New 2006 STS

[Maximln]

Just took delivery of a new, 2006, STS! It is the most marvelous car that I have ever driven!!! I remember saying that about the 98 but this car truly is incredible. It is Black Raven with the Ebony Tuscany leather interior. It has the 4.6 liter Northstar loaded with everything but all wheel drive! I am in love with Cadillac all over again! The surround sound is the best I have ever heard, the adaptive cruise control will actually stop the car and I am ecstatic that Cadillac brought back Intellibeam (previously know as Guidematic: Automatic Headlamp dimmer from 1954-1988). There isn't another car that can hold a candle to it: Mercedes, BMW, Lexus or Infinty!

Max

BTW, anyone know how to enable the navigation screen so you can see the DVD picture while driving? Not for me but for the passengers!

[OynxSTS]

Nice ride...

from what I read GM removed the DVD while driving "hack" from all systems manufactured after 2004.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Congrats; sounds like a fun car.

[BodybyFisher]

Good Luck with it, its a beautiful looking car!

[Barry94]

What a great car Max. If I was getting an '06 STS, that one would do just fine.

I like the black exterior, and would also likely go with the ebony interior.

I can only imaging the joy you feel sitting behind the wheel cruising down the highway.

Barry

[JohnnyG]

Congratulations on your new car! Sounds like a beauty! But tell us please, what EXACTLY do you like better about the driving expierience? I mean, toys are great, but what about smoothness, quietness, location of controls? These are important to me. I dislike the high beltline (how high the windows are) of this design, seems too cramped/closed in to me. However, I might be willing to try it if you feel it is somehow significantly better than the '98 in other respects. I'm sure power is fine.

[Maximln]

Thank you all for your replies! My parents had bought their first Cadillac when I was 8 and everything had a button. I was fascinated by this automobile and 20 years later (ok, ok maybe 30 years later) I still feel like that same 8 year old everytime I get in my Cadillac (whichever one it is at the time!). I LOVED my 98. It was a dream car. Up until the time I traded it in, everything worked and I never once got the dreaded SERVICE RIDE CONTROL message (as a matter of fact, I never got it on my 93 either!). I had been putting off purchasing another car because I did like mine so much. It was so comfortable and the ride was superb and I didn't like the way the new STS looked so small and so much like the CTS. My mother has an 04 CTS and loves it. It is a great car but just a little small and at first the STS looked just as small. I just wasn't excited about replacing the 98 with it but the 98 had 155,000 miles on it and it was about time. I seriously considered a DTS. I love the way they look from the front and back. I even rented one from Enterprise so I could see how it drove. I meant to only keep it a couple of days but I ended up keeping it for a week because I enjoyed the car so much. It had plenty of room but from the outside, the side of the car still looked so big and plain. It just wouldn't do. I had gotten brochures on both the DTS and the STS and began to get very excited about the STS. The features seemed to be endless with the sound system being on the top of the list as I loved the sound system in the 98. For a weekend, I seriously considered buying an XLR. A Chevy/GMC dealership had 2 of them, one silver with black leather and a black one with beige leather. They were both 04's and the silver had only 4 thousand miles and the black one had 9 thousand miles. They were both priced within $1000 of the new STS. After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that the XLR would just be too small and I would get bored with it after a while (the same thing happend with an Allante). While the cool factor of the XLR is off the charts, I'm all about the new features that only the 06 had.

The new 06 rides like a dream as well. You can even adjust the magnetic suspension for a TOURING mode or a PERFORMANCE mode. It is very smooth and solid with plenty of power. There is no interior noise whatsoever in the car. The car is actually very roomy inside. I am 6'1" with long legs and when I put the seat all the way back, I can still stretch my legs all the way out! It definately has more leg room than the 98. The 98 seemed to have more openness (is that a word?). The 06 doesn't seem to have as much room but it still very comfortable. There is a lot less storage on the 06. That was one of the key features of the 98. Twenty some storage compartments and the HUGE glove compartment. The glove compartment in the 06 is rather small and awkward to access but there is still a place to keep tissues and another SMALL compartment for. . .I'm sure I'll find something to fit in there. There are no umbrella trays under the front seats, or for that matter, any storage space under the front seats. On the other hand, the front console has ample storage space as the 6 disk changer does not hog all the room. There is also no storage compartments in the trunk and the trunk seems significantly smaller and harder to access. Maybe it's not smaller but it is definately harder to access. There are no cornering lights which is something that has been with Cadillac for years but the HID headlamps do seem to illuminate the roadway much better with some illumination towards the side as well. I also miss the automatic parking brake release, another feature that had been around for years and years. The 06 also does not have electronic brake wear indicators so it's back to listening for the wear indicator. The controls of the 06 are all within easy reach, especially since most of them are all voice activated (you can even roll the windows up and down with voice commands!)!

Despite these shortcomings, overall the car is incredible. When you look at it from the side, it does look like a large car. My cousin has an 06 E350 and the STS is significantly longer than it. The gauges on the 98 were very cool. The gauges on the new car seem a little plain but the heads up display definately is an artwork. Four different colors and it displays radio, climate, navigation, speed and cruise functions. I just found out today that when you put it in sport mode, the HUD displays a tachometer! The interior lighting doesn't seem to be as thoughtful as the 98. It definitely brightens the interior but it is not recessed like the 98. The fact that you never have to use a key with the car and that you can remotely start the car and activate the appropriate interior climate controls is amazing. I think one of the most amazing facts is that even though you have a 6 disc changer, you can make mp3 disks and store around 150 songs on each disk and save them in different folders which will display on the navigation screen. That is about 6 CD's on one disk so in reality, it is like have a 42 disk CD changer!

While the 06 is indeed a great car, there was so much thought and effort put into the design and functionality of the 98. I've had the 06 for about 5 days now but it already is taking over my heart.

Well, it seems that I have gone off on a tangent so I better quit before I make everyone fall asleep!

Max

[CaddyChris]

Max,

Thanks for your detailed impressions of the car thus far. The 98s + must have entirely more storage areas in the vehicle than my 94. The 94 has nowhere to put anything....seriously, except for the pouches in the back of the front seats....but that's it....and the trunk which I can't complain about. I'm going to keep driving my 94 for as long as possible because I just graduated college and I'm trying to pay off debt, not acquire new debt....but boy would I love a new 06 sts...lemme tellya. Good luck.