This week I bring you the drop-dead gorgeous 2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum edition. This is the flagship sedan from Cadillac and Platinum is the top-of-the-line. As much as I love this car, I am going to focus today on something called Super Cruise.
Super Cruise is Cadillac’s self-driving technology and it’s as close to true autonomy as I have experienced, but first, let’s take a look at the car itself. Bear in mind every feature you see on this car comes standard, there is not a single option.
The CT6 comes with a 3-liter twin turbo V6 and an 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The Platinum only comes in all-wheel drive.
The CT6 is visibly beautiful on the outside. I particularly love the front view. The sculpted front end and all-LED lighting is unmistakably Cadillac. I also like the way the tires fill up the entire wheel-well opening.
The interior quality is exceptional, and the heated and cooled seats are extremely comfortable. Oh, and there are 15 different massage settings for the seats, and they feel wonderful.
As you bring the car to life, the gauge cluster is bright, vivid, and configurable, and one of the 34 Bose Panaray speakers rises from the dash.
Everything runs from the 10” Cadillac User Experience screen. It can be used as a touch screen, or you can toggle through features from a touchpad on the center console. There are a series of apps that give you real-time information, and like the Traverse I had not long ago, you can order things from the screen like Starbucks, McDonalds, and Dunkin Donuts.
Let’s talk about some of the standard features of this luxury car. You get dual-pane moon roofs with power sliding covers, night vision, head-up display, Apple and Android, a built-in phone charger, a power rear window shade, and an exceptional rear camera.
You also get a rear entertainment system with two screens that let you stream through the built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi.
On the safety front, you get it all, blind-spot monitoring, forward collision alert, lane keeping assist, automatic braking, and the rearview mirror can be seen as a wide angle rear camera. It also has front and rear cameras that record everything around you and stores the recordings to an SD card in the trunk.
Suffice it to say, this is one of most technological cars I have ever been in. Now let’s look at Super Cruise, the system Cadillac says is the first true hands-free driving system for the freeways.
Super Cruise works with the Adaptive Cruise Control and controls acceleration and braking while it is enabled and operating. It works through OnStar, along with precision LiDAR mapping, in-car cameras, radar sensors, and GPS to detect every curve and hill ahead.
The system is easy to operate. You just set the Adaptive Cruise control and a symbol lights up on the dash. Then hit the Super Cruise button and take your hands off the steering wheel. Here, let me show you:
It’s that simple, but there are some limitations. You are limited to 85-miles per hour, you must be on a divided freeway with on and off ramps, and you must be paying attention to the road ahead. So, how does it know for sure you’re watching the road?
A small head-tracking camera on top of the steering wheel monitors your eyes. If you aren’t paying attention, your first warning is the top of the steering wheel flashes red. If you’re still not paying attention, then it will beep and your seat will vibrate strongly.
Next, it will give you a voice command to take the wheel and, as punishment, you can’t use the system again until the car is restarted.
In the event of a health issue, like a heart attack, if you haven’t responded to all the warnings, the car will start to slow, the hazard lights will flash, and the car will come to a slow stop. OnStar will alert first responders there is a medical emergency of some kind. Super Cruise works flawlessly and I really got comfortable with the car doing the driving.
Also interesting, GM engineers drove and mapped 130,000 miles of U.S. freeways so this system will work safely. This is why you are currently limited to certain kinds of highways. I am told GM will be mapping more roads in the future.
That, my friends, is the Super Cruise system, an amazing piece of technology.
Fuel economy is 21 combined, and the MSRP on this car as you see it, is $89,300 and for me, that’s a bargain for what you get.
The technology, the Super Cruise system, and all the other features are terrific, but first and foremost, it’s a great driving, roomy, true luxury car. This is a car I truly hated to give up.
