Interior
reviewed by
The CTS interior isn't like anything else on the market today. It's very angular, for the sake of style, although in '04 it's been softened here and there. There is a very European presentation of the instrumentation, meaning clear gauges. The CTS is sold in Europe. Done up in several high-tech textures, the dashboard and instrument panel are rendered in muted shades of gray with excellent, highly readable graphics. Almost everywhere the texture is dimpled like a golf ball, which we didn't particularly like and wondered if the texture would gather dust.
The center stack, where most of the adjusting is done, juts out proudly and prominently from the rest of the dash, with the elaborate GPS navigation system at the top center location. Climate controls are at the bottom, controlled by amber-lighted pictograms like other Cadillacs.
The three-spoke steering wheel contains buttons for the sound system and cruise control, and is deliciously padded in leather for all but the part of the rim between about 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, a Cadillac trademark that we wish could be ordered away. The wood is lovely, but with gripping two materials with your hands, sometimes at the same time, is not ideal; the wood is colder, harder and more slippery than the leather.
The leather seats are excellent, comfortable for all-day driving with good bolstering to hold your torso in place through the sharp corners. There's good support for the driver's right leg; where the right shin touches it feels padded, but it's only soft and hollow. There's a good dead pedal for the left foot.
The CTS offers more interior room than some of its European competition. A quite tall driver or passenger will be comfortable in front, and only slightly cramped in the rear. There is a convenient pass-thru tunnel between the rear seats, to the trunk. The door pockets are not very deep. The small triangular speakers for the optional Bose system are mounted on the A pillar, and look cool.
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