2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe 2.0T AWD Premium

Solid. Stylish. Squinched.

Those are the characteristics of the Cadillac ATS Coupe.

Two out of three ain’t bad.

The last first.

The backseat of the car is pretty much useful as a shelf, not as a seat. A really nice leather-clad shelf, mind you, but a shelf nonetheless. Even though the car is ostensibly a four-passenger car—there is a cupholder separating the two places on the rear seat—children would have a difficult time getting their feet and calves through the space that exists when the front seats are positioned for someone well short of six-feet. While some might quibble about the headroom that is a consequence of a coupe roofline in the back, let’s be serious: no one is going to sit back there. Ever. In if they should for some reason, that is going to be the first and last time.

Solid.

One of the things that is characteristic of German cars, by and large, is that they are generally engineered for the Autobahn. No, this doesn’t mean that they’re all built so that they can operate at speeds in excess of 200 kph. What it does mean is that they’re structurally capable of going faster, which means that there is nothing wishy-washy about the steering or the suspension.

You get behind the wheel of the ATS Coupe, grab the steering wheel—which has a nice diameter that means business—and when you start driving, particularly at a speed beyond 40 mph, you recognize that this car is engineered well, that there is substance there.

Don’t, however, confuse substance with ponderousness. This car is quick, not thick.

In fact, one of the things that the engineers did during development is to concentrate on mass efficiency. That means they used an engine with an aluminum block and head (well, it is worth noting that the car here has the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbo; there is a 3.6-liter V6 available, as well, and it too is all-aluminum). They used lots of aluminum in the suspension. And there is even the use of really light magnesium for the engine mount brackets.

(With the concentration on using light materials in the front, where a car tends to be the heaviest given that there is the engine up there and a trunk full of air in the back, the engineers managed to get a weight distribution for the ATS Coupe of 51% front, 49% rear. No mean feat, that.)

Stylish

The ATS Sedan came first. Then the Coupe. They both have a great resemblance, for obvious reasons. On the exterior, there is only one thing that the two have in common, which is the hood. (Obviously, the roof is longer, as are the doors, seeing as how there are two, not four. And the decklid is comparatively truncated, as well.)

One of the most stylish aspects of the ATS Coupe is something that you are unlikely to see unless (1) you deliberately look for it or (2) drive a lot at night. The vertical front lamps are absolutely striking. What is notable, and certainly a luxury cue, is that the car is available with illuminated door handles, so as you approach the car, keyfob in hand or pocket, then the front lamps turn on and the door handles, too. Nice.

Inside, there is the Cadillac cut-and-sewn interior. The company has managed to come up with an interior approach that is as distinctive as the creased sheet metal on its exterior (although speaking of the exterior creases, it should be observed that they’re becoming somewhat softer or more supple or something: you won’t cut yourself waxing the bodyside).

While the use of leather and wood in 21^st century conveyances that don’t have horses up front often seems somewhat anachronistic, the Kona brown leather and the open-pore wood actually work in the ATS Coupe. (However, a long-time owner of a Japanese-marque luxury car told me that she thought the wood was unappealing, but that probably has something to do with the lack of layers of lacquer, which is why I like it: If you’re going to use wood, then make it clear that it is wood.)

At this point there need be the now-obligatory criticism of the Cadillac CUE interface on the 8-inch color touch display. There are efforts underway among some people to save the manual transmission. The ATS has a six-speed automatic that you can tap through the gears via magnesium paddle shifters on either side of the steering wheel. I would suggest that there be an effort to save the knobs. (I was looking at Consumer Reports recent reliability listing and see that the Cadillac ATS with a turbo (probably the sedan version, but as these two cars are largely similar beneath the sheet metal skin, I’m going to extrapolate here) is on the “Least Reliable” list for luxury compacts, and I am going to guess that given CR points out that for all vehicles, “The area that largest growing number of complaints by far is infotainment systems and associated electronics” that the ATS may be dinged for CUE.)

Yes, I understand that the Apple iPad does not have knobs or buttons. I also understand that the iPad doesn’t have a 272-hp engine and all-wheel drive.

I didn’t drive the ATS Coupe on the Autobahn. I did drive it on Detroit’s I-696 which, as people in these parts know, is probably the closest thing to the Autobahn. Yes, there are speed limits on 696. There are also people behind the wheels of powerful cars who evidently can’t read numbers.

I think that were the car to be somewhere in southwest Germany it would do just fine.

Selected specs

Engine: 2.0-liter, turbocharged, direct-injected I4

Materials: Aluminum block and head

Horsepower: 272 @ 5,500 rpm

Torque: 295 @ 3,000 rpm

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Steering: ZF rack-mounted electric, power-assisted

Wheelbase: 109.3 in.

Length: 183.6 in.

Width: 72.5 in.

Height: 54.8 in.

Curb weight: 3,571 lb.

Seating capacity: 4

Passenger volume: 83.9-cu-ft.

Cargo volume: 10.4 cu-ft.

EPA: mpg city/highway/combined: 20/28/23 mpg