2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe: Up Close

2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe: Up Close

The CTS coupe, a car GM placed on hiatus during its bankruptcy, joins a sedan and wagon to give the CTS nameplate as many variants as a typical BMW or Audi might offer. True to the CTS coupe concept shown at last year’s Detroit auto show, this is no watered-down production version — the arcing taillights, central exhaust pipes and brash C-pillars are the stuff of concept cars and will make it to driveways.

GM went that direction with the Chevrolet Camaro, and owners paid a price for it in visibility, backseat room and trunk space. I’m glad to see that isn’t the case for the CTS coupe. The car’s sightlines are decent, though I could only gauge this in the auto show's static setting. The C-pillars are small enough and the rear head restraints are also tiny, keeping blind spots minimal; sizable side mirrors should keep adjacent traffic on your radar. The front seat belts need no device that keeps them within reach; they’re easy to grab, which is unusual in a two-door car.

I’m not wild about the coupe’s electronic door handles. Like in the Chevy Corvette, you reach into a crevice to press a button that unlatches it. That’s fine, but it also means the cabin swaps the CTS sedan’s tasteful door handles for plastic buttons. It may be high-tech, but it feels low-rent.

The backseat is a squeeze to get into, but adults should find legroom manageable. I’m 5 feet 11 inches tall and my head mashed the headliner. If I leaned back, I wouldn’t quite reach the rear glass — a more tenable position, at least until the road got bumpy.

At 10.5 cubic feet, the trunk is small. Granted, buying a luxury coupe for the trunk room is like getting a Whopper for the fiber. Like fast food, the CTS coupe is a guilty pleasure.