Looking at the 2011 Cadillac DTS
Some reports say that 2011 might be the final model year of the Cadillac DTS. In any case, not much has changes for this premium-large car. It has a front-wheel drive system.
The DTS comes in four trim levels, namely: the Base, Luxury, Premium, and Platinum trims, all of which run on 4.6 liter V8 engines along with an automatic 4-speed transmission. What varies between the four is the engine’s horsepower. For Base, Luxury, and Premium models, engines have 275 hp. Platinum models on the other hand run with 292 hp.
A complete set of safety features is available for the 2011 Cadillac DTS. There’s ABS, antiskid system, traction control, curtain-side airbags, and front-side airbags.
ABS stands for antilock brake system. As the name suggests, it’s a system that’s specially designed to keep the wheels from locking up when you hit the brakes. This is done by releasing whatever current pressure the brakes are applying on the wheel in question should the system detect any lock-ups.
Traction control ensures that the vehicle consistently has good traction, which is essential for efficient turns, acceleration, braking, and other vehicle maneuvers. Without traction the vehicle may lose its grip in certain driving conditions and this will lead to skidding – a potential cause of accidents.
Speaking of skidding, the antiskid system comes in handy when the vehicle loses its grip. It’s a system that detects skidding and then applied independent brakes with the help of the ABS so that the car does not stray away from its course too much.
Other features that are available include the lane-departure warning system and blind-spot alert. The lane-departure warning system alerts the driver if the vehicle is going out of its lane in order to effectively prevent accidents from occurring. The blind-spot alert informs the driver of any obstacle that is not within his or her view, especially when the vehicle is backing up. This keeps the vehicle from running into things that the driver’s limited vision cannot detect.
The availability of features like the heated rear seats, heated steering, suspensions, and navigations systems vary depending on the model. For instance, the heated steering and heated rear seats are standard features to all the trim levels except for the Base. Specific trims and a sports suspension is available for the Platinum models. Lastly, the navigation system is a standard feature only for the Premium and Platinum models.
According to a summary of expert ratings, the Premium models get a rating of 76, with the comfort factor for the front and rear seats being the aspect that’s rate the highest (9). This shows how comfortable the Premium models can be. The total score for the Premium-large Car rating is 74.8, also with emphasis on the comfort factor of the vehicle.
