2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum AWD

While music is certainly associated with cars, I must admit that I’ve never had the experience of driving a Little Deuce Coupe, and while I’ve driven a red Corvette, I didn’t find it to be in the least bit little. That notwithstanding, when I approached the 2018 Cadillac CT6 a song suddenly popped into my mind, the 1964 Astrud Gilberto version of “The Girl from Ipanema,” which opens, Tall and tan and young and lovely/The girl from Ipanema goes walking/And when she passes, each one she passes goes ah.”

No, the car isn’t tall and the one I had was Satin Steel Metallic, not Copacabana Bronze. But what is most striking to me is how long the Cadillac appears, and as the CT6 has existed only since model year 2016, it is young, and in some regards lovely. As for whether or not anyone is going “ah” as the CT6 passes, know that it has a quiet, comfortable cabin so external extraneous noise is minimal at most and the 34 (!) speaker Bose Panaray audio system (which includes a speaker that rises up from the leather-clad instrument panel with a stately speed upon starting the car) takes care of what would be unpleasant to hear.

About the length. The CT6 is 204.10 inches long and 58 inches high, so when you look at it from the side view the proportions are such that this is long and comparatively low. But the car is not some sort of thing that you need to contort yourself into; it has a sizable passenger volume of 106 cubic-feet and a cargo capacity of 15.3 cubic-feet, so there is room for five people and their accoutrements (one might have used the word “stuff” but that would be déclassé under these circumstances; and having used a French term, it is worth noting that the name of the company comes from Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701, and that speaking of history, or pedigree, Cadillac has been producing cars since 1902, so there is heritage there for those who are interested in tradition when it comes to their luxury automobiles).

What is certainly surprising is that the car has a 3.0-liter V6 under its hood. Doesn’t something of that immensity require a V8 at the very least?

Not at all. Because that V6 is a twin turbo that happens to produce 404 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, so that is able to turn the wheels with alacrity. What’s more, the engineers who developed the CT6 have made very clever choices when it has come where and how to deploy mass such that comparatively speaking, even with all of that leather and electronics and whatnot that are part and parcel of the sedan, it has a curb weight of just 4,085 pounds, so there is plenty of power to move the car along smartly.

As for the exterior design of the car—well, this is where I don’t go all in on the “lovely” part of the metaphor because in some regards there seems to be two CT6s in one, with the front end having the LED headlamps with strong angular lines and the rear end being significantly softer. Consequently, it seems to be a different car depending on where you look.

Speaking of looking, it is worth pointing out that the CT6 is available (standard on this Platinum trim) with the Super Cruise system, which is a hands-free driver assistance system: get on a limited-access freeway and engage the system and you get not only the functionality of automatic cruise control (i.e., the vehicle automatically decelerates should a car ahead slow) but also what could be considered automatic steering control, as the car is capable of making steering wheel adjustments as required. However, there is a camera mounted on the steering wheel column that is “looking” at the driver’s eyes and should the driver be doing something other than paying attention to the road ahead, the Super Cruise system will alert the driver that attention must be paid, and if that doesn’t happen, then there will be disengagement: the CT6 isn’t a self-driving car but one that relieves some of the demands of driving. Just like a luxury car should.

It is worth noting that the MSRP for the CT6 Platinum AWD is $88,295, but given the long list of standard items—ranging from heated rear outboard seats to a surround vision recorder and lots in between—the money is not outside the bounds of what one would expect to get the array.