1993 Cadillac Allante Base Convertible 2-door 4.6l on 2040-cars

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Cadillac prepares to top its own 'Ring record with upcoming new CTS-V

It was a big deal back in 2008 when the original Cadillac CTS-V clocked a lap time of 7:59 at the Nürburgring, making it the fastest sedan ever to lap the Nordschleife to that date. Not many four-doors have bested that time since - the list consisting pretty much only of the Porsche Panamera Turbo - but now hot hatches are lapping faster than that, so you can bet that the new one will manage an even better time.
Now we've spotted the upcoming new CTS-based performance sedan several times before undergoing testing in locations around the world, but this is the first time we've seen it at the Nürburgring, apparently using the Goodyear Dunlop test facility as its base of operations (and still wearing Michigan manufacturer plates, incidentally). Considering how well the outgoing CTS-V performed and how much further you can bet Cadillac will push the envelop this time around, a new sedan lap record is almost a certainty - and we can only hope for an all-out war between Europe's performance sedan power houses to ensue.

Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

2021 Cadillac Escalade will get next-gen Super Cruise with auto lane-change

Super Cruise is getting its first big update since it was originally launched on the 2018 CT6 sedan. As that large car fades away, this new version of Super Cruise will be coming online in the 2021 CT5, CT4 and … the 2021 Escalade! Yes, ladies and gents, Cadillac is finally applying its advanced driver assistant to the iconic Escalade. The biggest change to this version of Super Cruise is a new feature called “Lane Change on Demand.” When Super Cruise is engaged, the driver can tap the turn stalk, and the car will execute a hands-free lane change if itÂ’s safe to do so. This kind of lane-change functionality is similar to that offered by other manufacturers' systems (i.e. Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, BMW). However, like the rest of Super Cruise, the car is able to complete the task with the driverÂ’s hands completely off the steering wheel so long as the driver monitor can tell that youÂ’re paying attention. Further improvements abound. “This is our most extensive update weÂ’ve made to Super Cruise since its debut,” said Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer. “We have made a number of improvements to make Super Cruise more intuitive, better performing and more accessible for our customers. In addition to the automated lane change functionality, weÂ’ve made improvements to the user interface and hands-free driving dynamics.” Cadillac says that it has gathered richer map information to make the lane change function possible and also to make turns and highway interchanges smoother. The software was also improved with the aim of gaining “better steering and speed control.” Cadillac also made the system easier to engage. It did this by allowing the operator to switch the Super Cruise system on, and then get the vehicle in a proper lane position — it automatically activates once the vehicle is positioned. Previously, the driver had to get the vehicle centered in the lane properly, and then you were allowed to switch the system on. The auto lane changing function operates similarly to other systems like it. When driving, you can either tap or fully depress the turn signal stalk. The car then looks for an acceptable opening in the indicated lane. Once found, the car begins its lane change. Within the gauge cluster, there are animations that keep the driver apprised of the lane change at all times. Once the vehicle has moved into the new lane, itÂ’ll shut the turn signal off and continue driving along.