Drove an ATS-V Today
#1
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Thread Starter
Drove an ATS-V Today
Co-worker of mine has a 2013 CTS-V. Cadillac dealer calls him and says they are doing a campaign with Cadillac and giving away cars for a week to drive. After the week is up, you basically give them your impressions and they give you a code to use to buy a Cadillac using the GM Employee discount. ATS-V works out to be about $9,000 off of sticker with that discount. He currently reserved this beautiful ATS-V, full optioned for the week. I plan on doing the same thing to get more seat time, but this is just my first impressions.
I had the car in sport mode, using the paddle shifters. I had it in track mode but the steering gets overly stiff for street driving purposes.
Power: There is a little turbo lag but once it's spools up, it pulls pretty hard. There is definitely not a lack of power in this car and the RPM's shoot up very quickly. The sound of the V6 in the ATS-V does no justice to our V8.
Transmission: This car has the new ZF 8 speed automatic transmission. It was a disappointment for me. It is in no way as responsive as our transmission is. Shifts are not responsive and there is some delay. The gear ratios I think are too short. I'll need to pick up the car for a week myself and really play with it since I only drove it around town for about 30 minutes.
Handling: Handling definitely blows our car out of the water. The car is flat, it turns in quickly and it handles like its on rails. I only had it in Sport mode when I was doing long sweeper turns. I can only imagine what it would be like in track mode at the race track.
Interior: I like the interior overall as it had the Recaro race seats. The instrument cluster... ours looks much cleaner and looks more sophisticated. The instrument cluster in this car was a direct swap from a regular ATS. This one doesn't have the new CTS-V LCD display, which is unfortunate because that would completely make the car. There is plenty of alcantara and carbon fiber.
I'll probably do a follow up review after I get the car for a week.
I had the car in sport mode, using the paddle shifters. I had it in track mode but the steering gets overly stiff for street driving purposes.
Power: There is a little turbo lag but once it's spools up, it pulls pretty hard. There is definitely not a lack of power in this car and the RPM's shoot up very quickly. The sound of the V6 in the ATS-V does no justice to our V8.
Transmission: This car has the new ZF 8 speed automatic transmission. It was a disappointment for me. It is in no way as responsive as our transmission is. Shifts are not responsive and there is some delay. The gear ratios I think are too short. I'll need to pick up the car for a week myself and really play with it since I only drove it around town for about 30 minutes.
Handling: Handling definitely blows our car out of the water. The car is flat, it turns in quickly and it handles like its on rails. I only had it in Sport mode when I was doing long sweeper turns. I can only imagine what it would be like in track mode at the race track.
Interior: I like the interior overall as it had the Recaro race seats. The instrument cluster... ours looks much cleaner and looks more sophisticated. The instrument cluster in this car was a direct swap from a regular ATS. This one doesn't have the new CTS-V LCD display, which is unfortunate because that would completely make the car. There is plenty of alcantara and carbon fiber.
I'll probably do a follow up review after I get the car for a week.
Last edited by PatrickISF; 04-14-16 at 10:03 AM.
#3
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Thread Starter
Thanks! Yes - it has the magnetic ride suspension and a lot beefier tires. I'm sure if we had some Penske coilovers and wider tires in the ISF it probably would handle very similar. The ATS-V just felt more planted and flatter than our cars do. It's hard to describe, but I felt more confident throwing it through the corner.
Last edited by PatrickISF; 04-14-16 at 10:30 AM.
#6
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I really dig the ATS-V, looks great in blue. Just wished GM would have stuffed a better looking instrument cluster in there considering it's in your face the whole time you drive. If you just dropped $60k+, last thing you want is a gauge cluster that reminds you of a 90s Malibu.
Last edited by RSXiMUS; 04-14-16 at 10:27 PM.
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#8
Well the 2008-2010 were essentially the same handling wise, 2010 just added the LSD. 2011+ are the ones with the big handling overhaul but still won't compare to the ATS-V. Thing supposed to be amazing in the handling department.
I really dig the ATS-V, looks great in blue. Just wished GM would have stuffed a better looking instrument cluster in there considering it's in your face the whole time you drive. If you just dropped $50k+, last thing you want is a gauge cluster that reminds you of a 90s Malibu.
I really dig the ATS-V, looks great in blue. Just wished GM would have stuffed a better looking instrument cluster in there considering it's in your face the whole time you drive. If you just dropped $50k+, last thing you want is a gauge cluster that reminds you of a 90s Malibu.
#10
Thats an awesome program.. But that instrument cluster looks way too outdated.. The one in the CTS-V is so badass!!
-Josh
-Josh
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Your #1 Dealer for Aftermarket Performance Products
Orange County, CA
Email: info@merakiautoworks.com
Text/Call: 213 394 2886
Website: www.MerakiAutoworks.com
#12
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iTrader: (1)
Well the 2008-2010 were essentially the same handling wise, 2010 just added the LSD. 2011+ are the ones with the big handling overhaul but still won't compare to the ATS-V. Thing supposed to be amazing in the handling department.
I really dig the ATS-V, looks great in blue. Just wished GM would have stuffed a better looking instrument cluster in there considering it's in your face the whole time you drive. If you just dropped $50k+, last thing you want is a gauge cluster that reminds you of a 90s Malibu.
I really dig the ATS-V, looks great in blue. Just wished GM would have stuffed a better looking instrument cluster in there considering it's in your face the whole time you drive. If you just dropped $50k+, last thing you want is a gauge cluster that reminds you of a 90s Malibu.