To Buffalo in a Cadillac STS

Reliving days gone by in a Cadillac STS

Mar 14, 2009

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Special to the Star

BUFFALO–My late boss, legendary sports journalist Dick Beddoes, once said going to Buffalo is like driving through Hamilton twice. It has everything going for it and everything going against it.

Nestled fabulously on the edge of Lake Erie, Buffalo's downtown is a marvel of architectural gems, its urban neighbourhoods exude character and it is home to a fine collection of rabid sports fans.

It is also part of the American Rust Belt, with eviscerated steel mills haunting the waterfront and small factories shuttered on once bustling streets.

It is against this backdrop that I drove a Cadillac STS, a robustly stylish car with brazen full-figured pizzazz.

It fills out its skin with masculine heft that is pure corn-fed American.

Cadillac and Buffalo share a past brimming with confidence, when it was easy to be king in a compact world. Today, both are scrapping to regain lost glory.

The 2009 STS V6 has a puffy price tag of $87,555. Beyond the base price of $59,055 and the a/c tax and destination charge of another $1,520, this one is fitted with a hefty $26,980 in options.

The usual suspects account for the price hike: navigation, premium sound, performance upgrades including Brembo brakes and safety add-ons such as lane departure and blind spot warning systems.

I start my road trip with an open mind. Leaving Hamilton for the Queen City, I ponder taking a scenic route on rural roads through the Niagara Peninsula, but I decide not to.

The rear-wheel drive Cadillac rolls on 18-inch Michelin Pilot all-season tires and, on snowy roads, the compromised grip makes curves and hills unappealing.

Buffalo-bound along the QEW, highway cruising coaxes the best qualities out of the luxury sedan. A 3.6 L engine producing 302 horsepower propels the Caddy with no strain, utilizing a six-speed automatic.

Thrill seekers might find the Cadillac's less-than-urgent throttle response too tame, but it's part of the STS package, one more suited to the smooth jazz crowd.

It's quiet in the cabin, wind noise is a whisper, and engine noise only intrudes after a sharp stab at the gas pedal. Under hard acceleration, the V6 tries to sound tough and almost succeeds.

The optional blind spot detection and lane departure warnings aim to keep the Caddy dent-free. The blind spot detector is okay, but I quickly start to ignore it, and the lane departure alert is just too arbitrary for me to consider it important.

GM might consider redeploying money spent on techno-babysitters and use it to improve the steering of the STS. It's curiously vague, especially when cornering – where there is almost zero feedback and no feel.

I arrive at the border and arouse no suspicion. You can't buy a traffic jam in downtown Buffalo, so I surf the STS willy-nilly past the old grain mills on the waterfront, and through the historic Cobblestone district.

Though generally having a "down-filled" ride the STS gets a little perturbed on ratty pavement, jostling occupants side to side. It seems a bit out of character.

From the centre of Buffalo, featuring a striking 32-storey historic city hall, roads fan out like the spokes of a wagon wheel.

Driving the Cadillac makes me feel vaguely like a dame in an Elmore Leonard mystery, so I head for a less lofty landmark: 1047 Main St. – The Anchor Bar – home of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing. The wings are gigantic and tasty, and it's full-contact fun when there's a college football or basketball game on the big screen.

An ad in a newspaper catches my eye: Old Editions bookstore at 74 East Huron St. With used and rare books, first editions, signed books, memorabilia and a coffee shop, it's a dream destination. Visions of filling the Cadillac with treasures run through my head.

But the STS, much to my dismay, has a smallish trunk for such a large car, compromised by a pinched opening. I buy a vintage Cadillac magazine ad and keep the book buying for another day.

One of the best reasons to visit Buffalo is the Albright Knox Art Gallery and a blockbuster show – Action Abstraction – has just opened. I glide the STS to a stop to watch people go in to worship at the canvas of Jackson Pollock.

I could have used the navigation system in the STS to find the Albright Knox, but I brought my own familiar portable unit.

I'm patient with technology, but something as easy as setting the seat memory in the STS is enough to make you blow your stack. There are no memory buttons on the seat. Big mistake. Instead you have to go into the computer and paw through several layers to change the seat position.

The last person to drive the STS must've selected the Blood Donor Clinic setting. Every time I open the door the seat drops low, pushes back and reclines.

I finally cancel that setting but I am incapable of programming a new one.

And why the fussy interfaces? It's safe to assume the target customer isn't sending text messages or spending much time on Twitter. The number of button-driven commands is par for the segment, but there are more hieroglyphics than on the wall of a Mayan ruin, and they're not too universal.

Lucky for me, I quickly find the one that removes the heads-up speedometer readout projected on the windshield – right in my line of sight.

The STS is a car for people who like big portions. Though the driver's seat has multi adjustments and the steering wheel tilts and telescopes (with abrupt speed), I can't find a driving position that feels correct.

Interior finishing of the STS has received much praise. The workmanship is first rate. The cocoa and cashmere colour scheme on leather and wood accents, creates a good scale inside the sedan, but compared to competing BMW's, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and now Hyundai Genesis, the STS interior looks dated.

It's the little things, maybe a bit too much chrome, the way the leather puckers on the doors like country club drapery, the vertical orientation of air vents. Competitors' dashes are streamlined and contemporary. The STS is big and blocky.

In many ways, Buffalo is a turn-of-the-century town given its collection of buildings designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Only Chicago has a bigger collection of his work.

I drive the Cadillac toward the Pierce Arrow Transportation Museum where there are plans to construct a Wright design that was never built, a 1920's filling station.

Though the drawings are old, the design will be modern. Cadillac designed a modern exterior with the STS, but competitors are moving forward and setting new standards for less money.

The V8 Hyundai Genesis is just as good looking, handles as well and has a hipper interior for almost $40,000 less.

A friend said it best, when I told him I was driving a Cadillac STS: "You're a little young for that car, aren't you?"

Toronto Star