It’s little secret that tCE is less than impressed with the technology suite Cadillac has been fielding for the last few years. It is one area we feel Cadillac is lagging behind its competition.

Read any of our many reviews for a flavor of things not working right, being clunky or inefficient to operate, etc.

Well, Cadillac hasn’t been plugging ahead and letting this lose them customers forever.

Now we have a peak of the new interior electronics suite dubbed the Cadillac User Experience (CUE).

It includes a new, completely virtual gauge cluster in front of the driver, 8” capacitive touch screen at center stage, and touch sensitive center stack (physical buttons are so pre-2007, apparently.)

Bluetooth connectivity for phone and media are part of the package (with a slick pop-open section of the center stack to put your devices in). Pinch and swipe gestures, a la iPhone/iPad, are now part of the experience along with haptic feedback (a slight buzz upon touching a control to confirm that your input has been received).

The system will appear first in the new XTS, ATS, and in an SRX interior refresh that are all coming in 2012.

Expect this to make its way into the CTS line and the Escalade as they are refreshed in the coming few years.

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Categories: News, SRX, Video, ATS, XTS
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As you may recall, Cadillac announced a while back that they 3.0l V-6 was to be replaced by a new, updated 3.6l V-6 (the 2.8 turbo that we loved here at tCE was discontinued some time before that).

Well, Cadillac has announced the entire slate of changes to the SRX for 2012.

The new ‘LFX’ 3.6 brings 308hp and 265 lb-ft in a package that is lighter than the previous version of the 3.6 that has been used before.

Also new or updated are the 6T70 six-speed automatic transmission that promises increases of up to 1 mpg, available heated steering wheel, standard bluetooth connectivity on all trims, available Ebony trim, as well as the addition of redundant power window switches to the doors (the previous switches in the center console remain.

Full press release below:

Categories: News, SRX
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Having a vehicle for a week is often long enough to form meaningful impressions. But, sometimes, you get value from having a second go-round some time later. In some cases, opinions are reinforced. Other times, you might form a new opinion having the advantage of time.

For context, take a look back at our previous review of the 2010 SRX Turbo for our original thoughts on the SRX in it’s 2.8l turbo form.

Unusually, Cadillac put out another example of this, now discontinued powertrain, in the media fleet. We now know that the normally aspirated 3.6 will replace this and the base 3.0 next year. Turbo SRXes are rare birds, available just the inaugural year and some change, and then only making up around 10% of sales prior to its cancellation, with worse economy than buyers expected and not enough extra oomph to make up for it.

However, especially in the mountains, where elevation robs non-turbo engines of their power to the tune of 3% per 1000 feet, the SRX with the 2.8 should actually far outperform the coming 3.6. For example, if the new engine puts out a rated 300hp, just driving in Denver (5000+ feet above sea level) will see a 15% power loss or about 45hp (leaving it with 255hp). The 2.8 also sees some loss, but maybe more like 5% total or 15hp lost from it’s 300hp baseline (leaving it with 285). Additionally, the turbo engine has a much beefier torque curve that further exaggerates the power advantage at altitude.

So, what did we notice in our second week with the lame duck SRX turbo?

1. StabiliTrak in the snow is fun. Our first time behind the wheel saw Colorado in rare snow-free form for early in the year. So, it was not common to invoke the stability control. This time around, we had some of the white stuff. StabiliTrak allowed us to lay into the power and feel the computers doing their magic to keep things under control. Once we trusted it to do the right things – tromping on the power and marveling at it doing its thing was kind of fun.

2. Sport mode – still way too subtle. In our 2011 model, the experience from before where we noticed the transmission aggressively kicking down when slowing to a light was smoothed away vs. our 2010 model last year. Now there is almost no sign that you are in the sportier driving mode.

3. Brakes – unlike our previous model, it seems that the brakes are dialed in a bit better this year. This could have been a quirk in our 2010 test car or a running change – but the prior experience with brakes being non-linear just didn’t appear to be hold with our latest tester.

4. Infotainment – still a lot clunkier to use than we’d like. ‘Nuff said. However, in testing out the audio quality, we found the stereo to easily go much louder than we would normally go without anything we’d identify as distortion. I certainly wouldn’t go more than 80% volume before chickening out. It’s loud.

So, ultimately, the rough edges of the first year SRX seem to have been polished away in year 2. This is pretty impressive given how many manufacturers would leave things like this alone until a mid-cycle refresh 3+ years into the run. This suggests that Cadillac is serious about making the SRX a real contender in this space.

We will lament that a turbo powertrain is no longer available in the SRX. We will also eagerly await an interior/electronics refresh with Cadillac’s version of the MyLink system debuting in the rest of GM’s brands. However, the fact that the list of niggles is getting shorter year by year is a promising sign and we look forward to how good the SRX will be when it finally does see its mid-cycle changes for 2013 or so.

Categories: News, SRX, Reviews
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As expected, Cadillac announced today an option of 3.6l v6 power on the 2012 SRX crossover. The 3.6 will be the only engine offered in US SRXes, with the smaller 3.0 continuing to be offered in ‘export’ markets.

Not getting the 330hp we were expecting from a revised 3.6, the SRX will get 300hp from the current direct injected version of the 3.6. Also debuting during the late summer freshening will be standard Bluetooth, a new 20” wheel design, as well as an available heated steering wheel and redundant door lock controls on the door panels (currently, the SRX lock/unlock buttons reside in the center stack only.)

Pricing will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

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Categories: News, SRX
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Cadillac sales rose by 70% in February, speeding past the likes of Mercedes and perennial 1st place Lexus to take the second place luxury spot in the US market behind BMW.

A portion of the sales growth is due to increased sales of the SRX crossover and the DTS large sedan. The new SRX has been a huge success for Cadillac since it’s introduction over a year ago. The DTS is due to be phased out thus year along with the STS, both to be replaced by the new XTS large sedan (based on GM’s Epsilon II platform).

Incentives have made it easier for Cadillac intenders to finally pick up the car they’ve been wanting with lease deals on the CTS as low as $299/mo (lease deals are a major driver of luxury car sales in the US market).

Time will tell if this sales spike keeps Cadillac near the top in months to come as the US market recovers from the precious years’ economic downturn.

Source: Bloomberg

Categories: News, SRX, DTS, Rumored Models
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