When's the last time you drove a new sedan and thought, “This car feels 500 pounds lighter than it is”? A rare occurrence indeed in these days of dimensional creep, yet the Cadillac ATS 2.0L Turbo Premium evokes just such a reaction. Thanks to brilliant chassis tuning, the ATS dances through turns like a metallic Baryshnikov. It's the Caddy that zigs … for real this time.
Previous experience with an ATS 3.6 left us impressed with the platform's potential, but less enamored with the V6; what's a fine powerplant in the larger CTS somehow feels a generation behind bolted to the ATS, and the exhaust tuning yields a soundtrack more Cimarron than sports sedan.
Not so with the 2.0-liter turbocharged four: This little jewel transforms the ATS. Making 272 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque as low as 1,700 rpm, GM's boosted quad is powerful out of the gate and quick to wind up to redline—more importantly, it's light and set deep in the chassis for optimal weight distribution. Cadillac says the 3.6 model has better balance on paper, but seat-of-the-pants observations suggest the opposite.
Our ATS 2.0L Turbo was equipped with all-wheel drive, necessitating a six-speed automatic transmission. The ATS manual is only offered with rear-drive, and an autobox with additional ratios is unavailable. This is one area where the Cadillac powertrain suffers in the face of its direct German competitors, whose eight-speed automatic transmissions are better able to maintain torque delivery and keep their turbo fours in the least buzzy portion of their rev ranges.
Styling that at first glance seemed derivative has since proven itself better proportioned on the ATS than any previous Art & Science-era Cadillac. Our only wish is for some wheels that better fill the arches, though the aftermarket will undoubtedly comply.
What about the elephants in the garage? In this case, they're the the BMW 3-series and Audi A4. That Cadillac offers a true competitor to either is a victory in itself, and we think different breeds of sports-sedan buyers will gravitate to each. Pricing is comparable across the board—Cadillac has opted against discounting the ATS to avoid cheapening its image; the corollary is the risk of losing potential conquest customers who can't yet justify paying BMW money for a GM product.
Whether those buyers choose an ATS or not, it's a great time to be in the market for a sports sedan: The only consumer who loses will be the one who declines, on the basis of assumptions or past prejudices, to explore each alternative.
