Preview: 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe

2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe. Click image to enlarge

Review and photos by Jacob Black, additional photos courtesy of Cadillac

The all-new 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe is the marque’s first compact luxury coupe. One they claim has been designed with one priority: More fun.

Step one: Increase the track. With a 20 mm wider track at the front and 40 mm wider at the rear, the ATS Coupe will be more planted, more stable and track more cleanly through corners – especially long sweepers. There should also be less body roll and pitch.

Step two: Keep it light. At 1,550 kg the ATS Coupe weighs the same as the sedan – not bad when you consider the extra bolstering needed in the chassis.

Step three: More grunt. The 2.0T engine boosts torque from 264 to 295 lb-ft and horsepower output peaks at 272. The optional 3.6L V6 packs 321 hp 275 lb-ft of torque.

The Coupe rides on exclusive 18-inch wheels held in place with five-link independent suspension at the rear and multi-link, double-pivot, MacPherson struts with direct-acting stabilizer bar at the front. Cadillac claims a “near-perfect 50/50 weight balance” to further improve handling prowess and on-road fun factor.

Want more? There is an available FE3 sport suspension with Magnetic Ride Control, a mechanical limited-slip differential and summer performance tires.

There is an AWD drivetrain available, but if you want the manual gearbox you’ll need the 2.0T in RWD. If you’re content to skip the third pedal, there is a six-speed, torque converter-type automatic with tap-shift control and paddle shifters.

The whole package looks sensational too. The vertical LED light signature now common across the Cadillac range makes its appearance, but it’s the sharp lines and clean contours of the coupe that really make the ATS pop. Think CTS coupe, but smaller, and sexier.

The Driver Awareness Package – which is optional on the Luxury trim but standard on the Performance and Premium trims – includes the Safety Alert Seat, Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning and new-for–2015 Lane Keep Assist. It also includes Intellibeam high-beam control, park assist and a back-up camera with moving guidelines.

The Driver Assist Package available on the performance and premium trims includes all of the above, as well as Full-Speed Range Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Collision Preparation, new-for-2015 Motorized Safety Belts, electronic park brake, front and rear automatic braking, enhanced blind-spot alert, cross-traffic alert and a full-colour head-up display.

2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe. Click image to enlarge

Inside, the Coupe gets the newest iteration of Cadillac’s divisive CUE system, complete with 4G LTE connectivity and OnStar. The connectivity system will include a wi-fi hotspot for up to seven devices and text-to-voice for those of us who get more texts than phone calls. The eight-inch touchscreen sits atop the climate controls in the centre stack, and lifts to reveal a 1.8L storage space. The instrument cluster is action-oriented and engaging. There are analogue dials for tach and speedo, as well as fuel and engine temperature. Cue’s virtual information panel is housed in a wide and low TFT screen under the speedo.

Even more soft-touch materials will be in place, alongside lashings of chrome and piano black. The Cadillac crest motif is repeated heavily in the interior, to the point of including the start-stop button in the centre stack as part of that design motif.

Convenient remote-starting features are available from the key fob, and drivers will also be able to raise and lower the windows, plus start the car using an app on their smartphone.

The Cadillac crest itself is also getting a refresh, with this, the 37th iteration of the crest in 111 years adorning models delivered from late 2014. The new crest first appeared on the Elmiraj concept.