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2018 Cadillac XTS V-Sport Drivers' Notes Review | Cruise missile

The XTS is a standout in Cadillac's current lineup. It's a throwback to the automaker's cars of the '90s and early 2000s. It's big, comfy and packs a punch under the hood, but there's only a slight pretense of sportiness, despite the V-Sport moniker. If you want a Cadillac that handles, buy a CTS or ATS. Still, there's nothing wrong with being a big, slightly soft cruiser. Not everyone is out to conquer the Nurburgring. Some people just want comfy seats and a half-mile of wheelbase. Our tester is the range-topping Platinum V-Sport trim. At $73,040, it's not exactly cheap. That said, you do get a hell of a lot for your money. This car has heated and cooled massaging front seats with 22-way power adjustment, a heated steering wheel, heads-up display, the latest version of Cadillac's infotainment system, Bose surround sound, LED headlights and adaptive cruise control. That's not including all the V-Sport goodies like Brembo brakes, magnetic ride and a howling 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6. Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder — Hopping in the Cadillac XTS, the familiar surroundings created a certain set of expectations. Like judging a book by its cover, it's an easy trap to judge a Cadillac by its interior (they all feel the same to me). Some of what I expected, I got: a smooth ride, hearty pep, robust driver assist and fussy audio and HVAC controls. What surprised me was just how urgent this motor is. On paper, that should come as no surprise. The V-Sport's 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6, making 410 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, is bound to pack a punch. You almost forget what that should feel like, though, until you put your right foot down. There's no lag, and despite the all-wheel drive, there's even a little torque steer. The lightness of the steering means it's no difficult task to account for it, though. Speaking of steering, I actually enjoyed bending this through tight corners. It's a breeze to saw the tiller back and forth, and the car communicates the interaction between the tires — especially up front — with the road. I'd like to take this Caddy to the track. Associate Editor Reese Counts: I liked this car way more than I thought I would. I was expecting a DTS or STS with a fresh face and a bit more punch. In a way, that's what this is, but I don't mean that as a knock. I don't need every car I drive to be able to put down hot laps. Sometimes I want something with soft seats (that massage!) and a big engine to get me home quickly.

Car subscription services: A slow, expensive start — but the potential is huge

Americans are used to paying for subscriptions — to magazines and cable television, for instance — but experience shows they'll cancel when the price of admission gets too high, or there are more tempting alternatives. Cord cutters ditched nearly 1.5 million pay-TV subscriptions in 2017, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group. Cable TV started out cheap with basic offerings, and then got expensive. The auto industry's subscription offerings are new, but they're starting out costly, and not price-competitive with traditional leasing. The upside is that they take the hassle out of car ownership for busy people by letting the service take care of maintenance, insurance, licensing and taxes. And they give consumers choice, often allowing relatively painless switches between different cars in the automakers' lineup. Subscription services also point the way toward an ownership-free auto experience, and offer an easy transition to a potential world where ride- and car-sharing will be dominant. Subscriptions are here to stay, but consumers may take a while to "get" them. Lincoln's subscription service for lightly used 2015 to 2017 models, offered through the Ford-owned Canvas beginning this year, got off to a slow start. Many early subscribers canceled. Last month, Cadillac announced it would " temporarily pause" its $1,800-per-month Book subscription service for "adjustments" as of December 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Snags with the back-end technology used to support the service made some customer-service functions tedious and time-consuming, adding costs for the company." The challenge for automakers is to come up with a strategy that offers consumers a compelling, affordable option to regular ownership, and one that can also make a profit. I think they'll find that sweet spot, but they're not there yet. Jack Nerad, former executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book and author of " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car," points out that "A lot of people expected that subscriptions would be very valuable for people who wanted inexpensive transportation, but the reality is quite the opposite. Subscriptions are offering more choices for the wealthy.

GM claims it's first to sell million 30+ mpg vehicles

As we continue to put together all the data for the year-end edition of By The Numbers, General Motors has announced that it sold more than a million vehicles in the US last year that achieved at least 30 miles per gallon on the highway. More impressively, GM managed this feat using multiple strategies including small vehicle size, turbocharged engines and hybrid or plug-in technologies across four brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC) accounting for 13 separate models. This number will grow even more in 2013 thanks to cars like the all-electric Spark, the diesel Cruze, the range-extended Cadillac ELR and the Buick Encore compact CUV.
GM's small car sales were up 39 percent last year helping to attain this million-sales mark for 30-mpg models, and almost 40 percent of all GM sales consisted of cars with fuel-efficient I4 engines. In regards to more advanced means of improving fuel economy, GM says that it plans on having 500,000 vehicles with "some form of electrification" on the road by 2017.
Scroll down for the full list of GM's million 30+ mpg cars as well as an informative press release.