2007 Leather Bench Seat Alloy Wheels 4.6l V8 32v Front-wheel Drive Sedan Onstar on 2040-cars

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Super Cruise’s failsafes

Even though Super Cruise is not a fully autonomous system, it incorporates redundancies like those used in aircraft to ensure failsafe operation. Before taking off on a 700-mile, 11-hour test drive of the system — and putting my life in its hands without my hands on the wheel — I sat down with Daryl Wilson, lead development engineer for Super Cruise, to get a deep dive into the system and its critical safety backups. Autoblog: First, what makes Super Cruise different from similar systems? Wilson: The key differentiator for Super Cruise is hand-free driving. It's an industry first in that respect. Our competitors require the driver at minimum to place their hands on the wheel with some frequency to ensure that the car knows that the driver is there. We don't. Two key technologies allow us to do this. One is our Driver Attention System, which is our methodology for making sure the driver is engaged with the vehicle and engaged with the road. This is a driver assist system, not a fully autonomous system. So it requires driver engagement. We use an infrared camera that constantly monitors the driver's face to determine the direction they're looking. We're looking for the driver to be what we call on-road — not on the center stack, not to left or right or down. That's all done by the tracking of the face. We also track that the eyes are open. It's infrared because at night you need to illuminate the face and you can't be shining a light into the driver's face. Then we have our lidar mapping that provides a foundation for control and redundancy to ensure safe performance. Autoblog: How does the mapping act as a redundant feature? Wilson: This system is only for use on divided, controlled access highways. What I mean by a divided highway is something more than a painted line between you and oncoming traffic. Whether that's a grassy area in between the lanes or a concrete barrier, anything that separates you from oncoming traffic. That's the divided highway part. The controlled access part is entrance ramps and exit ramps. Not with roads that cross at grade, with traffic crossing at the same level. To do that we geofenced these roads to ensure that operation is only allowed in these conditions. We don't just recommend you use it there; we ensure that you only use it there.

New Cadillac ELR ad more educational, less controversial than 'Poolside'

Cadillac's first TV commercial for its ELR plug-in hybrid, Poolside, was a smash hit, in that a lot of people saw and talked about it. The 60-second spot didn't say the car was a plug-in, took potshots at the work ethic of all non-Americans and has raked in over a million views on YouTube (you can add one more here). Caddy's new ELR video will get a lot less media attention, but that's exactly the point. Cadillac claims it was happy with the way actor Neil McDonough strutted his way into the controversial ELR discussion. This time around, though, the coupe gets promoted in a more traditional way: with information about the car and what it can do - you know, drive on electricity, capture braking energy into the battery, go further on gas power when needed, those kinds of things – courtesy of GM's executive chief engineer for electrified vehicles, Pam Fletcher. The tone of the video has not been changed because of the Poolside controversy. David Caldwell, manager of Cadillac communications, tells AutoblogGreen that the new video is not destined for TV and is completely different because it's meant for a different audience. "It doesn't have any direct relation to Poolside," he says. "TV advertising is not necessarily the heart of marketing something like the ELR. Notwithstanding the fact that we had a very thought-provoking ad [laughs]." "We definitely have a need to communicate what the ELR is" - Cadillac's David Caldwell The way you reach out to people via the web is different than the mass-media techniques used in spots like Poolside during big TV events (it aired during the Winter Olympics). The two video spots are different because you need to offer different information in different ways, for example having an ELR website as well as an iPad filled with ELR information at the dealership. For Cadillac, TV is "not going to be the predominant methodology," used to sell the ELR, Caldwell said, "the web is closer to what you need to do to reach people. We definitely have a need to communicate what the ELR is. It's not television advertising at all." Caldwell said a handful of other short videos similar to the new one will go live in the near future, showcasing design and powertrain aspects of the car. Keep an eye out for them – just don't look for them on TV. You can watch the new video below.

2020 Cadillac CT4 spied completely undisguised for the first time

A few weeks ago, Cadillac gave us our first look at its new small luxury sports sedan in the form of the CT4-V. This was a bit unusual considering the company hadn't shown us the regular one yet, and the reveal is still off in the not-too-distant future. But we were lucky enough to catch a normal 2020 Cadillac CT4 parked at a local gas station completely and totally undisguised. Based on what we know about other recent Cadillacs and their trim and design, this CT4 is probably a Luxury or Premium Luxury trim, since it has plenty of bright chrome and red taillights instead of dark gray ones. The differences from the CT4-V are subtle. The mesh grilles of the V are swapped for a main grille studded with small Cadillac badge shapes and the lower grille has simple slats. The little air intakes by the lower sections of the running lights are smaller than the ones on the V. This car also lacks the V's side skirts and wider canards on the edges of the front bumper. There doesn't appear to be a rear spoiler either. While we've had a good look at the exterior of the CT4, we'll have to wait until the car's full reveal later this year to know what's under the skin. We do know that it will continue to use the Alpha platform shared with the CT5, Camaro and the old ATS and CTS. We suspect the base engine will be the same 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 from the CT5, which makes 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Since the CT4-V uses a turbo 4-cylinder that makes 320 horsepower and 369 horsepower, there might not be a V6 option for the regular CT4. The CT5's twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 makes more power and torque, so that's out, and the old ATS's naturally aspirated V6 made 335 horsepower and 285 pound-feet of torque, which would be uncomfortably close the CT4-V's specs. But we could see a V6 of some sort in an even more potent V iteration of the CT4 later.