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2021 Cadillac CT4 and CT5 to add Diamond Sky editions, Super Cruise, more equipment

The 2020 Cadillac CT4 and CT5 haven’t been on the market for long, but we already have news of the changes for the 2021 model year. They include new Diamond Sky special editions, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, the Super Cruise driver-assistance system, and expanded availability of driver-assistance features, Cadillac revealed in a Thursday press release.

2021 Cadillac CT5

The Diamond Sky special editions will be offered on Premium Luxury trims. Exterior changes include Diamond Sky Metallic paint, bright accents and surrounds on the front grille, blue Brembo V Performance brake calipers, transparent taillight lenses with crystal-finish interiors, and all-season run-flat tires on Diamond Cut/Midnight Silver-finish wheels. The Diamond Sky paint will also appear on the rocker extensions and rear diffuser, and buyers will be able to choose larger Polished/Dark Android Gloss-finish wheels.

Inside, the Diamond Sky models will get Sky Cool Gray/Jet Black leather upholstery with Diamond Fall insert seat perforation and alloy pedals. The CT4 will come with Centaurus Finish Aluminum trim while the CT5’s interior trim will be Galaxy Finish Wood. The keyfobs will have Diamond Sky Metallic accents.

2021 Cadillac CT4

2021 Cadillac

2021 Cadillac CT4/CT5 12-inch digital gauge cluster

All 2021 CT4 and CT5 models will offer a new reconfigurable 12-inch digital instrument cluster with Tour, Sport, Stealth, and for V models, Track themes. The infotainment system’s rotary controller also adds a jog function (it can move side to side and front to back).

More driver-assistance and safety features are also on the docket. Both cars add the Super Cruise driver-assistance system that allows drivers to go hands-free on the highway as long as they are paying attention to the road. It comes with a lane-change function and will be offered on Premium Luxury and V trims. A new feature won’t allow the car to move for 20 seconds unless the driver is buckled in, which will annoy anyone who needs to move their car 3 feet in the driveway. Drivers will be able to turn it off in the vehicle settings menu. Forward-collision warnings, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and GM’s Safety Alert Seat are now standard on the CT4 Luxury, which makes them standard across all trims on both models.

Some changes are exclusive to the V trims. Both V models get Modena leather on the steering wheel and a standard leather-wrapped horn pad, while the CT4-V now features carbon-fiber instead of leather center console trim.

Some of the V’s equipment now trickles down to the Sport models. A new V Performance package for the Sport adds a performance suspension, magnetic dampers, and a mechanical limited-slip differential. The Brembo V Performance front brakes are also available on both Sport models and buyers can pick from red or blue calipers.

Finally, the 2021 CT4 and CT5 add Infrared Tintcoat and Rift Metallic paint (the latter on V models only) to replace Red Obsession Tintcoat and Royal Spice Metallic. Infrared is a red color to replace Red Obsession, and Rift Metallic is the white/gray color shown in the photos above.

Cadillac didn’t provide pricing for the 2021 models or for the Diamond Sky editions or any of the options packages. Given the additional equipment, expect higher prices.

Look for the 2021 CT4 and CT5 in dealers this fall.

Source

September 10, 2020
FC THROWBACK: BAGGED CHEVROLET BEL AIR

Welcome to this week’s FC Throwback, where we take a look back at some of our favourite previous feature cars. This week it’s Steve Holmes jaw-dropping ’59 Chevrolet Bel Air…

We don’t know about you, but we are absolutely fascinated by old school American cars. The beautiful bodylines and the huge change in design between model years is both challenging to remember and massively exciting. Owning and driving these cars back in the 50s and 60s must have been incredible.

Sometimes we lose ourselves on Wikipedia reading about all the cool American cars. The mind-bending engine sizes these machines possess and the mad speed at which the models evolved is super-interesting. Trawling through the different model years on Google Images is like watching art in motion – the crazy fins on the rear wings and incredibly cool looking lights are one thing. The sweet interiors with beautiful dashboards are another.

We don’t know a huge amount about American cars, but we do know one thing: we absolutely love them. Steve Holmes knows a whole load more about these rides and it’s fair to say he is fully living the American dream here in UK, driving this lovely ’59 Bel Air and running his own business, along with his friend, restoring classic cars.

“I think American cars have always been in my blood,” he says. “My parents have always been into them and I have been brought up surrounded by US car culture.” So how do you find a car like this? The answer is simple: eBay. Steve says: “I was looking through US eBay one lunchtime at work and came across this example. It came from Cleveland in Ohio.

“There has been a lot of work undertaken to get the car roadworthy and that took around two years, so it has been on the road for around four years here in the UK,” our man explains.

So what have you done to it? “Well visually I bought the car as it looks today. It was running and driving, but needed a bit of work to get it through the UK MoT,“ Steve smiles. When he says ‘a bit of work’, what he really means is ‘quite a lot of work’ to mere mortals like you and I.

“The car needed all of the interior and boot floors replacing which was fairly simple since I sourced the pattern parts from the States. I also had to do some further welding work on the rear wheel arch and upgrade the cooling system.”

The 350 cubic inch (see what we were saying about mind-bending engine sizes?) or 5.7-litre motor sounds so sweet and the dialed stance, brought together by 18-inch and 20-inch wheels front and rear respectively, all dropped using custom air suspension makes this a sure-fire winner of a car!

Owning a car like this is an emotional experience. Things don’t always go to plan, but one thing is for sure, every journey is an adventure. “The smile this car puts on my face every time I drive it is incredible,” says Steve. “The V8 engine delivers smiles per gallon, not miles per gallon!”

It’s for this reason alone that he doesn’t drive the car more often. Although this isn’t a show vehicle – the patina paintwork leaves the car with a real weathered character and ensures that it can be used whenever Steve wants – it’s not a daily either. Although we guess driving a car like this everyday might take some of the excitement out of the whole experience.

Either way, we’re just glad that there are people like our man Steve in the UK, really living their very own American dream…

TECH SPEC CHEVY BEL AIR

Tuning
350 cubic inch (5.7l) V8; exhaust tuck for extra ground clearance with custom exit position in front of rear wheels.

Chassis
Esajian Wingnut wheels 8×18 (front) and 10×20-inch (rear) with 235/45×18 and 265/40×20 tyres respectively; rear airbag suspension; front is dropped spindles with 6-cylinder springs (engine was originally a 6 cylinder so keeping the 6-cylinder springs with the extra weight of the V8 engine helps lower the car more).

Interior
Stock with a couple of rips!

Thanks
My parents for giving me what I see as good taste in cars! Stateside Autoparts in Atherstone, Manchester, who were really helpful in finding any bits I needed.

Source

September 10, 2020
Lucid Air electric luxury sedan: Debut Dream Edition starts at $169,000

The Lucid Air, the debut electric luxury car California’s Lucid Motors officially revealed Wednesday evening, can slam out 9.9-second quarter-mile times (faster than any other production sedan), accelerate to 60 mph in as little as 2.5 seconds, and get to a top speed of 168 mph.

Or, it can offer up to 517 miles of estimated EPA range, with the potential to recover up to 300 miles of range with just a 20-minute fast charge.

And, as Lucid has teased, it offers the interior space of a Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-Series, with the footprint of an E-Class or 5-Series.

“With the Lucid Air, we have created a halo car for the entire industry, one which shows the advancements that are possible by pushing the boundaries of EV technology and performance to new levels,” said Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson.

Staffed with Tesla expats—Rawlinson, the chief engineer of the original Model S included—Lucid refused to use off-the-shelf components and has instead gone its own route on virtually everything technical and design-related. By designing its own motors, inverters, and battery packs, on a vehicle running at more than 900 volts—plus a sedan shape that maximizes space but has industry-best sedan aerodynamics, Lucid is able to effectively raise the goalpost for electric-vehicle efficiency, range, and performance.

2021 Lucid Air

There’s a catch, of course, and in the case of the Lucid Air, it’s that such bragging rights don’t come cheap. The exclusive halo version, called the Lucid Air Dream Edition, which will arrive in spring 2021 and be capable of accomplishing all those astonishing, Tesla-beating performance tasks, will cost $169.000.

For those willing to wait a little longer, the Air will come with a base price just below $80,000, although the more-affordable model won’t arrive until 2022.

With the federal EV tax credit of $7,500 potentially applying to any buyers, that will bring the effective price down to as little as $72,500 in some cases.

The Dream Edition will be delivered first, in spring 2021, and will be offered in a choice of three colors: Stellar White, Infinite Black, or a Eureka Gold hue that’s exclusive to this top version. Dream Edition cars will arrive in a special Santa Monica interior theme, with nappa-grain Bridge of Weir leather plus silvered Eucalyptus wood. It will also ride on 21-inch AeroDream wheels and get special trim and badging.

2021 Lucid Air

The 1,080-horsepower Dream Edition won’t quite hit the peak range for the lineup, though, and those big wheels will cost some range. The Dream Edition is estimated at 465 miles with them, but 503 miles with 19-inch AeroRange wheels.

The Lucid Air Grand Touring model will follow in the summer and cost $139,000. It will provide the lineup’s top 517-mile estimated range, with an 800-hp version of the powertrain still providing 3.0-second 0-60 mph times, the quarter-mile in 10.8 seconds, and the same top speed—as well as the same 113-kwh battery pack.

Next up will be the Air Touring. Set to arrive in the last quarter of 2021, it’s positioned as the heart of the lineup and will offer a price of $95,000 and an estimated EPA range of 406 miles from a smaller battery pack, with its 620 hp still providing a 3.2-second 0-60 mph time and a top speed of 155 mph.

The overarching design of the Air is like no other; it’s low and sleek, and quite cab-forward compared to most gasoline cars. Although Lucid hasn’t yet revealed space or cargo figures, back-seat space is abundant for taller adults, and a future layout will bring a reclining seat with a built-in Ottoman.

The Air’s full glass roof is a distinguishing feature from the outside, as is the Micro Lens Array headlight system, which was developed entirely in-house and digitally “steers” the light direction to help improve visibility and safety.

2021 Lucid Air

Inside, the look is elegant but uncluttered, with a 34-inch curved touchscreen just ahead of the driver, providing a top-level view for a range of vehicle functions. For more detail, the driver can simply flick downward to see specifics on the screen below.

The Air is one of the first production vehicles to support localized vehicle controls using Alexa—for climate-control temperature settings, for instance—and there’s full support for navigation, streaming media, and smart home controls via Alexa.

A suite of active-safety and driver-assistance features called DreamDrive works with 32 sensors, combining camera, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, plus what Lucid says is the first standard high-resolution lidar system in an EV. DreamDrive also includes a driver-monitoring system.

Production starts in early 2021 at Lucid’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, and 20 Lucid Studios and service centers are due to open by the end of 2021. Lucid is taking $7,500 refundable deposits for the first Dream Editions or $1,000 refundable deposits for the other models.

Source

September 10, 2020