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Yeah but you forget that some people like that "floaty" feel. How anyone could ever "like" having no idea what the hell is happening on the road beneath them, I'll never know.
When I think "luxury car," that means I don't want to drive something which bounces me up and down on the roads! I laugh sometimes when I'm out driving one of my Cads... I see the cars in front of me in which the people inside are bouncing up and down bumps which are practically unnoticed in my cars!
As HighPlainsDrifter said, if I want to feel the road or scream around curves, I would drive a car made for that, like a Corvette.
Right, either a suspension floats or it handles like a Corvette, evidently there's no in-between room whatsoever.
It's not simply a matter of handling prowess around tight curves. One would be foolish to underestimate the safety issue of a car that handles versus one that doesn't -- especially one with a 500ci engine in it. That's why they don't make big fast powerful cars with floaty suspensions any more -- they're dangerous.
This admiration for the old Caddy ride & handling dynamics is all well & good, but that kind of car is not relevant to most luxury buyers born after 1960. Their perceptions of Luxury are based off European (German) benchmarks. The CTS & STS redesigns a few years ago finally got people under 50 to pay attention to Caddy again.
I went to a Cadillac drive event about 3 years ago with a friend & was more interested in driving the competitive offerings then the Caddy's. But after driving a CTS-V and the CTS, Caddy shot to the top of both of our wish lists.
Right, either a suspension floats or it handles like a Corvette, evidently there's no in-between room whatsoever.
It's not simply a matter of handling prowess around tight curves. One would be foolish to underestimate the safety issue of a car that handles versus one that doesn't -- especially one with a 500ci engine in it. That's why they don't make big fast powerful cars with floaty suspensions any more -- they're dangerous.
The fans of traditional Cadillacs don't want an "in-between" ride; they want a very smooth ride.
As far as tight curves... the same thing... the fans of traditional Cadillacs aren't interested in one that can corner at 60 mph.
This admiration for the old Caddy ride & handling dynamics is all well & good, but that kind of car is not relevant to most luxury buyers born after 1960. Their perceptions of Luxury are based off European (German) benchmarks. The CTS & STS redesigns a few years ago finally got people under 50 to pay attention to Caddy again.
I went to a Cadillac drive event about 3 years ago with a friend & was more interested in driving the competitive offerings then the Caddy's. But after driving a CTS-V and the CTS, Caddy shot to the top of both of our wish lists.
True, in general, many of those under about 50 years old like luxury cars which stress handling over ride. And many over 50 year-olds prefer ride over handling.
However, I visit a Lincoln Town Car site and you would be surprised how many members are under 30. A few are even under 20 years old!
It is good that Cadillac is building cars which appeal to the younger buyers (it keeps them in business), but for me the best Cadillac will always be the pre-'77s, with their 19-21 foot length, silky-smooth ride, giant (and reliable) engines, and living room comfort.
Evidently they're also not interested in cars with safe handling.
I can drive my Cadillacs (even my '76 limo) on curves with a posted speed limit of "35 mph" at 45 mph or even 50 mph if I want to push it that hard. They can corner faster than many people would guess.
Heh... now suddenly you're interested in your Caddy's cornering prowess.
Look, I'm old enough to have driven plenty of 70s-vintage American "luxury" iron. Their handling uniformly sucked and bordered on downright dangerous, which is why nobody makes cars with those handling characteristics any more. Even an entry-level Kia can out-handle the wallowing hogs Detroit was putting out back then.
Heh... now suddenly you're interested in your Caddy's cornering prowess.
No, I am just pointing out that they are not "dangerous" to drive on roads with curves.
Quote:
Look, I'm old enough to have driven plenty of 70s-vintage American "luxury" iron. Their handling uniformly sucked and bordered on downright dangerous, which is why nobody makes cars with those handling characteristics any more. Even an entry-level Kia can out-handle the wallowing hogs Detroit was putting out back then
I'm pretty sure I've driven '70s (and '60s) U.S. luxury cars more than you have. I have not been without a Cadillac since 1995. (And, yes, they are true luxury cars, not like the make-believe ones like Lexus with their cramped seating).
As for handling:
(Car & Driver, July, 1965, 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, 133" wheelbase, 227.5" overall length)
"The Cadillac, contrary to enthusiastic myth, handles very well. It is agile, effortless, and predictable- always going where it's pointed without any fuss or surprises."
(Modern Motor, Jan., 1962, 1961 Cadillac Sedan de Ville):
"Handling is amazingly good for such as big car; only 3.5 turns lock-to-lock and she's very stable on corners."
(Motor Trend, June, 1964, 1964 Cadillac Sedan de Ville):
"Over the mountain stretches, we still maintained a high average speed. We got this mostly by hard acceleration between corners, hard braking for the turns and by limit-of-adhesion cornering. We wanted to wring the car out and find its faults, if any. The faults are few (even the understeer characteristics aren't so excessive as you'd expect in a car of this size and weight [5,050 lbs]). This opinion is based not only on how the car felt to us but by close inspection of the front tires after the run; they were feathered from hard cornering but weren't showing excessive wear from scrubbing, and the limitations are so far up the scale that even the worst driver will be hard-pressed to get into trouble with this car. The Cadillac may be as big as a tank, but it's well-balanced."
(Wheels magazine, Oct., 1960, 1959 Cadillac Series 62 four-door hardtop):
"Our test car handled remarkably well. It had the solid, level ride on would expect from a vehicle with a curb weight of 4,800 lbs, but none of the floating on rubber cushions feel.
The Cadillac is rock-steady on all surfaces. At one stage of the test, I took it over a bad, disused railway crossing at more than 100 mph with three other passengers on board. Apart from the barely perceptible nose-down action as it hit the deep bump, the car showed no signs at all of the terrific whack with which it must have hit the depression.
On corners its stability was surprising as its firmness was on straight highways and corrugated back roads."
(Autocar, Aug.7, 1964, 1964 Cadillac Coupe de Ville):
"On normal roads the low-rate suspension is very soft and comfortable, while providing excellent stability for rapid cornering without heeling over much."
(Car Life, June, 1956, 1956 Cadillac Sedan de Ville):
(Roadability) "Excellent, particularly at high speeds when the car gives an unusually secure feeling even in sharp curves."
Are you seriously not sharp enough to understand that the comparisons in 1950s and 1960s American car magazines were against their 1950s and 1960s contemporary competition, which has NOTHING to do with the suspension technology of today? "Wow, Car and Driver said the Cadillac handles great in 1958, so they must be great handling cars!" Please, bore someone else with your completely irrelevent 50-year-old magazine articles.
If these cars handled so great, why does NOBODY INCLUDING CADILLAC make cars that handle like that today?
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