I can see that. I was just thinking on the way home today how much of apain it would be to clean when it gets covered in snow. Not to mention how much it would cost to get it fixed when it broke.

 

I have to agree -- GM's keys have traditionally said "We're so huge we don't care about the details".

Not only is it the little things make/break the sale the sale, your keychain is essential a small advertisement for the car you drive. A Buick or Cadillac shouldn't be saddled with some generic key.

I also like those steering wheels near the bottom of the page -- seems like they are getting away from the "Generic GM look" but still using something that has common parts.

 

I for one am not claiming that the STS interior is "better" than the LS interior. I think I prefer the warmer look of the one in that pic vs. the somewhat colder appearance of the dashboard in the LS460 pic above, even if the LS interior is "flawless" in terms of material and switchgear feel. I'm just saying that, from what can be gleaned from one picture (i.e. not much other than the style/appearance and an overall impression), what makes it automatically subpar? Besides, the STS competitor from Lexus is the GS, really. The LS encompasses a signficantly higher price bracket than the STS, unless you compare the STS-V to the "normal" LS. It ought to have a nicer interior, just like I'm sure it is nicer than the GS interior.

I still think that if one were to strip the badges off the interior of a Lexus GS, BMW 5, and Infiniti M45, that Caddy interior would be right at home next to any of them (and IMO is nicer looking from a styling standpoint than most of them).

 

I couldn't agree more. That Buick key/fob looks very classy.

And you're very right; I was at work showing off a friends key/fob for her Mini. It's so cool, the fob is built into the key and to lock the thing, you press a small Mini emblem in the middle of it.

Attention to detail goes a long way in the game of perception.

 

STS interior looks pretty good to me. From the pictures the Lexus looks no better, but they are also small internet pics. Nothing beats seeing a car in person.

 

Bingo. And it is covered in leather, not Corolla plastic. BIG selling point that you don't need calipers to measure.

GM nuthugger? Yeah, my sig really supports that.

 

I think the STS interior will look better by a large margin in person . Their own photography is own worst enemy In alot of their interior photos , the surfaces like the dash tops ect. look extra glossy , when in fact they really arent .

With all this attention to detail talk , Im at the edge of my seat to see the Camaro interior . I do believe Lutz has even commented on the extreme attention to detail throughout .

 

You hit the nail right square on the head my friend! IMHO that IS exactly what's going on! But it didn't happen overnight, it took years of reading snob magazines trashing domestics. Eventually if people see, and hear something enough times, they start to believe it!

 

That interior looks like pure secks to me.

I don't know of any center stack on the market that looks that gorgeous... I hope the materials are as pleasing as they look.

The thing is you haven't sat in and interacted with the new STS interior yet. So you can't really fault people for accusing you for favoring Lexus when you give them an unfair advantage. All we can go on is style alone at this point to be fair.

 

That interior looks to "Just catch up" to what you see in todays luxury cars. Ever look in an A8, or a M45, heck even the 35. Its not to say that its bad, or not up to par, but they will be running with that for years, and very quickly be behind the par once again.

I mean compare it to the M45, which is at to under an STS price range. Throw it up against an E550. Its just now playing catch up, instead of blowing the competition away.

 

The M45, which is a very recent design, is very much priced like the STS. The Audi A8 goes way farther up the ladder than the STS. The Audi A8, MB S class, BMW 7, and to an extent the Lexus LS are all basically a price/size class above the STS. As for the MB E550, I don't think its interior is anything special (not really a fan of MB interior styling in general)...

The M35 (V6) starts at $41450.
M45 (V8) = $49100. Add premium package and 18" chrome wheels, you're at $60k.

STS V6 starts at $42995.
STS V8 starts at $52415, or $60k for the "premium luxury performance" package.

The STS may be a bit more overall, but they are certainly in the same ballpark.

The Audi A8 starts at about $69k (with a few options, you are at STS-V money). The S8 version and W12 versions are over $90k, with options easily pushing them into 6 figures. Not exactly a direct competitor for the STS. The A6 is much more in line with the STS, as prices go ($42k for a V6, $55k for a V8, over $70k for the base S6 with 435 hp V10).

The MBE350 starts at $51k, with the V8 E550 at $60k. A bit pricier than the STS, though the E550 has a significant power advantage over the STS (382 hp 5.5L vs. 320 hp 4.6L).

 

The STS V can run you up to 75,000K. So the A8 is an ok comparison to make, and the E550 a good comparison.

Either way, the STS interior in comparison to those "luxury" brands does seem to fall short. Is Caddy supposed to be a second tier luxury brand? Because thats what it has always seemed like to me.


I once thought about buying a CTS till I saw the interior. It was too much black plastic and not enough luxury feel for a luxury car.


Like I said, this interior redesign, though very nice, is about 3-4 years behind the curve and doesnt present anything that is ground breaking, nor aesthetically wonderful.

 

If you want to compare something to an STS-V, compare it to the S6, which is the performance variant of the A6. The A6 and STS are competitors, the STS-V and S6 are competitors.

The current STS interior falls pretty far short IMO - this new one I guess I'll have to wait and see. To me Caddy was a "first tier" brand for many decades, but kinda fell behind at the same time as GM as a whole fell behind and established a bad reputation. Now days Caddy is showing strong signs of revival and is in some cases leading the way to what may be GM's revival of building reputable and truly arguably class-leading vehicles at the time of their release.


The new one, or the old one? The old one was a joke of an interior IMO - many people here flamed me for saying that but I'll just say ANY time I ever got into a conversation with somebody about the 07 and prior CTS they all had opinions ranging from "I guess I could deal with it if I liked the rest of the car enough" to "it looks like ****"... so I'm thinking it was moreso the members of this board that had a biased positive opinion of the interior.
The NEW one on the other hand... most all of the same people I've talked to about the previous CTS are all about as impressed as I am with the new design. Even the guys on the Lexus board which hated the previous CTS interior range from accepting to flat out blown away by the new interior.
The only stipulation I have is that it better not jump way up in price or else that interior is going to be compared to stiffer competition than just the Lexus IS, 3-series, A4, TL, G35, and so on.

 

Have you seen the controversial thread that was partially inspired by this idea? No, the A8 not a very valid comparison. I mean, sure, someone could test drive a 469 hp STS-V and go drive a same priced base A8. What would they find? Well, the A8 would probably have the better interior and some extra features. The STS-V, on the other hand, would kick the living hell out of the pig of an A8 (all 350 hp and 4500+ lbs of it) in performance and driving dynamics. So for that buyer who cross shops only on price, they'd have to decide what is more important. But for someone looking for a 400+ hp luxury performance sedan, he/she would probably be aware of the S8 version of the A8, which goes for $100k. Not a very valid comparison in my book.

The E550 is a much more direct competitor (as I mentioned above), though it is priced quite a bit more dearly than the STS, which is a Mercedes (and BMW, and Porsche) trademark. I'm personally not wowed by the E-class interior. It's nice, but... It might outclass the current STS dash, but the one shown in these pics and the subject of this thread looks nicer, to my eyes, based on the single pic we were given.Again, which brands? Short of the most expensive Audi? Possibly. Short of the A6, BMW 5, Lexus GS, Infiniti M, or Mercedes E? I don't think so, based on what I've seen. Well, the CTS interior has always been criticized as its weakest spot. I was not really a huge fan of the appearance of the interior (though I think those who called it cheap were off; it was just trying too hard to be different and hard-edged / techy looking). But the new for '08 CTS interior (the 2nd generation of the car was just unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2007) looks to be at or near the top of its class. I assume we are back to the STS interior, as shown in the pic (that has been removed ). I disagree. It may not be "ground breaking" in every way, though the fact that it will be covered in real leather is rather rare for its price class. I personally find it to be very nice aesthetically. As for 3-4 years behind the curve, that remains to be seen. Cars are always leapfrogging each other. Like I said, I put that interior (again, based on what little we can see) ahead of the current BMW 5 or Infiniti M, for example. They are both fairly recent designs. So maybe they'll jump ahead again in 2010 or so.