Cadillac’s 2013 ATS Trains In Germany

Cadillac is serious about going head to head with BMW when its new ATS model eventually hits the market. Competing with BMW’s 3 Series is an ambitious goal, since the car has long been the benchmark for sport sedans the world over. To illustrate how intent Cadillac is about beating BMW, it’s recently released the video below, which shows Cadillac engineers working an ATS test mule at the Nürburgring.

The YouTube video makes some bold claims, including, “the ATS is probably the most sporting car Cadillac has ever done, and you’ll find this car more entertaining than anything else in the segment.” Do we need to remind you that the segment includes, at the very least the BMW 335i? Or that it could quite possibly also include the Audi S4, or the BMW M3?

Pay close attention at 1:03 into the video, when an engineer thumbs his stop watch and announces “twenty-eight oh nine,” to which a colleague replies “twenty-eight fourteen.” In terms of lap times, that either translates to 7:28.09 (doubtful, since it would make the ATS faster than a Porsche Carrera GT and just a tick slower than a Pagani Zonda F Clubsport) or 8:28.09, which puts the ATS on par with the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8, but two seconds slower than a BMW 335i. To keep Cadillac humble, we’d remind them that a Chevy Cobalt SS lapped the ‘Ring in 8:22.85, so let’s hope Cadillac isn’t ready to call it a day just yet.

Car and Driver