The
STS is a
mid-sizeA mid-size car is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact...
luxury
sports sedanA sports sedan or a sports saloon is a descriptive term applied to a sedan automobile that is designed to look and feel "sporty", offering the motorist more connection with the driving experience, while providing the comfort and amenities expected of a luxury sedan. A wider definition that includes...
/
executive carExecutive car is a British term that refers to a car's size and is used to describe an automobile larger than a large family car. In official use, the term is adopted by EuroNCAP, a European organisation founded to test car safety.- History :...
manufactured and sold by
CadillacCadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. It is equipped with a six-speed
automatic transmissionAn automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
with performance algorithm shifting and driver shift control.
Origins
The STS is the successor to the
Cadillac SevilleThe Cadillac Seville is a luxury-type car that was manufactured by the Cadillac division of American automaker General Motors from 1975 to 2004, as a smaller-sized top-of-the-line Cadillac...
. That car used the
STS name, standing for Seville Touring Sedan on upscale performance-oriented versions beginning in 1988. In 1992, Cadillac split the Seville line into
STS and less performance-oriented
SLS (for Seville Luxury Sedan) trim lines. The next year, the STS received Cadillac's then-new
Northstar SystemThe Northstar engine series of automobile engines is General Motors' most technically complex 90° V engine architecture. The family is most associated with Cadillac's Northstar V8, but the family has also seen use at Oldsmobile...
, including the aluminium DOHC
L37 Northstar
V8 engineA V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
. Throughout its existence, the STS was Cadillac's highest-priced sedan. Worldwide, the STS is Cadillac's flagship model. In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the STS is positioned between the mid-size
CTSThe Cadillac CTS is a mid-size car manufactured by the Cadillac marque of General Motors currently available in three body styles: Sedan, Coupe, and Sport Wagon. It was introduced in 2002 as a sports sedan, replacing the Cadillac Catera. The CTS and the supercharged CTS-V variant have been named...
and larger
DTSThe Cadillac DTS is a full-size luxury sedan produced by General Motors, an American automobile company. The DTS replaced the Cadillac DeVille as General Motors' largest luxury car for the 2006 model year...
, but is priced above the latter.
Safety
The Cadillac STS is rated with a four star frontal and five star rear passenger crash test rating from the
National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
. It was given an overall "Good" score in the
Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a U.S. non-profit organization funded by auto insurers, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that...
frontal crash test. And an "Acceptable" rating in the side impact test. In the side impact test injury measurements to the driver's pelvis was rated "Poor" and for the torso "Acceptable."
2005
The front wheel drive Seville was retired in 2004, replaced by an entirely new STS model based on the rear wheel drive
GM Sigma platformSigma is General Motors' mid-size rear-wheel drive automobile platform. The architecture debuted in 2002 with the 2003 Cadillac CTS and is adaptable for all-wheel drive and extended wheelbase versions...
. All wheel drive is offered as an option, the first Cadillac sedan to be available with this drive system. The STS carries on the
Magnetic Ride ControlA magnetorheological damper or magnetorheological shock absorber is a damper filled with magnetorheological fluid, which is controlled by a magnetic field, usually using an electromagnet. This allows the damping characteristics of the shock absorber to be continuously controlled by varying the...
suspension, which has bragging rights as being the 'fastest reacting suspension ever,' before it was ever utilized on newer Corvettes and
FerrariFerrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s.
The Cadillac STS is assembled at GM's
Lansing Grand RiverLansing Grand River Assembly is a modern automobile factory in Lansing, Michigan. Opened in 2001 by General Motors, the plant produces vehicles on the company's Sigma platform. It is the main plant for Cadillac...
facility in
Lansing, MichiganLansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
along with the smaller
Cadillac CTSThe Cadillac CTS is a mid-size car manufactured by the Cadillac marque of General Motors currently available in three body styles: Sedan, Coupe, and Sport Wagon. It was introduced in 2002 as a sports sedan, replacing the Cadillac Catera. The CTS and the supercharged CTS-V variant have been named...
sedan.
As of 2007,
enginesThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
are a 3.6 L High Feature LY7 V6 with 255 hp and 252 lbft and the 4.6 L Northstar LH2 V8 which puts out 320 hp and 315 lbft in the STS. All engine models feature dual overhead camshafts with VVT. Remote ignition is standard. Although most 2005 and 2006 Cadillac STS models offer a 255 hp engine, an option for a 4.6 L 320 hp engine was available at the time through Cadillac's performance packages. As of 2007, Cadillac now has different packages and car models, which no longer support this option.
Wheelbase is 116.4 in (2,957 mm), though overall length is shorter than the Seville. Interior space is greater than its predecessor, though. A heads-up display is optional, as is a 300 Watt Bose stereo system with
MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
capability. Base pricing starts at US$40,995 (slightly higher than the
DTSThe Cadillac DTS is a full-size luxury sedan produced by General Motors, an American automobile company. The DTS replaced the Cadillac DeVille as General Motors' largest luxury car for the 2006 model year...
, which is longer but has
front-wheel driveFront-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
), and extends to US$52,240 for the AWD V8 model.
2006
The 2006 V-series
STS-VThe Cadillac STS-V was a high-performance executive car of the V-Series produced in a single generation since 2005 by Cadillac.-Introduction:...
was introduced at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show. It features a supercharged 4.4 L version of the Northstar
V8A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, along with handling upgrades. This engine is certified by the SAE to produce 469 hp and 439 lbft.
It went on sale in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in late 2005 for just under US$80,000.
In 2006, Cadillac introduced a stretched STS called the
SLS. It is assembled by
Shanghai GMShanghai General Motors Company Ltd. is a joint venture between General Motors Company and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation that manufactures and sells Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brand automobiles in mainland China. Shanghai GM was founded on June 12, 1997 with 50% investment each...
, and in 2007 it was shown at the Middle East International Motor Show in Dubai. The SLS adds 3.9 inches (99.1 mm) of rear-seat legroom and has a different interior.
2008
For 2008, the STS has been updated. Changes include a refreshed exterior, with styling cues resembling the 2008
CTSThe Cadillac CTS is a mid-size car manufactured by the Cadillac marque of General Motors currently available in three body styles: Sedan, Coupe, and Sport Wagon. It was introduced in 2002 as a sports sedan, replacing the Cadillac Catera. The CTS and the supercharged CTS-V variant have been named...
, such as larger, more aggressive grille and chrome fender vents. The interior has also been updated, with new materials and a new steering wheel, though the overall interior design remains the same, despite previous rumors of an all-new interior similar to that of the Chinese-market SLS. The standard powertrain is now a
direct-injectedIn internal combustion engines, gasoline direct injection , also known as petrol direct injection or direct petrol injection, is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines...
3.6 L
V6A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...
mated to a six-speed
automatic transmissionAn automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
, which in the STS will produce 302 hp and 272 lbft of torque. It also offers enhanced safety features, including a
lane departure warning systemIn road-transport terminology, a lane departure warning system is a mechanism designed to warn a driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane on freeways and arterial roads. These systems are designed to minimize accidents by addressing the main causes of collisions: driver error,...
developed by
MobileyeMobileye is a technology company that focuses on the development of vision-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems providing warnings for collision prevention and mitigation. Mobileye offers a wide range of driver safety solutions combining artificial vision image processing, multiple...
, a blind spot monitoring system, and an improved version of GM's StabiliTrak stability control system, which can now operate the steering system in addition to the brakes to help correct a skid. Additionally, options previously limited to the V8 model (such as
HID headlampsHigh-intensity discharge lamps are a type of electrical lamp which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube. This tube is filled with both gas and metal salts. The gas facilitates the...
and heads-up display) are now available with the
V6A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...
. The 2008 Cadillac STS debuted at the 2007 New York Auto Show.
A 2010 update for the STS removed the GM badges, although early 2010 models still retained GM badging. For 2011, the V8 is entirely dropped from the Cadillac STS lineup.
Chinese Cadillac SLS
For the 2007 model year, the Chinese market received the Cadillac SLS. Compared to the STS, the SLS has a longer wheelbase, unique interior appointments, and a near-identical exterior appearance. Engine choices are the 2.8-liter V-6, 3.6-liter V-6 (the non-direct-injection version shared with the 2005-2007 STS V-6), and the same 4.6-liter Northstar V-8 as in the STS V-8.
Chinese-Spec SLS receives facelift at the end of 2009, and is sold as 2010 Model Year. The grille, bumper and many other details have been revised. Shanghai-GM has also introduced OnStar system to MY2010 SLS. With the introduction of two SIDI engines (one is 272 hp 3.0L, the other is 310 hp 3.6L), the new SLS goes up-to-date. The new SLS is priced from 448,000RMB to 698,000RMB.
Yearly American sales
| Calendar Year |
Total sales |
| 2004 |
9,484 |
| 2005 |
33,497 |
| 2006 |
25,676 |
| 2007 |
20,873 |
| 2008 |
14,790 |
| 2009 |
6,037 |
| 2010 |
4,473 |
Future
The final STS was assembled on May 4, 2011. The automotive press has reported that the next full-size Cadillac will be the
XTS Platinum conceptThe Cadillac XTS is an upcoming full-sized luxury car from the Cadillac brand of General Motors.. It is based on an enlarged version of the Epsilon II platform. The XTS will replace both the DTS and the STS sedans. It will begin production in early 2012 at the Oshawa Assembly Plant...
which will create a single flagship sedan for the brand, which debuted at the Detroit International Auto Show in January 2010. The XTS will be based on the front-wheel drive
Epsilon IIEpsilon is General Motors' mid-size front-wheel drive automobile platform. The architecture was developed by Opel, and debuted in the 2002 Opel Vectra and 2003 Saab 9-3. Since this platform falls squarely in the center of the worldwide automobile market, GM plans to produce a great many Epsilon...
based Super Epsilon Platform
External links