The
2008 Cadillac DTS is a big car. Its overall length of 207.6 inches makes it five inches longer than the
Escalade full-size SUV, and nearly a foot longer than the
STS, Cadillac's next-largest sedan. DTS is almost four inches longer than a
BMW 7 Series and 2.6 inches longer than the latest long-wheelbase
Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. It's also wide, more than two inches wider than an STS.
Despite its size, however, the clean forms of the DTS give it a European look, though in a distinctively American idiom. With its vertical headlights and tail lights, and its grinning egg-crate grille, the DTS has acquired the design heritage of the Cadillac family and adapted it to 21st century reality. It acknowledges tradition, yet remains fresh and modern. The nose is particularly expressive, with jewel-like xenon headlights framing an expansive chrome grille adorned with a center-mounted wreath-and-crest badge.
Interesting styling elements include body-side chrome trim accenting body-color door moldings, and a narrow LED high-mounted stop light that runs nearly the entire width of the deck lid's crisply edged rear contour. The fenders provide a purposeful stance, and the profile is slightly wedge-shaped. Seventeen-inch machined aluminum wheels come standard; 18-inch wheels are available; and those wheels can be ordered chromed. The overall look is brought together by Cadillac's characteristic spline line, which rises from the top of the front fender, runs along with lower edge of the side windows and then flows over the rear fender.
The Platinum Edition is distinguished visually by 18-inch chrome wheels, chrome grille, chrome inserts on the exterior door handles, and a Platinum badge.
Cadillac boasts that the DTS has some of the tightest production tolerances in the world, and it certainly looks the part of a well-honed luxury machine. The panels fit well, the paint is glossy and blemish free, and overall the DTS wears its bulk well, like a fine-tailored suit. The quality of GM cars has been improving, and Cadillac scores well in quality surveys. next page