucket seats, to have borrowed heavily from Recaro’s designs. Of the two I found the STS’ 8-way power adjustable seats to be considerably more spacious with the CTS really feeling like a sports car seat. Even so I think many drivers used to American luxury cars might find the seats of either car a little cramped. My mom, having been used to the sports seats of the Aurora was OK with the STS and CTS seats. Beyond the seats the two cars have a somewhat different feel to the interior space.
Both the STS and CTS feel a little bit like a jet cockpit with the STS a tad bit less cramped, although neither is roomy in the old Fleetwood Brougham sense. Part of the reason that both cars feel so snug is the large center console that goes from arm rest in between the front seats all the way up to the dashboard entertainment/information console that protrudes out into the passenger compartment. This console contains the stereo controls, navigation info if included, climate controls, and information display. In the STS and CTS it is quite large and totally separates the leg area of both cars.
With the STS I found the display to be less angled at the driver than the CTS which made it awkward to view information. This made me wonder how many accidents are likely to occur with drivers trying to view directions on the navigation screen as they drive. It certainly isn’t as safe as a dash mounted GPS or a heads up display.
I was somewhat surprised to find that the interior room between the two cars is very similar even though the STS ‘feels’ roomier. The CTS even beats the STS slightly in front head room at 38.9” to the STS’s 38.7”. In all other dimensions the STS wins by a small margin with front leg room at 42.6” vs 42.4”, front hip room 54.6” vs 53.4”, and front shoulder room at 58.6” vs 56.6”.
Other interior features in the STS my mom drove included steering wheel mounted controls for the cruise control, stereo, and climate control. The rearview mirror comes with the ability to dim the reflection of high beam headlights at night and includes the controls for the OnStar service as well as a built-in compass. An overhead control panel has buttons which can be programmed for multiple functions allowing the elimination of more than one garage door opener or gate control. Also in the overhead panel are the controls for the sunroof which are far more precise than those in my mom’s Aurora.
The rear seat area of the STS is again only slightly larger than the CTS but feels more roomy than the actual difference in dimensions. Both cars are touted as being five passenger vehicles but I think with the CTS the three rear passengers would have to be pretty small. The rear passenger compartment of both cars has a vent in the back of the center console but to me it didn’t provide much circulation in either car.
Exterior
Both the CTS and the STS have the new angular look Cadillac is using to try and attract younger drivers who normally buy foreign luxury cars. The STS, at 196.3”, is over 6 inches longer than the CTS and at 72.6”, two inches wider. The larger size besides allowing for increased interior space also gives the STS over one cubic foot more luggage space than the CTS. One thing that did impress me with the STS was the close tolerances on all the seams. Everything appeared to mate up perfectly and showed good attention to detail with the exterior.
Features
The STS my mom drove had the V8 Luxury Performance package that included Cadillac’s great memory package that remembers not only the seat position for two drivers but also radio station preferences, mirror settings, tilt-steering wheel settings, and climate control settings. Pretty nice feature for two driver families. Besides the standard keyless remote this car included a keyless start-up feature where the key merely had to be in the vehicle to enable the car to be started with the push of a button. The STS also featured Cadillac’s PASS-Key III immobilizer with audible content theft-deterrent system for a little added peace of mind. Speaking of ‘peace of mind,’ the STS also has the ability to warn you of low tire pressure with its Tire Pressure Monitor System for all four wheels.
Safety
The STS features driver and front passenger, dual-stage, front and side-impact air bags as well as head curtain air bags. Unfortunately, that is about all there is to be said for the STS as neither the 2005 nor the 2006 models have been crash test rated. Hmmm.
Our Experience
In the four days that both my mom and I drove the STS we enjoyed its quiet ride, smooth acceleration, and seamless shifting. There is definitely more of a cushy, luxury feel to the STS when compared to the CTS. The only advantage the CTS has performance wise over the STS is in terms of its turning radius. Cadillac claims the turning radius for the CTS is only about two feet less at 35.5’ than the STS’ 37.7’ but it feels like much less. The CTS turns much easier in tighter parking areas or on corners under acceleration. I myself preferred the feel of the CTS as I like more positive road feel. The STS wasn’t as damp as older Cadillac or Lincoln models where you would feel like you were floating on the road, but the CTS definitely had it beat when it came to feeling in control. As both cars were similar in their list of features it came down to the price and whether extra room was more valuable than sporty feel. In the end my mom decided the extra $10K+ was not justified and opted for the CTS which she has happily driven for the past few months.
Price as test driven: $58,980.00
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