Cadillac ATS. Farewell. Management Fleet

We wave farewell to The Management Fleet Cadillac ATS. But not before we’ve shown you the best thing about it…

With three months under the Middle East’s torturously strong summer sunlight ticked off, it’s time for crankandpiston.com to bid adieu to its long term Cadillac ATS. And a fair amount we’ve squeezed in during that time too. As well as its invaluable off camera assistance shooting the Bentley Continental GT V8 S and the Aston Martin Rapide S, the Caddy’s 321bhp V6 and supple handling have given each of the team their respective hoots both to and from work, and whilst the Safety Alert Seat demonstrated what daily life with a haptic pulse through the seat of the corduroy can really be like. Plus, the hidden storage compartment behind the infotainment screen amassed an impressive number of sunglasses and iPod cables.

There was also that unfortunate safety recall nonsense concerning the six-speed automatic transmission and whether or not the drivetrain worked properly. But a speedy turnaround from General Motors, a clean bill of health for our test model plus a complimentary 10K service for good measure meant we soon forgot all about that.

And yet, whilst the technology on offer – from the Bluetooth connectivity to GM’s oft-lauded Cadillac User Experience infotainment system – was very impressive and easy to use, it’s not this that will stick with me. Nor is it the ATS’ superb looks, ludicrously comfortable seating, and driver assistance systems, the significance of which sprung to mind last month when I found myself head-to-head with an oncoming MINI Cooper S.

No, what I will remember most about our time with the ATS is the key fob. Which is just as well, since it’s easily the most brilliant thing. In the world. Ever.

For those of you unfamiliar with General Motors’ remote start system, the ATS’s V6 can be remotely started if a sequence of buttons is pressed on the key fob. No longer was climbing into a stifling cabin and fighting for breath required in a cabin left baking for hours in 50-degree temperatures. Simply by punching the sequence into the key fob from the comfort of crankandpiston air-conditioned oval office, the ATS – parked outside – was ready to go in moments.

“Well there you go then chaps’, I hear you say, ‘now that you know how to remotely start a Cadillac, there’s nothing to stop you cracking on with a professional road test…”

…well…there were a couple of things we had to find out before that…

Could we, for instance, remote start a Cadillac ATS quicker than a Chevrolet Tahoe? Could we remote start an ATS parked on the third floor of a multi-storey parking lot if we were on the ground floor? Could we remote start an ATS in front of a passing pedestrian without them realising there wasn’t a driver inside?

And I’d love to be able to tell you that these were the only challenges we came up with…

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