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2005 Cadillac Winter Drive: Won't Catch Caddy Slippin'
I landed in Steamboats Springs, Colorado ready for a wild ride -- slippin’ and slidin’ on a snow
track designed to test the extreme weather capabilities of today’s vehicles. Depending on the time of year, the terrain
is either a warm weather off-road site for cars, trucks, and dirt bikes, or snowy and frozen like the day I attended. The setting was
perfect with a track that was worn by previous drivers and watered down again to create a thin layer of ice. The last ingredient
was a consistent snowfall which created light powder -- a final touch that had the driving instructors salivating. The outcome
was a memorable day driving the Cadillac STS (RWD/AWD), SRX utility, XLR roadster and the CTS sedan.
The mission was for Caddy to showcase its rear-wheel-drive (RWD) and all-wheel drive (AWD) system technologies.
Cadillac first began using traction control on the 1990 Allante convertible -- 15 years later and the 2005 STS is the first
Cadillac car with AWD. How so? Cadillac took its time joining the masses in realizing that a RWD performance car is far more
desirable than front-wheel-drive (FWD). Finally, the GM luxury brand signed its shoe endorsement deal and is ready to hit the
court gunnin. Traditionally, most believe FWD is better in the snow because of greater traction and its lack of dreaded rear
wheel spins. Now with GM’s technology, a RWD car can perform just as well as FWD. To meet the task at hand, the new GM
kids on the block have StabiliTrak stability control, Side Slip Control which counters skidding during cornering, Magnetic Ride
Control, a suspension damping system, Electronic Traction Control (ETC), and all-season tire enhancements.
  
For testing, I started out first with the STS AWD. I went around the course with the systems on and was able to
navigate the icy course with relative ease at normal snow driving speeds. Every two laps around we turned off StabiliTrak and then
the traction control to experience the difference. Accordingly, the vehicles lost grip with the systems turned off.
Up until the last several laps of the day, a pit stop was needed to change the tires from all-season radials we
were riding on to true winter tires. From the SRX, to the CTS, to the surprisingly sure footed XLR, they all handled themselves
like gentlemen in the snow. The GM safety systems performed like they wore chains on the tires, minus the rough ride. The advanced
chassis control technologies along with the other GM performance enhancements give the new Cadillac breed the security needed for
dry surfaces or adverse road conditions.
The very last segment of the day was saved for the instructors. They took me around the course drifting at high
speeds, though staying in control the whole time. It was a sight if you can feel me! I was drifting in a Cadillac STS and SRX in
the mountains of Colorado for a few hours in the snow. Picture that!
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