kdphan

the only thing that's really bothering me with the ATS-V now is how unpredictable the A8 tranny can be at slow speeds.

I drive in sports mode at all times and I guess the A8 doesn't like shifting at low RPM. When it does shift, it can be slow or clunky at times.

But when I give it the beans, it shifts instantaneously and no clunk. I think it's just the way it's programmed into these faster automatics. RC-F owners seem to have the same complaints on their 8spd auto.

Other than that, the ATS-V has been great so far.

Tokenblkgy

kdphan

Congrats on the ATS-V pick up. I would love to hear about your overall thoughts on it. Is there a forum for the ATS-V. I was considering one before I got the ISF. My wife and I were given an ATS 3.2 about 2 years ago when our connecting flight from Vegas to AZ and then home to Sac all were cnxed when we got to Vegas. So instead of waiting 24 hrs to get our rebooked flight home we just decided to drive 8 hrs home from Vegas to Sacramento. I had no idea what an ATS was but that 8 hr drive was amazing and we fell in love with the car. When i found out about the ATS-V I knew it would be worth a look.

kdphan

I actually started a thread on bimmerpost about the ATS-V and M3

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1210670

I'm in Sacramento here and there (family is there). The next time I'm around, I can take you out for a spin.

GSthe4th

iTrader: (1)

Just to shed some light on what early adopters of the CTS-V are experiencing (my story and many others are having similar issues).

I ordered my new CTS-V in May last year, car arrived at the dealership just after Christmas and I just took delivery last Tuesday. That is over 7 months from order. The initial delivery was late summer, and slowly fell back due to constraints on the carbon fiber and the midnight wheels. I had to remove the wheels from my order, but refused to remove the CF pkg. The delay allowed me to add the Recaro seats (maybe also pushing my order back) which I initially decided against. Bottom line, Caddy really dropped the ball, whether it was the third party suppliers, demand > supply, etc. Poor planning and execution. However it was well worth the wait. They did tell me they wished I had closed the deal before 12/31 since their allocation was affected (they do not have another one scheduled to come in) which echoes what you were told. My delay in closing came from my desire to sell my GS to my friend and not trade it in. Since it is modified, they had to call contacts in the bay and so cal to get me the best trade in. CarMAx was going to send it to auction, a 5K hit off the top. The best offer was from the bay, $26,300, man they would have made a killing. My friend was able to get a loan finally and we settled on 33K.

Anyways, the ATS-V is a nice looking vehicle, congratulations. My dealer traded for one with the Bakersfield Cadillac dealer since they had no allocation as of yet.
The GS-F is as well. I hope they both sell well and demand is met. If you want one of these cars, grab them when you can. If you can wait, then wait. Very glad these cars exist for our enjoyment.

kdphan

4 months was too long of a wait for me. I can't imagine waiting for 7 months...

It seems like the GS has taken a big hit on depreciation. We leased a 2014 about a year and half ago at selling price of $51k (59k msrp). There's no way the GS would get anywhere close to 40k right now.

Tokenblkgy

Man I read some of your post. 12 pages some interesting folks on that Forum ahahha lots of Hate!!

Sent you a PM.. looking forward to seeing it in person whenever you make it up this way.

Swacer

Anyone who says this, has never driven a high hp car worth driving. 640hp is very easy to utilize and isn't near as much power as you think it is. The first time you light it up through 3 gears and fight to keep it straight before pushing in the clutch....you'll realize how great a supercharged LTx motor is. Then you'll go buy a set of drag radials, and when you plant yourself in the seat from 0-130mph, you'll forget why you ever compared the GS-F to it.

Also keep in mind, with a GS-F, you will be stuck in the world of SLAMMED...or lookie at my wheels!!....or look at what I did with my lights!!

You go to the LTx/LSx world....the only question becomes...how fast can I make this? Endless...as far as your wallet is willing to go. And all of it can be done in your own garage.

I don't honestly think people will cross shop the CTS-V and GS-F. The CTS-V is going to go to guys who know cars and want to mod for the 1000hp goal, while GS-F guys are just happy with a moderately high hp sedan.

ForzaF

iTrader: (3)

You're partially right, you forgot about the ppl that buy cars because of the numbers it puts down on paper. Then they go out cuz they can't handle the power crash into a pole or kill someone and their life can change forever.

I hope caddy is offering a drivers training program like some of the Germans car brands do. The Gsf power is a lot more manageable computers do a fine job of that.

Swacer

Car companies shouldn't have to compensate for owners with more money than brains.

If it's more than you can personally handle, I feel no pity when you split it in 2.

Swacer

The more I've thought about this, the more a CTS-V vs GS-F doesn't make sense.

Honestly, the GS-F best compares with the Chevy SS. While the SS is down 40hp up front, it also has a $40k spot on price. The SS (and I'm comparing this to an RC-F) has about 75% of the interior quality of the Lexus. However, again, a $40k gap. For $10k worth the mods to that LS3 that lives inside that car, and the GS-F is going to be seeing a lot of tail lights while still costing $30k more off the showroom floor. Unless you live through your car's badge, you have to see this as true.

Lexus left this car out to dry. It has no true home as the BMW (M5), MB (E63 AMG), and Cadillac (CTS-V) will all blow its doors off. Its only real competition is a SS and a Charger SRT8/SRT 8 Hellcat, and both of those blow its doors off in price.

Dont' get me wrong, I love Lexus, I currently own 2 of them, but this car just doesn't make sense in its current design.

kdphan

It doesn't matter how much power a car has

if somebody is stupid, they'll wrap any car around a tree

bocahoo

Problem is, it's not always just the irresponsible driver that ends up getting hurt or killed.

I do worry about how easy it has become to get access to absolutely insane amounts of power. 20 years ago, you needed supercar money to get 400+ horsepower. And not that being rich guarantees a greater level of responsibility (and sometimes living in Boca Raton, I think the two are inversely related), but the number of knuckleheads on the road with more power they can handle was more limited. Now you can get 700+ horsepower in the $60k range and ~500 HP in the $40s. There's a family in our neighborhood that gave their teenage son a Mustang GT. A 435 HP, rear wheel drive muscle car to a teenager!!! Now teenage boys are going to be stupid no matter what they drive, but you can get yourself into trouble a whole lot faster with 400+ horsepower, rear wheel drive, and limited experience/judgment. When I think of how I drove my 70 HP honda civic when I was 16, I probably wouldn't be alive if I had instead been driving a 435HP mustang GT.

I'm not arguing the car companies need to DO anything (other than continue to make cars safer), but there are far too many drivers on the road with stupid amounts of power and an inverse level of good sense.

Rrgirgis

Has anyone been negotitating with dealerships on the GS-F? I have asked a few local socal dealers and they are stuck on 5k off msrp so far and the other are just saying sticker...

Anyone been offered better pricing yet? Just trying to see how pricing is changing as hopefully the cars sit on there lots awaiting for the price to come down

GXtoGStoLS

Texas dealer told us $2K off sticker last week. They only had one GS F to sell at that time, so we didn't push any lower and werent that serious anyway. It's too high and too early to buy right now for us. Want to read some feedback from actual owners before seriously considering. If price tanks like the RC F, I might put it on my short list, but I'm in no rush. It's a beautiful car but not competitively priced currently, IMHO. I'd love to have one at a better price, as I suppose a lot of us would!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

dealers are doing 5k off already? i am glad they learned their lesson from the rcf