Auto Extreme

It took nerve to leave behind the 57-year-old DeVille nameplate, but that’s precisely what Cadillac did last year while overhauling its prevalent and most conventional sedan for 21st Century duty. The DTS description used to specify the DeVille Touring Sedan, a sporty version of the aged model. DTS now stands for the entire revised and revamped representation line. The DTS takes turns with good posture and pride, making it an pleasurable steed when the road goes wavy.

The DTS is a large car. Its overall length of 207.6 inches makes it 5 inches longer than the Escalade full-size SUV, and virtually a foot longer than the STS. It’s 9 inches longer than a BMW 7 Series and 2.6 inches longer than the most recent long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. It’s also wide, more than 2 inches wider than an STS.

Sporting brand new body lines, a redesigned interior, upgraded running gear, and suspension refinements, the contemporary version was launched as a 2006 model. For 2007, it’s offered as a single model, with a single interior, but with a number of packages and two levels of engine supremacy for a wide range of personalization.

Cadillac DTS is a full-size luxury car, riding on a 115.6-inch wheelbase that would have certified it as full-size car even in the mid-1950s. Its styling is restrained, but it’s stuffed with modern technology and electronic goodies. This is a rational luxury car, easy to operate in addition to being large and luxurious. And unlike many luxury cars these days, there’s no need to study the owner’s manual to make the DTS do its job.

With its upright headlamps and tail lamps, and its grinning egg-crate grille, the DTS has acquired the legacy of the Cadillac family and adapted it to 21st Century reality. It acknowledges tradition, yet remains fresh and modern. The nose is particularly expressive, with jewel-like xenon headlamps framing an expansive chrome grille adorned with a center-mounted wreath-and-crest badge.

The high-intensity discharge (HID) projector-beam headlamps are augmented by IntelliBeam, which automatically switches from high to low beam and back again depending on oncoming traffic. In the past, it hasn’t always been easy for Cadillac drivers to discern when the high beams are on, so this is a welcome features. Good nighttime vision is as vital to safety as are good brakes.

The DTS offers impeccable road manners and a warm, spacious interior. Yet the DTS also offers crisp handling and good grip for improved composure and driving enjoyment on winding roads.

The 2007 Cadillac DTS is a full-size luxury sedan, powered through its front wheels by Cadillac’s 4.6-liter Northstar V8. A four-speed automatic transmission is standard. The engine develops 275 horsepower, but a higher-revving, 292-hp version is also available.

The fusion of front-wheel drive, V8 power, roomy interior and exclusive trappings is hard to find in a four-door sedan, but easy to appreciate. As full-size luxury cars from foreign manufacturers have gotten more expensive, the new Cadillac DTS, in full performance mode, soldiers on by delivering a lot of car for just over 50 grand.

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