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Three automotive tech trends to watch in 2018 and beyond

Every year, technology plays a bigger and bigger role in the auto industry. To put things in perspective, 10 years ago iPod integration and Bluetooth were cutting-edge in-car innovations, and smartphones and apps weren't yet a thing since the first iPhone was only about six months old. And I can't recall anyone talking about autonomous cars. Compare that to today, with mainstream coverage of the auto industry dominated by autonomous technology, along with electrification and almost every move made by Tesla. These three topics were the most significant trends of car tech in 2017 and I believe they will continue to shape the auto industry in 2018 and beyond. Let's examine them. Full Autonomy Gets Closer to Reality While there were many developments this year that indicate we're inching closer to fully autonomous vehicles, I was behind the wheel for hours to witness one of them. In October I had the chance to test Cadillac Super Cruise on a 700-mile, 11-hour drive from Dallas to Santa Fe – and had my hands on the wheel for maybe 45 minutes max throughout the entire trip. Super Cruise is far from making the Cadillac CT6 or any GM vehicle fully autonomous, and has limitations such as functioning only on pre-mapped main highways. While it simply adds a layer of lane centering to adaptive cruise control, the technology will go a long way in making mainstream drivers more comfortable with letting machines take over. On a separate front, GM is pushing ahead with fully autonomous vehicles and announced last month that it plans to launch of fleets of self-driving robo-taxis in several urban areas in 2019. While most automakers are also in the race to make autonomous cars a reality, GM's turbocharging of its efforts appeared to be in response to Waymo, which announced just weeks earlier that its Early Rider Program in the Phoenix area would go completely driverless. The Early Rider Program launched last April, offering the public a chance to ride in Waymo's autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans. In this new phase of testing, Waymo is using its own employees as guinea pigs instead of the public while the vehicles operate without a human behind the wheel, and takes another giant step forward for fully autonomous driving.

Cadillac prices new ATS-V from $61,460*

It's official, Art & Science students: Cadillac has opened the order books for the new ATS-V, and while it was at it, has told us how much we should expect to shell out for the privilege. Pricing starts at $61,460 for the 2016 Cadillac ATS-V sedan (*plus tax, title, license, dealer fees and any optional equipment). Go for the sleeker (but less practical) ATS-V coupe and you'll be looking at $63,660 (with the same conditions). For all that scratch, you'll be looking at a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 driving 455 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission, for a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 189 miles per hour. The ATS-V also features Brembo brakes, magnetorheological dampers, launch control and rev-matching with no-lift shifting. Cadillac has still yet to tell us how much gas its new performance model will guzzle, but it's got time before production gears up in the spring and the online configuration tool launches in April. Cadillac Opens Ordering for 2016 ATS-V Dual-purpose performance luxury compact designed for the track, touring 2015-02-10 DETROIT – Cadillac dealers have begun accepting orders for the 2016 ATS-V – the brand's inaugural luxury compact performance car starting production this spring. Available in sedan and coupe forms, the twin-turbocharged ATS-V offers a dual-purpose luxury performance experience: a car with true track capability straight from the factory with sophisticated road manners. Powered by the segment's highest-output six-cylinder engine – the Cadillac Twin Turbo rated at 455 horsepower (339 kW) and 445 lb-ft of torque (603 Nm) – the ATS-V achieves 0-60 performance in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 189 mph. The Cadillac Twin Turbo engine is backed by a six-speed manual – with Active Rev Match, no-lift shifting and launch control – or a paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission featuring launch control and Performance Algorithm Shift. "The V-Series is the ultimate expression of Cadillac's re-ignited product substance and the passion at the core of our brand," said Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac president. "The ATS-V expands the V-Series lineup, bringing a new kind of performance character to Cadillac. Lightweight, agile and potent, the ATS-V will make an ideal pairing with the larger and even more powerful all-new 2016 CTS-V midsize sedan, which arrives later this summer," he said.

Cadillac CT5 spied with quad exhaust, could signal a hotter version is coming

The 2020 Cadillac CT5 just broke cover at the NY Auto Show this year, but one of our spy shooters caught one decked out in camouflage looking a bit different than the versions we've already seen. Instead of the dual exhaust on both the turbocharged four-cylinder and twin-turbo V6, this one has a quad exhaust outlet. We'll note that the placement of the quad outlets is one and the same with the two larger outlets on the CT5 already revealed. Also, the rest of the car looks relatively ho-hum. It has the wheels from the CT5 Sport trim, and the front end appears to most closely represent the Luxury trim. Some of the coverings appear to be opened up on that front end, possibly in an attempt to increase airflow. The most obvious change of them all is the quad exhaust, though, which brings us back to a conversation we had with a Cadillac representative at the car's initial media launch. As we were standing around gawking at the new CT5 in Sport trim, a brand representative told us all the "Sport" models (four-cylinders and V6s) would be getting quad exhaust, while the "Luxury" trims would get dual exhaust. We pointed at the CT5 Sport right in front of us and noted that it just had a dual exhaust setup. This ended up causing more confusion, as the Cadillac representative was adamant that they had seen the CT5 Sport with quad exhaust. When all was said and done, there wasn't exactly a clear explanation given for what was up with this mysterious CT5 model with quad exhaust, so we left it at that. We can guess, though. Perhaps the Cadillac rep had seen a Sport model with quad exhaust, but it was a future "V-Sport" variant we weren't allowed to know of yet. Cadillac hasn't revealed its future plans for the CT5 fully, but it did hint that at least one performance variant would be on the way. This camo'd up car here does not look anything like a full-on V model, but it could be the beginnings of a slightly more powerful version of the sport sedan. The 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 makes 335 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Of course, there's always room for more power in this class, and a V-Sport model would slot in nicely to the new sedan's range. Keep in mind this all remains speculative in nature. However, our curious conversation with Cadillac combined with these spy shots signal that something could be afoot.