Since its debut nearly three years ago, the CT6 sedan from Cadillac has been at the top of my list of vehicles I could not wait to test. We can check that one off the list as I recently spent a week behind the wheel of the new 2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum Super Cruise with all-wheel drive.
2018 Cadillac CT6/Images courtesy Cadillac
The CT6 arrives on an all-new global rear-wheel drive performance platform. In my opinion, there has been too much effort spent over the decades trying to lure customers to the Cadillac showroom by offering “entry” vehicles (Cimarron, Catera, and ATS, and let’s not even mention that electric thing). Get back to your roots and embrace large-bodied land yachts says I, and judging by our experience in the CT6, the luxury GM brand has done just that.
I will admit that while you can just walk up to the new CT6 and get in and drive, there is so much technology in the vehicle it may be intimidating for many – and I would suspect many owners never take full advantage of what is offered here. Semi-autonomous driving, advanced night vision, the absolute best factory audio system to date, and massaging seats with heat and ventilation at four locations. There is also an advanced engine under the hood that features only six cylinders delivering the power and oomph of a gutsy V-8.
The CT6 features multiple materials in its construction including up to 64 percent aluminum that required GM to develop new bonding methods joining the lighter-weight material to traditional steel. The new sedan is now the largest car in the Cadillac fleet and is offered with three-ish engines and two transmissions as well as all- and rear-wheel drive. For comparison’s sake, the new car is about the same length as a BMW 7-Series but weighs less than the smaller Cadillac CTS and the BMW 5-Series sedans.
Cadillac calls the new Omega architecture developed for CT6 an advanced performance chassis that also features Active Rear Steer, Magnetic Ride Control, and selectable drive modes (normal, sport, and snow and ice). Designers gave CT6 a long and low appearance common with sporty luxury sedans and engineers have included a host of new and updated technologies.
An all-new twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 engine leads the powertrain offerings and it is rated at 404hp and 400 lb. ft. of torque. Joining it is a normally aspirated 3.6-liter V-6 and a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4. The 2.0 and 3.6 will be backed by six-speed automatic transmissions and the twin turbo unit is mated to an all-new 8-speed automatic gearbox. Cadillac now offers a plug-in hybrid variant that mates a two-motor electric drive system to the turbo four for electric-only range of 30 miles and a top speed of 78mph. In combined driving the new PHEV CT6 offers a 65 mpge gas/electric rating. We enjoyed the gutsy 3.0TT and the all-wheel-drive running gear during our week that featured less than ideal road conditions. The vehicle never misbehaved and always offered very spirited but well-controlled driving.
CT6 “sees” a new Enhanced Night Vision system and the vehicle sports true 360-degree camera view around the vehicle and features new 360-degree video recording that records front and rear while driving and all around the vehicle any time the alarm system is activated. There is also new Advanced Park Assist that incorporates automatic braking into the park assist system and there is a new pedestrian collision mitigation system. Cadillac has also developed a video rear view mirror for the CT6 that uses the rearview camera image as the rearview mirror display for an unobstructed view in the mirror. We found this latter feature to be very helpful in, say, parking lots, but on the road, we switched the mirror back to traditional reflective mode.
What else you ask? How about a large 10.2-inch multimedia display for the CUE infotainment system as well as the new Bose Panaray premium audio system featuring no less than 34 speakers. I put this new audio system through its paces playing a variety of musical selections from varying genres and it is my opinion this is the best-sounding factory audio system to date. There are even surround speakers in the headrests of the front seats. Sure, the bass response may not be heavy enough for some folks these days but the Panaray system offers true audiophile sound reproduction with instruments and vocals so natural and smooth.
Rear seat occupants can enjoy new articulating seats as well as quad-zone climate control and individual 10-inch infotainment screens mounted in the front seatbacks. And did I mention the massage function? All four outboard seating positions are offered this new feature in addition to heat and ventilation. My spouse found the massaging seats to be the most impressive feature of the new CT6 and it was certainly one of my favorites as well, especially on the drive home from work.
OK, the Super Cruise thingy. This is the semi-autonomous driving feature I mentioned. One press of a button on the steering wheel and the Cadillac CT6 will drive itself on the highway. We tested this out and it took a bit of getting used to, and almost had me singing that Carrie Underwood song – you know, “Jesus, take the wheel.” We certainly were putting all our faith in the vehicle engineers at this point and the Caddy performed as promised although the system does not like road construction zones, especially when the lane markers change radically and rapidly.
Pricing for the 2018 Cadillac CT6 begins at $54,095 for the “base” 2.0L Turbo model in rear-wheel drive. Our 3.0TT AWD Platinum model with Super Cruise arrived with a final window sticker of $89,290 and this is sparing absolutely no expense. Fuel economy is rated at 18 mpg city and 26 mpg highway.
When I think of Cadillac, the CT6 is what I imagine. This is an aspirational vehicle that is laden with performance and technology, as well as being completely luxurious. It offers a wonderful driving experience while bathing occupants in total safety, not to mention quality craftsmanship. Hail to the new admiral of the fleet, the 2018 Cadillac CT6.