Content area
Full Text
Cadillac's biggest seller gets a major revamp, as It targets boomers.
Plotting the ideal route to the future is never easy when you're toting heavy baggage. Case in point: Cadillac's DeVille, a nameplate backed by 50 years of history. Like many Cadillacs of the recent past, the 2000 DeVille is another transition piece -- substantially different from the car it replaces, though not fully consistent with General Manager John Smith's "art and science" vision of the future.
It's the art that's missing. While the new DeVille lacks the design cues that will eventually grace all Cadillacs -planar body surfaces, shield-shaped grille, vertical headlamps and taillamps - it is at least a break from hoary tradition. Exterior appearance is reminiscent of the last-generation Mercedes S-Class, tempered with Seville overtones. The volume model, called DeVille and aimed at the existing owner base, wears a chrome-- edged silver-painted grille and a wreath-and-- crest hood ornament. The step-up edition for traditional customers is labeled DHS. Here, brand ornamentation is surrounded by a charcoal-painted grille.
The DTS, a touring sedan targeted at boomers, sports a courageous body-color grille treatment. Inside, the new DeVille follows the Seville's functional-sculpture lead to the point of sharing key building blocks such as the front seats, console and instrument cluster.
The new DeVille's architecture is the fifth (and probably final) iteration of GM's large-luxury G platform. Practically every part within the 4.6L Northstar V-8 is changed in some way, though claimed output remains at 275 hp in standard trim and 300 hp for the DTS. Noteworthy innovations include an infrared night vision system, in-dash navigation, LED taillamps, and some creative networking between steering, braking, powertrain and suspension systems.
Powertrain: Big Changes
Ambitious goals were set for the second-- generation Northstar V-: quieter operation, reduced consumption, lower emissions, equivalent performance and...