Q (Jeff): Anything spotted late in testing that we improved for production?
A: Yes. While a lot of the testing we do is to confirm and validate what has been designed, there certainly are many occasions where we find an opportunity to enhance or improve something. Here’s one example: In some final chassis tuning rides this year, we felt we could achieve just a little bit more ride quality and isolation. We made some slight tuning changes for our top two suspension packages just prior to going into production.

Q (Teidsmore): How does your testing compare to BMW/MB?
A: That’s a good question – I would have to be an insider at BMW or Mercedes to able to answer that fully. And I’m not an insider with those organizations. I know that what we do continues to be ever more fine tuned and rigorous. I would say that the biggest changes in testing relate to the fact that Cadillac has been greatly upgrading and expanding its product lineup for several years now. A big part of that is the expansion into global markets like China, Europe and elsewhere. That has brought a wider perspective – we’ve done more testing in more places around the world. And, as visitors to this site know, for a few years we’ve increased the focus on top-level performance via developing the cars at tracks and roads like Nuerburgring and the Autobahn.

Q (Scott G): Snow tires? Do I need them?
A: We designed everything in the car to operate well with the All-Season tires, including wet weather and snow/ice performance. In general, no, snow tires are not required or necessary. But snow tires, certainly, perform even better in those conditions. As part of our development process we also tested several types of snow tires to evaluate how the car behaves with different aftermarket offerings. We specially recommend to our dealers a few different options of snow tires for customers that we have tested, should someone want that extra level of winter performance.

Q (Noel): White and blue lights – too bright, can I change them? And, can I change my standard interior trim for the wood trim?
A: We do a lot of testing of all aspects of lighting, including rides we conduct at night and indoor evaluations in “dark rooms.” The white and blue hues are used intentionally – they are crisp and easy to read, and we did pay strict attention to glare issues. Don’t forget, there is a dimmer control inside the car. The lights we have inside the car (LED accent lights, as well as lights inside the gauge cluster) are all on a dimmer control with a very broad level of adjustment. The types of lights we selected are intended to have good readability – even when the dimmer is turned down low to minimize glare.

As for the wood trim, yes, you can change that to a degree. The trim on the instrument panel can be switched from the standard trim to the optional Sapele wood. There is a kit available from our Cadillac Parts and Accessories collection to do just that. The door trim, however, cannot be changed.