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2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe preview drive (photos)

Cadillac's CTS sedan proved such a success that the company is creating variants. The CTS Sport Wagon has already been released, and later this year the Coupe version comes out. Cadillac invited us for a preview drive of the new CTS Coupe in the sunny hills of Northern California.

Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
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Cadillac is getting a lot of mileage out of its CTS model. The car originally launched as a sedan, after which Cadillac released a wagon version. The Coupe version represents a radical exterior style. Along with the standard body types, Cadillac is also releasing high-performance V versions.
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The CTS Coupe cuts a different stance from its sedan sibling, with 2 inches shaved off length and height; the track has been increased 2 inches for greater cornering stability.
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Similar to the CTS sedan, the Coupe gets vertical light pipes in the head casings to serve as markers at night.
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The rear pillar of the Coupe is very wide, which Cadillac says increases the car's rigidity.
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These door handles are a nice design touch. An electronic pad underneath the skin opens the door.
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This angular style, what Cadillac calls Art and Science design language, sets the CTS Coupe apart from other cars on the road.
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Unlike the sedan, the Coupe's tailpipes are set in the center of the bumper, and have trapezoidal tips to complement the general styling of the car.
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The long back glass dictated a small trunk opening, so Cadillac fitted the lid with long arms.
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Top-stitched leather covers the dashboard, and wood trim elements run through the doors, giving the CTS Coupe a luxury treatment worthy of Cadillac.
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With the Coupe body, the rear seating area became more compact. Cadillac lowered the seat bottoms to ensure head room for rear seat passengers.
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Because of the low roof-line, the rear windows are small triangles of visibility.
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The steering felt a little lifeless during hard cornering, as Cadillac engineers leaned toward a luxury feel in the tuning.
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The LCD motors up vertically out of the dashboard. In its recessed position, it serves as an audio display on the exposed strip of screen.
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Cadillac uses a Full Speed iPod connection, which separates the cable into USB and audio jacks.
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The onscreen interface is very usable for audio options, and attractively designed.
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The navigation system's maps, stored on the car's hard drive, are easy to read and show useful route guidance information. We particularly like the traffic data.

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