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2012 MERCEDES BENZ ML63 AMG
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This is not your grocery getter or soccer mom mover. For the 2012 ML63 AMG, Merc has dropped a 5.5L V8 bi-turbo under the hood which produces 518 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Throw in the AMG Performance Package and you’re looking at an increase to 550 horses and 560 lb-ft of torque. All that power takes the ML63 from 0-60 in 4.7 seconds on its way to top speed 155 mph. With the Performance Package you’ll hit 0-60 in 4.6 and get up to a top speed 174 mph.
Nuff said.
2013 CADILLAC XTS
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Cadillac has resisted the trend towards producing “retro” models as other manufacturers have. It has instead pressed ahead with a new design philosophy for the 21st century called “art and science”which it says “incorporates sharp, sheer forms and strong lines a form vocabulary that expresses bold design and invokes the technology used to generate it.” This new design language reaches from the original CTS across the line all the way up to the XLR roadster.
Cadillac’s latest interpretation of its ‘Art & Science’ design language. The XTS is highlighted by its bold egg-crate grille and vertical taillights. Inside the XTS places a heavy emphasis on technology and design, including the luxury division’s new Cadillac User Experience, or CUE for short. The CUE system includes an eight-inch screen in the center stack, a 12.3-inch reconfigurable gauge cluster and a unique touchscreen interface that mimics today’s tablets. Other technologies available on the XTS include Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Alert, Adaptive Cruise Control and a color Head-up display. Power for the XTS is provided by a direct-injection 3.6L V6 delivering 300 horsepower. Shifting duties are handled by a six-speed automatic, which routes power to all four wheels via a Haldex all-wheel-drive system with electronically controlled limited-slip differential.
Although the previous DTS was known strictly as a boulevard cruiser, the XTS should be able to hold its own in the corners thanks to GM’s Magnetic Ride Control, a rear air suspension, HiPer Strut front suspension and Brembo brakes. Standard wheels measure 19-inches but 20s are also on offer. The XTS will go up against cars like the BMW 5 series, MercedesE-Class and Audi A6, but the Caddy holds a size advantage over its German rivals — about four inches in the cases of the 5-Series and E-Class and two-inches over the Audi. The 2013 Cadillac XTS will begin production at GM’s Oshawa, Ontario production plant in spring 2012.
KUDO’S TO CADILLAC
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I recently took a trip to Calgary and when presented the choice from the guys at National car rental I answered, Luxury. What the hell, let’s see what they got. I was offered a 2011 Cadillac CTS 3.6L V6 and I jumped on the option. Now, I’m a sworn German luxury sedan guy but I’ve owned a couple of Caddy’s when I was younger and I always liked them. I haven’t put much though into “sport Cadillac’s” when they started introducing them back in 1988 but I was always curious, In today’s automotive world where BMW, TOYOTA and VW sedans all look alike the Caddilac CTS has been catching my eye with it’s hard geometric body lines. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest automobile brands in the world.
Cadillac was founded in 1902 by Henry Leland, it was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company when Henry Ford departed, along with several of his key partners and the company was dissolved. With the intent of liquidating the firm’s assets, Ford’s financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment before selling them. Instead, Leland persuaded them to continue the automobile business using Leland’s proven single-cylinder engine. After Henry Ford left, the company needed a new name, and on 22 August 1902 the company reformed as the Cadillac Automobile Company. He named the company after his ancestor, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of the city of Detroit. The company’s crest is based on a coat of arms that Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac had created at the time of his marriage in Quebec in 1687. General Motors purchased the company in 1909 and within six years, Cadillac had laid the foundation for the modern mass productin of automobiles by demonstrating the complete interchangeability of its precision parts while simultaneously establishing itself as America’s premier luxury car.
Cadillac introduced technological advances, including full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission and the steel roof. The brand developed three engines, one of which (THE V8 ENGINE) set the standard for the American auto industry. Cadillac is the first American car to win the prestigious Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club of England, having successfully demonstrated the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908. This spawned the firm’s slogan “Standard of the World.”
I was presented with a sleek silver saloon,
and my mind started immediately calculating modifications to the stance, wheels and maybe some window tint. I placed my luggage in the trunk and grinned at the classic Cadillac huge dimensions where historically many an unlucky mobster had taken there last ride. When I opened the door I found a surprising black leather cockpit that fit like a race car more than the velour Caddy’s I once knew. I was a little overwhelmed with all of the gratuitous buttons, dials and switches (my 64 FORD F100 has 3, headlights, heater, wipers) but DAMN this looks like European luxury. Dual climate controls in the 1/2 deg, Bose heavy bass multi speaker system, satellite radio and sport leather heated? I turned the ignition and she fired up with dignity, red needles swiping across the gauges, illuminating their faces a moment later and immediately settling into a solid idle, it felt German? I shifted the automatic trans to a solid D, it felt German? I pulled out of the parking and noticed the close ratio steering, this feels German? As I maneuvered my way through the airport parkade to the exit the first speed bump startled me, rigged suspension with good recovery? This feels like an Audi? This feels German!!
From the airport onto the highway and I am wanting one, feels like German without the German parts and repair bill? I’m in, I want one. I’ve read and watched the reviews but similar to movie critics I just rarely agree. I like the rigid chassis feel, the harsher sport ride and I don’t mind the plastic parts. My only complaint is the 6cyl engine, I may like a lot of cars but I only like the V8 engine. I hear that can be remedied by the 500 horse power CTS-V.
My trip ended, I returned the car, landed back home and I’ve been searching the auto sale sites ever since. I want one and I want it in silver.
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