West Brother's Top 5 Sport Sedans of All Time

For as long as our blog has been around, I can't believe we've never done a Top 5 or Top 10 listing. Why not start now? Let's begin with a vehicle class near and dear to my heart: the luxury sport sedan. My brother and I have driven quite a few sport sedans over the years, and have both owned at least one in our driving careers. So what are my top five luxury sport sedans?

Let's start by first defining what I classify as a sport sedan. Of course we have the classic definition of a sedan: four doors, standard trunk. The vehicle should have some kind of upgraded engine, suspension components, and anything that makes it capable of hanging with dedicated sports cars in a similar price range. This doesn't mean I'm going to be writing a list full of cars like the M3 or the CTS-V. I classify those cars as Super Sedans; a sedan that will decimate most sports cars of equal price. Plus, I've driven less than five super sedans so far, so that wouldn't make for much of a list. What do you say we get started?


#5 - Infiniti G37S

Back when I was in college, the Infiniti G37S was THE sport sedan to have. The second generation of Infiniti's G sedan was also my first real foray into sport sedans. Having not had much experience with sport sedans at that time, I went purely off looks and power figures. Sleek and stylish looks along with its 3.7 liter VQ37 V6 making 330 horsepower made it the car that I wanted right out of college. When I finally graduated back in 2008 and entered the workforce, I made it a point to go and take a look at the car that all my college buddies raved about.

I will say that the looks, power, and performance was exactly what everyone had talked about. This thing was quick and it looked the part too. But despite its fast looks and matching performance, the interior left quite a bit to be desired. This was supposed to be an Infiniti; Nissan's luxury and performance arm. What happened to the luxury part of the equation? Sadly, 12 years and a naming scheme later, it appears Infiniti still can't really handle the luxury part of what Nissan wants it to be (you can read my first post of our long term Infiniti QX50 here to see what I mean).

#4 - Cadillac CTS V-Sport

This car isn't what some of you think it is. It is definitely not to be confused with the Corvette powered CTS-V. That thing is what I define as a super sedan, and feels like you're driving a freaking sledge hammer (in a good way). This is one (big) step down from the CTS-V. It's essentially the equivalent of BMW's M-Sport line or Lexus' F-Sport line, just with added performance instead of a bunch of lame cosmetic stuff.

I got a chance to test drive the CTS V-Sport back in 2016 during the LA Auto Show. I was lucky enough to get into the car early in the morning so I didn't have to worry about the horrors of Downtown Los Angeles traffic. Aside from being one of the absolute best looking sport sedans on the market at the time, the CTS V-Sport had the grunt to go with it. Powered by a 3.6 liter twin-turbo V6 making 420 horsepower, this thing could absolutely haul ass. Magnetic shocks meant if you needed the car to handle, it could do it, but if you needed it to be comfortable, it could do that too. And the best part? Unlike the CTS-V super sedan, which definitely tries its hardest to look the part, the CTS V-Sport was far more subtle in its looks. This was a definite sleeper. The phrase, "not your granddaddy's Caddy" definitely comes to mind.

Unfortunately, and this was an issue across Cadillac's entire lineup at the time, the interior was...not great. Yes, it basically suffered the same issue was the G37S above, but unlike Infiniti, Cadillac knew what its brand identity (or at least what it wanted to be) was. It made no qualms about being available at car rental lots across America. So despite having an interior that left much to be desired, I still have to rank this car above the Infiniti simply just because Cadillac understands where it is in the market.

#3 - Alfa Romeo Giulia 

I honestly never though I would ever get to drive anything Italian in America that wasn't a Fiat. Getting the opportunity to drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini is unlikely given I'm not a member of the automotive press, and I don't know anyone that owns one. I did get the chance to test drive the Maserati Ghibli at some point, but I was very unimpressed. Enter Alfa Romeo. Alfa's first two cars in the US market were the 8C super car and 4C sports car, both of which were basically out of my reach. In an effort to win the US market back, Alfa decided to launch itself into the compact luxury sport sedan market. Boy was it quite the interesting effort.

The Giulia, by and far, is THE best sport sedan I have driven to date. Fast, responsive 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder, incredible handling, and looks to die for. Even the interior, while not great, was still better than what some other luxury manufacturers were working with. So why, despite calling it the best sport sedan I've driven, is it not in the number one spot? Reliability. There's an old joke among car enthusiasts that unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo, you aren't a true enthusiast. This is because Alfa Romeos are notorious for breaking down and just having issues. It's probably one of the reasons why the company left the American market the first time. With its re-introduction to the American market, you'd think that Alfa would work on the reliability. If you did think that, you're oh so very wrong. I guess being unreliable is just an Italian automobile trait because the Giulia, despite the heaps of praise from automotive press, just keeps falling apart. Reports of car after car after car going into dealers for warranty repairs, automotive press having cars simply stop running during testing, all were bringing back bad memories of the Alfa of old. The most notable breakdown occurred when an automotive magazine, I forget which one, was testing the high performance Giulia Quadrifoglio against the BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG. Early into the track test, the Giulia just straight up stopped working and went into limp mode. If I remember correctly, Alfa sent a replacement car and even the replacement gave up at some point. The BMW and Mercedes performed all the tests flawlessly.

As I said in my review of the Giulia, I love the way the car performs and looks, and if money were no object, I'd get a Giulia. The problem though is that I'd much rather have a car that I can actually drive instead of one that will spend most of its life sitting in a dealer service bay waiting to have warranty repairs performed. 

#2 - Acura TL Type-S

We're definitely a bit Honda biased here, and I recognize it. So you thought a Honda or Acura would be in first place, right? Well you thought wrong! But that's not to see the third generation Acura TL Type-S is bad. Oh no, in fact, it's a fantastic car. Just that something else was a little bit more fantastic.

In 2008, both East Brother and I actually had TL Type-S'. His was a silver one with the six-speed manual, and mine was a white one with the five-speed auto. The third gen TL Type-S was an absolute fantastic looking car, was extremely quick, and handled like a dream, all despite being front-wheel drive. 286 horsepower (though rumor had it that it was probably closer to 300) from a 3.5 liter V6 being routed solely to the front wheels would usually spell trouble. Yet some how, the TL Type-S could keep up with the best in its class. I remember from an old Road & Track article comparing the TL Type-S against the Lexus IS350 and Infiniti G35S, the TL wasn't the fastest on paper, but actually beat both the Lexus and the Infiniti on track. Even the Drift King himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya, test drove the TL as was incredibly impressed.

In short, the third gen TL Type-S is an absolute amazing car. If I could find one with a six-speed manual today, I'd probably try and buy it. There is, however, one sport sedan that left a bigger impression on me...

#1 - Volvo S60 T6 R-Design

...and yes, it's a Volvo. Back in 2016, East Brother and I attended an event held by the Rusnak Auto Group that featured performance cars from all of the luxury brands in its dealer group. In the sport sedan segment, there was one car that not a lot of people touched, purely because of its badge. In a group with other makes like BMW, Maserati, and Porsche, most non-enthusiasts probably wouldn't even bat an eyelash at the Volvo. Boy were these people missing out. In the sport sedan group, the S60 T6 R-Design was easily the best handling, the best looking, and the quickest of the group. Around the short test track setup by the event organizers, the Volvo hauled ass. Its 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-six didn't make the most power, but its AWD system definitely utilized its power the best. To this day, I still remember how big the grin on my face was after getting out of that car.

The funny thing is, I still want a Volvo. I've always been a big fan of the V60 Polestar, and despite lacking a manual transmission, would still love to get my hands on one. There's just something about having a fast wagon that could blow the doors off of a lot of sports cars that really gets me going.

And these are my Top 5 Sport Sedans of all time. My brother may have a different list of his own, so don't take this list as our joint opinion. Let me know what your top five sport sedans of all time are in the comments below!

Looking Back at 2017

2017 has admittedly been a somewhat slow year for us. With lots going on in our personal lives, it's been hard to post regularly. Still, 2017 was still an eventful year for us in automotive terms. As East Brother is currently on vacation, I will share some of my favorite automotive moments from 2017.

Cadillac Truth + Dare 

Earlier this year, East Brother and I attended an event put on by Cadillac called the "Truth + Dare" driving event. It was an event put on to highlight some of the technological and performance aspects of Cadillac's newest crop of vehicles. This wasn't something we covered here on the blog, but ended up on our own personal Instagram accounts instead. Still, despite the coverage, we had a blast at the event. The highlights being getting to floor both an ATS-V and CTS-V down a 1/8 mile course, and getting to flog some cars through a small autocross course.

Instagram

Speaking of Instagram, we finally have an Instagram account! I know, it only took us a few years to hop on the bandwagon. You can find us @eastwestbrothers.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

2017 marked the year Alfa Romeo was serious about returning to the mainstream American auto market with the Giulia mid-size luxury/sport sedan. East Brother and I managed to snag a test drive a few months after it hit the market at our local Rusnak Fiat/Maserati/Alfa Romeo dealership. While we both walked away impressed with how the car drove and looked, the interior was well below our expectations of a car costing north of $50k (as equipped). Of course, there was also Alfa's "legendary" reliability issues constantly nagging us in the back of our minds. 

A few months ago though, I had noticed that the dealer had vanished. Considering that at the time of testing, the Giulia was probably only doing about 2,000 units per month, it was really no surprise that Rusnak decided to abandon ship. It's a fantastic car, and I really want to like it and recommend it to people, but the reliability issue and company longevity issue really makes it hard to like and recommend. Damn shame too because it's such a fantastic driving and gorgeous looking car. 

East Brother's Chevy Bolt

East Brother acquired a new vehicle this year with a new Chevy Bolt EV. I was never a huge fan of his Ford Focus EV, but the Bolt, despite looking funny, impressed me with its performance and level of technology. Funny how we now have two cars in our fleet in a shade of  "pull me over" blue. I think we've agreed to stick with the theme and possibly get our next car in a similar shade of blue.

Vehicle Retirements

2017 also marks the year we sent two of our long term cars back to their respective manufacturers: our 2014 Acura RLX and 2014 Ford Focus EV. You can read about our respective final thoughts on both of these vehicles here and here.   

I hope that 2018 proves to be an even more exciting year for us. 

Stay safe everyone, and Happy New Year!

Editorial: How Hard is it For a Brand to Change Its Image?

Once a company establishes an image with consumers, it tends to stick. Car manufacturers all have different images associated with them. For example, Toyota has been known for building reasonably priced, reliable, but boring vehicles. Volvo is known as a lead innovator in automotive safety technologies. Subaru is often regarded as the manufacturer for enthusiasts. However, not all manufacturers have had the good fortune of having a positive image attached to their name. How difficult is it for a manufacturer to shed their image?

Image courtesy of Logopedia

This question comes to mind because of a certain vehicle I encountered on the way to work one morning. That vehicle was the Cadillac CTS V-Sport, which is one step down from the full on CTS-V. Even though it is not powered by a rip-roaring supercharged V8, it is certainly no slouch. With a twin turbo V6 under its hood pumping 420 horsepower to its rear wheels, it is definitely not slow. This particular CTS V-Sport had a certain flair though. On its hindquarters was a D3 badge. For those unfamiliar with the name, D3 is a noted Cadillac tuner, known specifically for working on Cadillac's "V" line of cars. If the badge was any indication, it meant that this CTS V-Sport must have had some work done to it. As I pulled up next to it, I expected to maybe find a man in their 30s, possibly 40s, face adorned with aviator sunglasses. Instead, I found a man who was at least in his 60s, hunched over the steering wheel, looking like he was struggling to drive the car. The first thought that came to my mind was, "is all that effort Cadillac is putting into re-branding itself not working?"

Comparison: Mid-Size Luxury Mayhem

Over the past few weeks, we have looked at a total of seven different mid-size luxury sedans. Our criteria for these sedans were that they needed to be two-wheel drive (primarily for fuel economy purposes), have no more than 250 horsepower, and should have equipment similar to a Honda Accord Touring (leather, navigation, LED or HID headlights, back-up camera, etc.). Pretty much every luxury car manufacturer has a mid-size vehicle that fits this criteria, but we chose these seven as they are often considered to be the most popular in this segment. Seven enter, but only one will emerge the victor.

Click below to read each vehicle's individual review:

Acura TLX 2.4 Tech
Audi A4 2.0T FWD Multitronic
BMW 328i
Cadillac ATS 2.5
Lexus IS250
Mercedes Benz C300
Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E

Test Drive: 2015 Cadillac ATS 2.5

MSRP: $33,215
As Tested Price: $41,200

Avid readers of our blog will remember that the Cadillac ATS is another vehicle that we have test driven in the past. That one was equipped with Cadillac's then all-new 2.0 liter turbocharged inline-four cylinder engine. This time around though, we wanted to find out how well the ATS' base engine, a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated inline-four would perform in this car. During our first time around, both East Brother and I thought that the ATS was a decent vehicle that needed some polish before we felt it could really compete in the mid-sized luxury big leagues. With three model years under its belt, has Cadillac managed to finesse the ATS enough for it to go head-to-head with the likes of mid-sized players from BMW and Mercedes Benz?

Events: 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show

2014 marks the first year in a while that East Brother and I were able to attend the Los Angeles Auto Show together. With two people at the show, we were able to cover much more of the cars and test drives that I ever was able to do on my own. We arrived at 9am, right as the doors opened. East Brother went in to cover the new cars while I started on the various test drive events. Here are some highlights from this year's Los Angeles Auto Show.

Events: 2014 North American International Auto Show

Though I was not able to attend the North American International Auto Show in person, I did try to keep up with some of the debuts as they were happening. We have already posted a full article about our thoughts on the 2015 Acura TLX prototype, but here are some of the other cars I found to be interesting.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 

C6 ZR1 beating performance in a Z06? Yes please! It seems like the Chevrolet engineers behind the all new C7 Z06 made it their goal to beat the C6 ZR1 in power, handling, and Nürburgring lap times. While we wait for the automotive press to get their hands on this car and prove Chevrolet's claims, this certainly bodes well for the C7 ZR1. The C6 ZR1 was already considered a beast with the capability to hang with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini at 1/3 the cost. If the C7 Z06 is capable of beating the C6 ZR1, one can only imagine what Chevrolet has up their sleeves for the C7 ZR1.

Porsche 911 Targa4

I like targa tops. The idea of having the open air benefits of a convertible but with a solid rear windshield and pillars, and a removable hard top that can be stored in the car without complicated motors has always seemed cool to me. The last generation of the 911 Targa amounted to little more than a giant sunroof, but Porsche has taken the Targa to a whole new level with this all new automatic targa top. From what I saw, it looks like the entire rear hatch lifts up, and the targa top slides into the back of the car in one of the most complex mechanical dances seen yet in the pursuit of open-air motoring. Sure, it could be more expensive thing to fix if something goes wrong, but it is still pretty cool to watch.

Toyota FT-1 Concept

Rumors have been swirling around for some time now, that Toyota has been working on a successor to the much loved Supra. Naturally, many people are expecting the FT-1 concept to be the next Supra. Honestly, I would be pretty excited if the FT-1 did come to fruition as a Supra in some way, shape, or form. It is definitely one wicked looking car. It is also nice to know that Toyota is really starting to get back to their sports car roots, starting of course with the already on sale Scion FR-S. Maybe now people will remember that Toyota actually had some excellent sports cars back in the day, and is not the sad, road appliance building company they are today.

2015 Hyundai Genesis

My brother and I really liked the first generation Genesis. Sure, it had its share of problems, and probably did not sell quite as well as many Hyundai fans would have wanted it to. Nonetheless, the fact that Hyundai was able to build a sedan and coupe that could actually compete on some level with established luxury heavyweights was no easy feat. This second generation Genesis looks to be even more promising. Personally, I am not a fan of the front end of the car, but the rest of it looks quite nice. Still, the one major obstacle Hyundai needs to overcome, with both the Genesis and Equus, is to get buyers to get over spending luxury car money on a Hyundai.

Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept

OK, I admit that I do not know much about this car. The reason why it made it on to this list was because of all the hype surrounding it. While watching our Twitter feed, it seemed every other post was about this car. After doing some digging around, I found a lot of hearsay about how this car will probably end up being the next TT Coupe. Obviously, the TT will not have the same ride height, hatchback, roof rails, and grey paint stripe as this concept. If you remove those elements though, and replace the hatchback with a more traditional coupe form factor, I think I can see it as the new TT. The Shooting Brake here has a hybrid drivetrain, but will most likely end up with more conventional gasoline and diesel options in TT form. While this concept certainly looks pretty neat, I am still not totally sure what all the hype was about. Maybe someone can fill me in?

2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe

The Cadillac ATS coupe may not seem all that exciting at first. When you consider how well the ATS sedan has done against its German rivals though, the introduction of a coupe version of the ATS does become a lot more exciting. My brother and I have both test driven the ATS sedan, and while it could use some work, it still does a pretty decent job against its primary rival, the BMW 3-Series. It is pretty obvious that Cadillac designed the ATS coupe to compete with the new BMW 4-Series, and I hope that it puts up a good fight. Also, have you noticed that Cadillac has changed their badge?

2015 Subaru WRX STI

Admittedly, I am a sucker for the Subaru WRX. I claimed it as champion in our hot hatchback comparison, and was heavily considering one when I was looking for a car. With Subaru already getting plenty of praise for the standard WRX, which made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November last year, Subaru decided to up the ante with the STI version. Though the engine is seemingly a carry over from the previous model, there is plenty of new electronic wizardry under the hood to make the new WRX STI faster. This car does make me wonder if Mitsubishi has something up their sleeves for the next Lancer Evolution.

Real Time Racing Acura TLX GT

This will be the car that Peter Cunningham of Real Time Racing will be campaigning with in the Pirelli World Championship GT class, racing against cars like the Audi R8 LMS, Chevrolet Corvette, SRT Viper, and Nissan GT-R. What makes this car stand out to me is what is going on under the hood. The TLX GT is still powered by the same 3.5 liter V6 that powers the road going version of the TLX, but with two turbochargers strapped to it. Yes, you read correctly: two turbos. This is exciting because it brings about the possibility of Acura de-tuning the engine for possible street use. A TLX with the ability to compete against the BMW M3, Mercedes C63 AMG and Audi RS4? Sure, why heck not!

2015 Honda Fit 

My fiancee's Honda Fit Sport is a car that I drive on a fairly regular basis, so when Honda announced that the 2015 Fit would be revealed at the NAIAS this year, I was curious what changes they would make. The 2015 Fit looks like it retains the same general shape as the current Fit, but looks a bit more sleek and sporty. In our drawing board feature about a possible Fit Si, I wrote that I had hoped for the next generation US market Fit to take on the look of the Japanese RS version. While it seems my wishes were not fully realized, it does look like Honda decided to at least use the wheels from the Fit RS, which give it a sporty flair. Horsepower has been bumped up to 130 hp, and torque up to 114 lb./ft. with your choice of 6-speed manual or CVT. The 2015 Fit is roughly 1.6 inches shorter than the current one, but passenger volume has been increased by 4.9 cu.ft. MPG figures are expected to far surpass the current Fit. This will also be the first car to be manufactured at Honda's new Celaya, Mexico plant.

For more coverage of the North American International Auto Show, please visit the official website.
http://www.naias.com/

Test Drive: 2014 Cadillac CTS AWD V6 Luxury

To say that the CTS is an important car for Cadillac is a bit of an understatement. The last generation CTS became the bread and butter car in Cadillac's line-up and was one of the early signs of a struggle for life from a then disintegrating GM. This 3rd generation car needed to do a number of things for Cadillac: one, grow the CTS to properly compete with the BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-class; two, continue to expand and improve Cadillac's reputation for performance as established by the recently introduced ATS; three, demonstrate that Cadillac has been listening to its customers and fix the issues of the previous generation cars. With its recent string of successes in the form of the ATS, Impala, and Corvette, GM approached the redesign with great care and what has resulted is honestly a genuine piece of art. But as good as it looks, can it really go toe-to-toe with the established German competitors?

Test Drive: 2014 Chevrolet Impala 2LT

The Impala, once a fabled muscle car in Chevrolet's line-up, and available in SS trim with all of the performance goodies, was relegated during its last two generations of existence to a totally substandard front wheel drive platform that mostly saw duty as taxi cabs, police cruisers, and rental cars. It was much despised for its sloppy handling and packed about as much power as a lawn mower. Without even exaggerating, it was very likely one of the worst cars on the market. Chevrolet made an effort to spice things up a bit by shoehorning a 5.3L V8 motor, but it was woefully under-powered, offering about as much performance as the V6 of most competitors, and made the terrible handing land barge even more of a handful to get around a corner. Thankfully, that version proved so unpopular that GM promptly axed it, although not before having done a nice job of tarnishing the SS brand.

When it came time to develop the all new 10th generation Impala, GM smartly went back to the drawing board and started over from scratch. They used a brand new platform, the Epsilon II that is shared with the all new Cadillac XTS, and did a clean-sheet redesign that incorporated the newest design cues from the brands recent resurgence. Under the hood, they added a slightly de-tuned version of the 3.6L direct-injection V6 motor from the Camaro and ATS and spent considerable time reworking the suspension to make the car feel more premium. Inside, the old interior was thrown out entirely and a whole new design was penned around the MyLink infotainment system, ensuing that all cars now have a 4.2-inch touchscreen display as the focal point of their dash.

However, is all of this effort enough to push out the lingering impression of the rental car specials of the last two generations? Has GM done so much damage to the reputation of this storied nameplate that it cannot recover from its terrible mediocrity?

Events: Herb Chambers Cars and Coffee October 2013

Back in May, I attended my first Cars and Coffee in the Boston area. While the official Cars and Coffee event at the Larz Anderson Automotive Museum is a great setting, its location within the residential neighborhoods of Boston makes it a much quieter affair than the raucous party that is typical of the Cars and Coffee crowd. Luckily, one of the local dealership chains holds its own series of Cars and Coffee events, set at various dealership properties throughout the Greater Boston area. I attended the last one of the 2013 season, located at Herb Chambers Lexus in Sharon, MA, just outside of Boston. The crowd was quite sizable and because of its location in a primarily commercial part of town, it was possible for gathered crowd to cheer on the drivers as they gave us a show upon departing the event.

Click past the jump to access the photo gallery and to see select photos and videos from the event.

Editorial: Does Honda need to find their Bob Lutz?

Image courtesy of Acura.com

Honda has lost its soul.

As a long-time owner of Honda and Acura vehicles, it brings me no pleasure to have to point this out, but as an enthusiast, I feel it is my duty to do just that. Nothing that either brand has introduced of late inspires much enthusiasm and the upcoming 2015 NSX has yet to hit dealerships, so I am not counting that chicken until it hatches. After all, we all saw what happened with the vaporware that was the last supposed NSX successor. In fact, the rest of the automotive market does not seem the least worried by the 2015 Acura NSX, prompting Audi to start a Twitter war with Acura and calling the 2015 NSX vaporware just like its V10 powered predecessor. And even if it does materialize, that still only leaves a single car with any serious performance profile in the entire line-up, which is nothing to be proud of.

Looking back through Honda's history, there have almost always been a number of more performance oriented models in their line-up, either in the form of nearly race-spec versions of conventional models, a la the Integra Type-R, or dedicated models such as the S2000 and Honda Prelude. Light weight, sharp handling, and an engaging driving experience were characteristics that spread to all models and the company's racing lineage shone through in the continued use of double-wishbone suspensions front and rear to provide chassis dynamics that were exceptional. However, as the years went on, the Prelude and all Type-R models disappeared from the American market, the Integra was replaced with a strut suspension based RSX, and both the S2000 and NSX were allowed to fade away without successors. Now, we are left with only a very mediocre Civic Si to carry on the Honda performance car banner in North America, with the rest of the global market having absolutely nothing performance oriented coming out of Honda's factories.

Test Drive: 2013 BMW 328i vs 2013 Cadillac ATS 2.0L

Cadillac came out swinging this time. Their new ATS sedan is aimed squarely at the venerable BMW 3-Series with dimensions that are nearly identical, a drivetrain that is nearly identical in specs, and interior volume measurements so close, you would think they were the same car inside. But can the the new guy really take on the reigning champ? Heck, can the new guy even land a solid enough blow to leave a mark? We have done individual reviews of the ATS and 328i, but we wanted to take a closer look at how these two remarkable cars stack up against each other. When we drove them, we had the chance to actually drive them back to back and get very direct comparisons between them.

Editorial: Tumultuous Love Affair with the American Car

A matter of years ago, the US automotive industry was on the brink of implosion - sales to consumers had shrunk to dangerous levels, GM shuttered many of its historic brands in an effort to consolidate, and the foreign automakers were fast on the rise; eating everyone's lunch along the way. But earlier this year the revival of the US automakers became evident with the triumphant introduction of the seventh generation Corvette at Cobol Hall during the Detroit Auto Show. America's love affair with the American car has been burning bright again and Detroit has been making every effort to put the dark years behind it.

2014 Corvette Stingray (Photo courtesy of Chevrolet.com)

And yet, while there have been some tremendous efforts in recent years (the Ford Mustang and recently updated Chrysler 300 come to mind), I still feel like there is a lack of substance beneath the veneer of recovery. Due to my day job, I travel a fair amount and that means spending a fair amount of time behind the wheel of various rental in a variety of different locations throughout the US. This means that, along with my regular testing of cars for this blog, I get to sit in and drive a lot of cars, some of which I spend a fair amount of time with. As is typical, a lot of the cars end up being from US automakers who still make large fleet sales a sizable part of their sales numbers.

On paper, many of these cars appear competitive, offering attractive designs, loads of standard equipment, and reasonable pricing. In terms of innovation, most of these cars are a stutter step behind their foreign competitors as far being on the cutting edge, but there are areas where these cars are doing a fine job pushing the envelope. Point for point, they feel like they should be on par with their foreign counterparts, but as I spend time with them, I find that it does not take a deep scratch to expose what is really beneath the surface.

Take the Cadillac ATS, the most recent effort out of Detroit to take on the perennial sport-sedan favorite BMW 3-Series. While the latest 3-series is no longer the ultimate driving machine that the earlier generation cars were, improvements in technology and engineering still make it a formidable competitor for American pocketbooks. The ATS, on paper, offers a product that goes toe-to-toe with the 3-series in just about every measure, even coming within millimeters of the 3-series in virtually all exterior dimensions. Yet, the moment I stepped up to the ATS and examined it up close, the gap between the quality of the two cars became immediately apparent.

2013 Cadillac ATS (Photo courtesy of Cadillac.com)

Starting on the outside of the ATS, simple things like trim-pieces look downright cheap up close and the little details such as sharpness of execution of door sill plates or the assembly of the trim in the trunk seem noticeably of poorer quality. Moving to the driver's seat, while the immediate visual impression is that everything appears of quality, running my hands over the materials reveals a very different impression, with harsh grain patters, hard plastics, and the general tactile feedback not meeting the expectations set by the visual inspection. Move from the front seats to the back, however, and even the visual sense of quality begins to disappear as materials noticeably cheapen and things increasingly feel like afterthoughts.

Fire up the engine and two things immediately catch my attention: 1) the noise that the engine makes upon start-up was not given much consideration because it just sounds pedestrian and 2) the gauge cluster feels cheap somehow, despite the full-color LCD in the middle of it. Get on the road and the driving impression begins to reinforce the impressions left by the rest of car - the suspension is firm and provides fantastic grip, but gets unsettled easily; the steering is responsive without being communicative. Cadillac checked every single box it needed to check to make this car competitive on paper with the 3-series, and yet, the sum of the parts feels like it is just adding up a little short.

This is my overwhelming sense when driving cars from American manufacturers these days is that, on paper, they make wonderfully competitive cars that check all of the right boxes individually, but on whole, the cars lack a cohesiveness that German and Japanese automakers have managed to engineer into their cars with an attention to detail that still eludes US automakers. Every time I drive an American car, I feel like each individual component was assigned to an engineering team to complete, but nobody thought to take a step back and look at the car as a whole to make sure every component played well with every other one.

2012 Chrysler 300 (Photo courtesy of Motortrend.com)

One possible exception to this is the recently re-engineered Chrysler 300 sedan I spent a weekend with last year. Somehow, especially when compared with the previous rendition, everything felt like it clicked. It felt like there was a grand vision for how everything should feel and that every component contributed to that vision. Things did not feel like they were individually created to a spec, but rather the whole car was designed with a singular goal in mind. It made the car feel like it was more than just a collection of parts and my experience with it was therefore immensely improved as a result.

In the end, I am pleased that US automakers are at least trending in the right direction again. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have all made tremendous strides in the right direction and are finally putting out cars that, on paper, are able to match the capabilities of their foreign competitors. The next step that will allow them to truly match their competition would be to capture that essence of cohesiveness that is still sorely lacking in so many of their efforts. To do that, perhaps they need to start re-thinking how their cars are engineered or perhaps consider a shake-up of how the product requirements are identified when they are planning their new cars.

I genuinely want to like American cars. In fact, my father would love to go back to owning a big American sedan and my father-in-law would love to make his next car entirely made and assembled in these United States. The car that is closest to meeting my criteria is unfortunately too large for my tastes and not nearly sporty enough. Nothing else I have driven to date from a US automaker offers quite the right blend of qualities to capture my interest. Maybe I am just not in their target demographic or maybe I am just being too exacting, but whatever the case, a consumer like me is one that US automakers should seriously consider when they design their next generation of cars.

Perhaps building to that next level of exacting standards is precisely what US automakers need to do to get their cars to finally add up to more than the sum of their parts.

Test Drive: 2013 Cadillac ATS

Update: Click here to read our comparison of the 2013 Cadillac ATS against the 2013 BMW 328i

The Cadillac ATS is Cadillac’s newest entry into the mid-size sport sedan category, currently occupied by long time mid-size heavy hitters like the BMW 3 series and the Mercedes C class. Cadillac’s objective with the ATS is to compete primarily with the top seller of the mid-size sport sedan class, the BMW 3 series. The ATS 2.0T is Cadillac’s answer to BMW’s all-new 2.0L turbocharged inline-four powered 328i sedan, but can it dethrone the entry-luxury sales champ?

Having never driven any Cadillac products other than a current generation CTS back in 2008, we were not sure what to expect. Cadillac's repuation for being built for the geriatric crowd loomed in the back of our minds. Our test drive of the 3.6 liter CTS back in 2008 did not help break the stereotype with its dull feeling, mushy handling, and overall dry and boring demeanor. Sure, the car looked pretty nice from the outside (we are suckers for the Art and Science design philosophy), but if that is all Cadillac has to offer, they were going to struggle to meet their goals. With the ATS, Cadillac wants to bring in a new demographic to their show rooms: the young professional. Can it draw in a younger crowd and help make Cadillac truly competitive in one of the most crowded classes in the automotive world?