2010 Cadillac STS

The 2010 Cadillac STS's interior is much softer and more luxurious than the exterior, and it's clear the brand's been paying attention to the lessons of German sedans with its soberly styled cabin. The layout, with some screen-driven controls and quite a few small buttons, can be confusing, and the materials haven't been upgraded to the extent seen in the latest edition of the smaller Cadillac CTS. "Cadillac snazzed up the STS's interior significantly for 2009 with higher-quality wood and the addition of tasteful aluminum trim," Edmunds reminds shoppers, and Car and Driver notes the "more sophisticated instrument cluster looks much richer than those in past cars." The streamlined dash style sports a wide center stack of controls and a nice balance of leather, plastic, and wood-Kelley Blue Book details the materials that give the dash and door panels "a rich look mimicking real leather," but worries "how well this material will hold up over time." It doesn't faze Edmunds, which thinks "luxury buyers should be pleased with this Cadillac's generally high-class ambience."

In either the base or mid-line V-8 versions, the STS handles cleanly, with good steering feel and feedback. Both models have a rather firm ride, but thanks to the standard Magnetic Ride Control, which can make almost instantaneous adjustments to damper firmness, ride comfort is quite smooth. The now-defunct Forbes Autos reports of the carryover STS, "all versions deliver a fairly smooth ride with reasonably sporty handling." Kelley Blue Book says that the "STS tracked brilliantly in tight turns, though the steering response was somewhat soft and slow to react." With MRC, the "Touring" mode provides a "cushy ride and composed handling," while "Sports" mode is "a little sharper and a bit stiffer," contends Edmunds, which reports that the car handles just fine in Touring mode. On all but the base STS with all-wheel drive, Cadillac offers a handling package that adds 18-inch chrome wheels, Michelin summer tires, and Brembo four-piston brakes. ConsumerGuide finds that "reassuring brakes provide short, straight simulated panic stops."

At the far end of the performance spectrum sits the very rare STS-V and its hand-built 469-hp, supercharged V-8. It is rear-drive only, and Cadillac claims it can vault to 60 mph in less than 5.0 seconds. With the STS-V, there's overwhelming power on demand. As Edmunds reports, "Just dip the throttle and go. Mash the pedal and the STS-V jets forward on a huge wave of supercharged torque." Cars.com appreciates the way the "supercharged Northstar engine teams with a six-speed automatic transmission," calling this Caddy "an excellent example of a high-performance car that is more than livable in day-to-day driving." Automobile has qualms with the STS-V's six-speed automatic, noting it "doesn't always transfer the engine's goods to the rear axle as smoothly as you would expect, whether it's in fully automatic mode, on the sport setting, or in manual-shift mode, when it has an especially difficult time with the two-three upshift." Edmunds also observes the gearbox "has a tendency to move slowly through gearchanges."

The STS-V gets bigger wheel-and-tire combinations, stiffer suspension settings, faster-feeling steering, and Brembo brakes, and with them, the STS-V is clearly the most exciting big Caddy to drive, with tenacious grip and playful rear-drive handling to complement its powerful V-8. Edmunds feels the weight puts the STS-V at a disadvantage compared to the best BMWs and Benzes; its "rather large size ultimately limits its ability to hustle through corners, but it generally handles like a much smaller car," they insist. "Compared to the M5, the STS-V is softly sprung for American tastes, but body roll is well controlled, and the big Caddy never feels floppy or sloppy." Automobile wishes for something a little more Germanic, as it says the STS-V is "missing the fluidity that eludes so many GM products but which is usually present in the best performance cars from, you guessed it, Europe." As for fuel economy, the EPA estimates the STS-V at 13/19 mpg, while ConsumerGuide observes 13.7 mpg in mixed driving. Premium gasoline is required.

It's the backseat that disappoints: it's barely roomy enough for average adults. ConsumerGuide calls it "disappointing for a car this large," and TheCarConnection.com's editors note that legroom is surprisingly tight for a car so generously proportioned otherwise. Don't plan to carry full-frame adults back there on a regular basis.

The trunk's only slightly more usable, and a decently sized console and glove box offer some small-item storage and hidden cubbies for iPods and portable music players. "Trunk space is unexceptional for STS's exterior size," ConsumerGuide says, and "a small opening limits the size of items that can be loaded." Inside, they add "small-item storage is limited to a smallish center console and less-than-generous glove box." Edmunds chimes in, reporting "the trunk is also smaller than what one might expect for this class of car."

Build quality in the 2010 Cadillac STS isn't particularly grand. ConsumerGuide says the STS's "interior materials quality is good when compared to domestic-branded premium sedans but falls just shy of the standards set by German and Japanese rivals." Cars.com finds the Cadillac STS interior "comfortable and lined with respectable materials," but notes "execution leaves a lot to be desired," adding that "most of the flaws could have been fixed with a modest freshening, something on par with what the outside received."

The STS is fitted with standard safety gear like dual front, side, and curtain airbags; anti-lock brakes; and traction and stability control. All-wheel drive is an option.

Intellibeam headlamps are also on the options list for the 2010 STS; they sense approaching taillights or headlights and dim themselves accordingly. On the Cadillac STS V-8 with all-wheel drive, adaptive cruise control and "enhanced StabiliTrak with active steering" are available as options, Cars.com adds.

Other technological upgrades include revised stability control, a lane-departure warning system, adaptive cruise control, and a blind-spot warning system. Car and Driver finds some of these annoying, as they bleep too many alerts in the cabin (though the lane-departure feature doesn't sound off until the car is "almost on the lane lines"). The blind-spot system proved nearly useless to their editors: "We had to look at the mirror so intently to see if the icon were illuminated, we might as well have just turned our heads a little farther and manually checked the blind spots."

As for the STS-V, "a limited-slip differential, antilock brakes, stability control and traction control are all standard on the STS-V," Edmunds reports, along with Cadillac's "rear parking assist, a lane departure warning system and blind spot warning system." Cars.com likes the STS-V's Intellibeam headlights, "which adjust their intensity based on the oncoming or leading vehicles."

Most reviewers, including Kelley Blue Book, rave over the optional 15-speaker Bose 5.1 Surround Sound audio system, which "delivers great sound." But the STS's navigation system takes some heat. ConsumerGuide finds that "relatively few buttons" on the dash almost buries the functions on the radio and GPS, which can "complicate their use." Edmunds doesn't agree; they consider the "controls are straightforward and easy to use," though the memory setting procedure for many of the cabin controls are "confounding...frustrating and unnecessarily complicated."

On the well-equipped STS-V, the standard features list expands greatly. ForbesAutos lists "stiffer stabilizer bars and suspension springs, a quicker steering ratio, high-performance brakes, and a performance-tuned chassis," as distinct features, while Cars.com notes that the V's "10-spoke, painted aluminum-alloy wheels are exclusive." Edmunds tallies more standard features, such as "leather/suede upholstery," "heated leather-wrapped steering wheel," "power sunroof," and "navigation system w/voice recognition," while one of its very few options is a choice to delete the sunroof.