2008 Cadillac CTS tops BMW and Mercedes in Consumer Reports test

The TL is by far the oldest car in this group and still scored second place? The TL is a great choice in this class and just wait for the redesign. Again the majority of buyers in this class don't place extreme handling capabilities as their top priority and that's why the TL still sells so well. It has most of what buyers want and don't charge as much as for cars with less. Take that BMW!

WOW!

I Couldn't Disagree More:

The TL is easily one of the better looking (psuedo) sport sedan on the market, and stands as the ONLY Acura product with any real visual appeal - both inside and out, in addition, the interior craftsmanship and materials are pretty much beyond reproach, but...

Dynamically, it rides/performs very much like what it is... A 'slightly' more aggressive Honda Accord.

Oh Well, To Each Their Own.

"Take that BMW!"

Take WHAT? The honor of having the best selling entry level and midsized luxury sports sedan? Being a C/D 10 Best for years and years and years? A spot on Ward's 10 Best Engines yearly? Countless comparison test wins in real car magazines? Being benchmarked by the competition?

I have no idea why you guys attack TL without a valid reason. Interior of TL sucks? give me a 33k BMW and you will see what 'suck' truely means.
driving dynamic sucks? i think the fact thta TL-S beats IS350 and G35 by 2 second in Willow Springs Racetrack doesn't really agree with you. saying TL is an rebadged accord is like saying A6 is rebadged passet.

But the fact is that the TL really is based on the Accord platform, while the A6 has nothing to do with the Passat. They don't even share an engine.

Another unfair test, the CTS is not even a competitior to 3 series or C class. It should have been compared to the 5 series and E class.

Shouldn't the STS be the competition for the 5 Series and E-Class instead of the CTS? The CTS is too small to compete against a 5 or an E.

The BLS is Cadillac's 3 series competitor. But it is only sold in europe for now as Cadillac doesn't think they can sell a smaller car here in the US with what happened with their Cimmeron.

Kaiser...:
You wrote that "It makes sense to contrast/compare two cars with each other when, and only when, they are comparable in both price and car type." If we accept that assumption at face value as true, then you are incorrect that the comparison between the CTS and 328i or C300 is an appropriate one because the CTS is a different type of vehicle--medium size passenger car--from the other two, which are compact size passenger cars.

People draw comparisons for different reasons. When I shop for a vehicle, I am interested in the same vehicle TYPE regardless of cost. I will buy what I can afford, and if I like it but cannot afford it today, I might save my cash until I can afford it. Does that mean I would be interested in a comparison between (for example) a WRX and a 335i? Not necessarily, because one is a compact LUXURY sport sedan while the other is a compact sport sedan. I also have no interest in purchasing a land yacht even though it might cost less than my target-vehicle type. More metal for the dollar is meaningless to me if it is not something I want. It would be akin to offering me several dresses at half price; thank you, but I am not that sort of guy.

Still, I suspect there are people who would be interested in a comparison of all compact sport sedans regardless of price, and they might choose the one that provides the most value to them. Others might be interested in all vehicles--including trucks--in the same price range and purchase the vehicle that they think gives them the most value regardless of vehicle type. Believe it or not, I personally know at least two people who comparison shop trucks with cars and buy the largest vehicle affordable because it is considered the best value. The fact they might be getting functions/features they don't actually need doesn't seem to matter since their reasoning dictates something along the line that the more metal for the dollar the better the bargain.

So, what constitutes logical and sensible when vehicle shopping? It seems very subjective. I know only what makes sense TO ME.

"When was the last time that you saw a popular car magazine take into account reliability?"

When was the last time that you saw Consumer Reports take into account driving appeal?

Not sure how the TL was in the top 2. The new G from infiniti is nice but I think I would have put the CTS 1st, then the Bimmer, then the C, then G, then TL last. The design and car itself is at the end of it's cycle, a new model is coming end of this year and it is desperately needed. I know cars turn-around every 5 years with a 2.5-3 year freshen up on the design. But I feel like Honda is always jumping in the middle with new models instead of competing against Honda and Chevy when they introduce new cars.

Does CR even care about performance and handling?

CR may care about it but their testing perhaps is not the same as what Road and Track or Car and Driver will do.CR probably does not spend a lot of time flogging cars on the road or race track. They drive them as the average consumer would but not probing the cars limit of adhesion.

It sounds like CR isn't a magazine for the enthusiast?

CR seems to evaluate vehicles as Motoring Appliances - first an foremost, and as a result, they often pick those that have the most 'universal' appeal...

Enthusiast take a rather different approach at these matters, and seek a greater degree of driver involvement/performance/etc. than the average consumer.

I'd Never Buy An Enthusiast/Performance Vehicle Based On What CR Had To Say... NEVER!

CR treats everything as an appliance, its what they do and how they work.

What they look for is BASIC functionality, safety, reliabilility, and efficiency. That is why their favorite cars are Accords/Civics/Camrys. Oh, lots of people like those cars too, that is why they sell so well. But these are people who buy a car for basic transportation needs, not driving enjoyment.

I consult CR to check the reliability data but then ignore everything else they have to say about a car.

"I consult CR to check the reliability data but then ignore everything else they have to say about a car."

+1

Yes. Believe it or not, some people value reliability in an automobile above everything else, which makes Consumer Reports a great tool in a car buying decision. It is not hard to understand how everyone here can ignore CR and find them irrelevant. We have Car and Driver for that.

Even though I don't think CR is good enough to use to clean up my dog's sh*t, it's good to see the CTS getting more and more praise. Excellent ride, and hopefully a sign of things to come from GM.