SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

Me and my g/f were watching an old tape I made back in 1994, january 27th to be exact. I was recording Naked Gun 2 1/2 and must have left the VCr running cuz I managed to get David Letterman, the ten oclock news, and a talk show i cant remember, But what got me was a Cadillac commercial that compared the deville concours with an LS400, and how they used Motor trend's judgement that the Deville was superior by virtue of its greater interior room, more powerful engine, and lower sticker price. It was surpising to me that anythign they made back then could even come close, but apprently one magazine thought so.

mmarshall

Cadillac back then was also playing up the fact that they had OnStar and Lexus did not have an equivalent system ( LexusLink did not come out till later ). Their cars, compared to Lexus, though, were a joke, quality-wise.

Motor Trend, IMO, is not a particularly good auto magazine....you can do a lot better than that.

flipside909

I used to laugh at those stupid Cadillac commercials that mocked Lexus owners. "Hey there nice Lexus...ahhh too bad, you don't have the Northstar system".

If you were to reinact that same commercial today with that same Lexus LS400 owner saying... "Hey there nice Cadillac....Northstar what? Oh too bad, rebuild!"

Baby ///M3

Are you sure Cadillacs came with OnStar back then? The 94' DeVille Concours (not the base model), however, did come with a 4.6L detuned 275hp Northstar engine.

I suppose Caddy came up with that commercial to combat the growing success of Lexus in 1994. Before the LS400's introduction, Cadillac was already having problems with Merdeces and BMW as its primary competitors.

I personally think the year 1994 was particularly important because it was the year when Lexus was still trying to climb to the crest of the hill while Cadillac was trying to come up with the brand new DeVille (which was bigger, rounder, more powerful, etc.).

Unfortunately, not even the new DeVill back then was anywhere good enough to stop Lexus from being the King of the Road of the early 21 century.

Motor Trend is okay. I especially like the issue where there was a sexy lady posing with a black SC.

Jon

mmarshall

Yes.....Cadillac, not surprisingly, was the first GM division to get OnStar. It was considered brand-new technology back then. Today it is available not only on Caddys but many other GM vehicles as well....even some foreign-nameplate ones like Saab.
The DeVille Concours, being the "Touring" or slightly sportier model DeVille, had the full 300 HP Northstar and had different wheels, tires and power steering than the other DeVilles, and also replaced the stand-up hood ornament with a regular hood badge. It was basically an STS with a different body style.
You are correct that MT is okay.....while most other auto magazines are BETTER than OK.

mmarshall

You were not alone, Flip.

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

The concours only had 275 hp.... the basic deville still had the 4.9 liter cadillac V8 as late as 1995. The only way to get the 300 hp was to get an STS or ETC. I think '96 is when the base deville got 275 and the concours 300.

I was just looking on ebay at some mid-90s cadillacs just for jokes and they ALL have oil leaks, transmission problems and a host of other issues. I'm looking for a nice beater car to absorb the mileage of work commuting, but it's definitely not going to be a cadillac.

Baby ///M3

Yes, the 91-95' 4.9L pushrod V8 was used until late 1995 on DeVilles.

The funny thing is, Northstar had only about 290hp or so when it was first used on the Allante, Seville STS and Eldorado Touring Coupe (later changed to ETC in 95') in 1993. It was only bumped up to 300hp in 1994 when Cadillac started to place the detuned 275hp Northstar in the Seville SLS and Eldorado coupe.

And yes, these cars tend to get problematic when they're old. Even with our 90' DeVille, which was purchased new and has only 54k miles, is somewhat leaky and weird at time. Sometimes the A/C wouldn't work for no reason, the radio antenna wouldn't retract, stereo buttons started to act weird, etc. But other than that, it still puuuuuurs like a cat.

mmarshall: Yes. I am aware that the OnStar is available on many other GM models and that it's pioneered by Cadillac. I was only saying that it probably wasn't available in the 94' model year...

Jon

mmarshall

OK. You may be right about the Northstar introduction date for the DeVille....but the Concours has always had more HP than other DeVilles, either way.

I believe the Northstar was actually introduced FIRST on the Allante, not the STS.

Your comments about leaks and oil consumption are correct...the Northstar is known for this. Many of them (even new) averaged only 800-1000 miles a quart.

Baby ///M3

Yeap. Concours always had more hp because it was the sportier and more expensive DeVille.

But it was only available with the 275hp version of Northstar on the 94'-95' model years because base DeVille only had 200hp with that wicked 4.9L pushrod V8.

The Northstar was first introduced on the Allante, Seville Touring Sedan and Eldorado Touring Coupe in 1993. But the Allante name often gets the honor for being the first Northstar Cadillac because it was the ultimate Cadillac back then.

Jon

PS. Cadillac was so proud when its first Seville STS with Northstar ran 6.4sec. from 0-60mph while the others were still able to manage only 7s and 8s. The only exception being the Infinity Q45 (6.7sec) and the LS400 (6.9sec).

Had this evolution been a logical one, the STS should be running in sub. 5 sec range nowadays. But noooooo... there just has to be the V version as if Cadillac hasn't advanced in performance in years and years.

mmarshall

Cadillacs aren't supposed to be dragsters, though the new CTS-V certainly will get out of its own way. Even it, though, was not designed to be a traditional American dragster muscle-car in the Mustang-Camaro sense but a BMW-like sports sedan.

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

That is true, but actually I used to have a 1995 cadillac line brochure. They quoted 0-60
time for both the eldorados and Sevilles at 7.5 seconds, times they compared as being "similar to muscle cars of yore." The deville concours with 275 hp managed 8.5 seconds or something like that. The basic deville 4.9 could do it in 9.2 seconds if I recall.

They did not list the 0-100 times for the cars however, but I believe the 300 hp northstar cars would certainly pull away from the basic northstar cars at higher speeds.

Back when i was really into cadillac and almost certain I was going to get a 95-97 black STS, I was a frequenter of www.Caddyinfo.com. Pretty cool site.

LexFather

werd ....................

Baby ///M3

I am also a Cadillac nut.

Yeap. Car manufacturers probably are a bit more conservative in quoting 0-60mph times.

The 6.4sec. figure is from the comparison test from Car & Driver sometime in 1993.

95-97' black STS seemed like a very cool choice back then. Gives that litle hue of the movie "Face Off" with Cage's exit from his black STS in front of the jet plane.

mmarshall: If only Cadillac could succeed in making its Seville a worthy competitor of BMW and Mercedes.

Jon

Falcon LS

2 words: General Morons.