As mentioned earlier in this review, I was invited to Colorado to test the new Cadillac, and other models in the crested
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| I was invited to Colorado to test the new Cadillac, and other models in the crested wreath lineup, on a specially prepared race track of pure ice and snow. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
wreath lineup, on a specially prepared race track. What I didn't realize prior to the event was that the specially prepared part was the 500,000 gallons (1,892,706 litres) of water that had been poured over its surface and allowed to freeze in the sub-zero temperatures. Calling it slick would be doing the track an injustice, as it was basically a big slab of ice complicated by right angle turns, chicanes, dips, dives, hills, combinations of all, and even a 300-foot skidpad at centre.My first inkling was to run for the all-wheel drive STS, but the Cadillac team had other plans in mind. We were to drive each vehicle in the model lineup, starting with a competitive model and then moving over to the rival Cadillac for comparison purposes - nothing out of the ordinary here. But to my amazement the cars were fitted with standard rolling stock, or in other words the same all-season
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| The track was covered with 500,000 gallons of water allowed to freeze in the sub-zero temperatures, the ideal opportunity for power-on oversteer. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
tires that come standard off the showroom floor. OK, I'm from the West, so it's fair to say I hadn't as much experience driving in slick conditions as some of my Midwest and East Coast colleagues. This said there were a couple of journalists from California and one from Miami. I suppose the many trips to ski resorts over the last 25 years of driving gave me the upper hand on these poor blokes. Still, to me the prospect of piloting powerful, rear-drive cars fitted with all-season tires on this surface was the equivalent of being tossed onto the skating rink wearing a set of leather-soled Florsheim brogues, but car control, or lack thereof, being much the same no matter what track surfaces are like, I cautiously set forth.
