The 240-horsepower rear-wheel-drive Cadillac CT4 gives you a reason not to buy a front-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Recently, the price of the American version of the Cadillac CT4 was revealed. It is available in four models: Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport, and V-Series. The price range is US$33,990-46,590, which is approximately RMB 241,797-317,203. The domestic CT4 will be equipped with a 2.0T turbocharged engine as standard with a maximum power of 240 horsepower and a peak torque of 350N·m. The transmission system is matched with an 8AT gearbox. As the successor of ATS, rear drive, high horsepower, and emphasis on sportiness are still its selling points. The Cadillac CT5 is originally a medium-to-large car. GM Group's usual "dislocation competition" strategy has made it directly targeted at the mid-size car market, competing with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Audi A4L. Then the CT4's competitors will naturally target the Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan, BMW 1 Series sedan, and Audi A3 sedan. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan has just completed its replacement and is currently the cheapest Mercedes-Benz. However, the higher product premium does not have any advantage over the Cadillac CT4. (The abbreviation of Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan below: Mercedes-Benz A-Class) The domestically produced Cadillac ATS-L was born for the BMW 3 Series, with tight suspension, precise steering, plus 279 horsepower and 400N·m power output , its excellent handling and absolute power advantages are not lost to the BMW 3 Series. Today, the CT4 is built on the Cadillac Alpha rear-drive architecture, and uses the same front MacPherson double-ball joint independent suspension as the ATS-L (BMW calls it a "double-ball joint spring shock absorber front axle"), and a rear multi-link Independent suspension, and some models will still provide electromagnetic suspension. The relatively special mechanical setting of the CT4's front suspension will make the vehicle's steering system more sensitive and direct. The multi-link independent suspension of the rear suspension can have more precise adjustment, so that the vehicle can achieve a good balance between sportiness and comfort. It is not difficult for CT4 to continue the excellent handling of Cadillac ATS-L. The front suspension of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class uses front MacPherson independent suspension. The rear suspension is only equipped with multi-link independent suspension as standard on the top model. Other models come standard with rear torsion beam non-independent suspension, but it can be optional for 8,300 yuan. Installed rear multi-link independent suspension. Obviously this is a cost-saving approach. If the torsion beam non-independent suspension is well adjusted by engineers, it will not be worse than the multi-link independent suspension in terms of comfort, but its natural physical structure determines that it cannot accurately adjust the rear wheel toe angle and camber angle. This will also directly affect the response speed and tracking of the rear of the car, thereby affecting the vehicle's handling. The CT4 power system is equipped with a 2.0T turbocharged engine, matched with an 8-speed automatic transmission, with a maximum power of 240 horsepower and a peak torque of 350N·m. Compared with the ATS-L, the absolute power is reduced by 39 horsepower and the peak torque is reduced by 50N·m. m, but it is still close to the old BMW 330i (252 horsepower and 350N·m). The 8AT gearbox matching the transmission system will become a key point of the CT4. The 6AT gearbox used to be equipped with the ATS-L had slow downshifts and frustration, which seriously affected its driving quality. Later, it was replaced with an 8AT gearbox. Although the above situation has changed. Ease, but there is still a big gap compared with the adjustment of BMW's ZF 8AT gearbox. In addition, ATS-L is also a representative of high fuel consumption, with daily consumption of 11-12L/100km, and even reaching 15.9L/km in traffic jams. The CT4 is expected to be equipped with the same 2.0T variable-cylinder turbocharged engine as the CT6. After all, the power data only differs by 1 horsepower. At the same time, this is currently Cadillac's main engine. With the reduced power and the blessing of variable cylinder technology, it is expected that the fuel consumption of CT4 will be controlled. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class is equipped with a 1.3T high and low power engine and a 2.0T engine, with maximum powers of 136 horsepower, 163 horsepower, and 190 horsepower respectively, and peak torques of 200N·m, 250N·m, and 300N·m respectively. The transmission system is matched with a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox, but in terms of shift speed and smoothness, compared with the 7-speed dual-clutch gearboxes used by Volkswagen and BMW, there is still a certain gap in terms of smoothness and response speed. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class mainly has a brisk driving experience. In terms of absolute power, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and CT4 are not in the same weight class. In terms of boxing player images, one is Pacquiao and the other is Tyson. Cadillac CT4 adopts the same interior design as CT5, but there are some differences in details. The materials used are definitely very solid, and they are wrapped in a large area of ​​genuine leather. After all, this is a long-standing tradition of American cars. The same tradition will definitely continue in terms of configuration, which can be seen by referring to the configuration table of CT6 and the configuration table of CT5 previously exposed. It is reported that CT4 will be equipped with LED headlights, dual-zone automatic air conditioning, comprehensive active safety configurations, Brembor brakes, electromagnetic suspension, seat heating, ventilation and other configurations. The brand-new interior design of the Mercedes-Benz family once made it a representative of technology, and even blocked Audi's limelight. This has also become a major selling point of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, but the actual use of the buttons is not as good as on higher-level Mercedes-Benz models. Pressing them is stiff, there is no damping, and the texture is lacking. As for the dual 10.25-inch central control screens, they are not equipped on low-end models. Instead, they use a slightly cheaper 7-inch small screen, and the car lights are also halogen headlights. What's more important is that, except for the top-end models, rear multi-link independent suspension is optional for other models. Abnormal noise in the interior is also a point of complaint from many car owners. The Cadillac CT4 has a body size of 4756/1815/1423mm and a wheelbase of 2775mm, which is 134mm longer and 14mm shorter than the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. It is expected that the CT4's rear space will be at a certain disadvantage compared to the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. For reference, the CT6's wheelbase and body length are longer than those of the Audi A6L, but the rear space is not as ample. This is also the "tradition" of American cars. ”, the passenger space will not be expanded through the optimized design of the car interior. The important thing is that the wheelbase of CT4 is 85mm shorter than that of ATS-L, and there is no big difference in the rear seats of the two cars. You know, the ATS-L's small rear space and too hard seats have always been its flaws. It is estimated that the CT4 will not be greatly improved in terms of comfort, and may even be somewhat regressed. However, the shortened 85mm wheelbase is beneficial to improving the vehicle's handling. Of course, it is not ruled out that after the CT4 is made in China, the wheelbase will be lengthened to increase the rear space and become "CT4-L". After all, the wheelbase of the CT5 is a full 2947mm. As the successor of the ATS-L, the Cadillac CT4 has certain handling and sportiness. There is no doubt that the Mercedes-Benz A-Class is one order of magnitude lower than it. If the adjustment of this 8AT gearbox is optimized, it will even surpass the new BMW 325Li. The luxurious interior materials and ultra-high comfort configurations are more substantial than the large screen in the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, which is the least useful, such as seat heating and seat ventilation. As for the appearance, I think Cadillac's design of this generation is very successful. It retains the American muscular lines while adding a lot of sense of technology. The current increase in Cadillac's sales, especially the sales of CT6 and XT6, are closely related to its new family-style appearance. Inseparable.