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Show ssttaal! _ibidi ‘hii.. Click Continued from Page | By Dan Neil The flashy fractalism that girds the Cadillac XLR has a name. General Motors Corp.'s luxury divisioncalls it "Art and Science‘ design. The name always reminds me of Raphael’s great I’m not sure what’s computer- . ized here. It could be that the _ system that measures the position of the frame has a digital component that stores the data. Or it might have an alignment machine that’s computerized. But in any case, mechanics will measure the shape of the frame before and after, and try to bring factory : it back within specifications. Tom: The measuring they dois much better than when I was painting ‘School of Athens,** in which Plato and Aristotle are seen debating whether to clean out the attic or the basement. People in art history classes are now falling out of their chairs. Whenit first appeared on the Evog concept car at the Detroit Auto Show in 1999, the cut-glass edginess of Art and Science lookedpretty extreme futuristic in a Fahrenheit 45/1 sort of way. A lot of peoplejust couldn’t wrap their eyes around the strange and slightly threatening shape, like a you, Rocko??” zero tooling around Beverly Hills and West Hollywood With the top flowty listening to. thoughpretendjng ngt to hear - <peoplé react) to thee=XLR. Ray: So, dependingon the skill of the body shop and the quality — of the frame machine it uses, ' there’s a decent chance that your The geometric XLR roadster is the most successfu | expression of Cadillac’s “Art and Science” brand-design philosophy. Conversations around the tables of open-air bistros stilled; people pointed and waved. One guy took a picture of the car with his cell phone. The interior is as swank and formal as the exterior is brash and provocative. This is GM’s best interior to date think midnight supper club with a steering wheel. The leather bucket seats (multi-adjustable with heating and ventilation) are separated by a broad center console surfaced with golden eucalyptus wood, matching the wood trim on the steering wheel and door handles. The pop-up panel on the right side of the central console conceals two excellent cup holders. The palm-shaped shifter controlling the five-speed automatic-manual transmission slides in a J-shaped shift gate with a light, precise action. The shifter falls perfectly at hand The black-faced instrument cluster, with ’’Bulgari‘* written circumferentially above the speedo, is bright and instantly readable but Bulgari’s connection to the car is anything but obvious. The climate control consoleis intuitive and easy to read, a fuss-free design some Europeans wouldbe well advised to copy. The switchgearhas a clean, well-dampedfeel to it. Quality all around, lhe interior’s least lovable textureis the silk-screened printing on the metal surfaces the center console sur- round, the door-mounté@™panel and Ci various switchgear. And while I’m lower windshield in the driver’s field of view; rain-sensing wipers; Xenon complaining: the oversize sun visors block views of traffic signals and look rather like beagle ears flapping around when the top’s down. But these are minor issues. The ambience ofthe car is well executed, sophisticated and technical, and full of surprise and delight. For instance: The XLR employs a proximity locking andstarting system. Drivers simply keep the key in a pocket or purse, and the car by means ofradio signals recognizes the key holder as he or she approaches and unlocks the doors. Tostart the car, you put your foot on the brake and press a toggle start switch to the right of the steering column. Tolock the car, all you have to do is walk away. The XLR has lots offun technology, There are no exterior door handles: You hook yourfingers inside a cutout at the top of the door andpress a rubberized pressure pad. Likewise, to get out you push a button adjacent to the door pull. On the practical side are systems like the adaptive cruise control that, once set, uses radar to maintain a set distance between youandthe car ahead. This system, though not as fluid as Mercedes-Benz’s Distronic system, is nice for long-distance HID headlights with automatic activation; and a DVD playerintegrated into the 250-watt Bose system (mercifully, the DVD system works only when the car is in park). Suffice it to say that GM put every- thing that its Tier | suppliers had to offer on this car. Which accounts for the car’s price tag, considerably more than the exquisite Lexus SC 430, for Rangerwill be fine. The ultimate test, though, is a four-wheel alignment. Tom: So nowthatit’s “fixed,” take it to a shop that doesalignment. If a bunch of guys start gathering around the scratching their heads truck, and shrugging, that’s a bad sign, « Billie. If the vehicle can’t be aligned, that means the frame is still not straight. Ray: In that case, you can go back to the body shopandgiveit anothercrackat it. And the truth example. Can Cadillac play in these Elysian fields? Perhaps, but it will haveto rely on its styling star power, because the car lacks the refinement and polish of its German, British and Japanese competitors. if the truck can be successfully aligned, you should be all set. The XLR is a sporty car, no doubt about it. Under the hood is a free- your house! revving Northstar 4.6-liter V-8, with It)s never cheaper in the long run to buy a new car. Want proof? Order Tom and Ray’s pamphlet “How to Buy a Great dual overhead camsand variable valve timing, good for 320 horsepower. The car launches withauthority, but it’s no bracket racer — zero to 60 mph hovers around 5.9 seconds — and it’s atits best splitting cross-town traffic with bursts of mid-rpm torque or cruising at supralegal speeds. The five-speed auto shifts with oily smoothness and — with its wrist-flicking action — is one of the few auto-manuals that’s fun to manually shift. Overall, the Cadillac ” is, the shop can even replace the. ow frameentirely, if it needs to. But’); Then you can get to work on straightening the framing on Used Car: Secrets Only Your Mechanic Knows.” Send $4.50 (check or money order) to Used Car, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, Fla. 32853-6475. Got a question about cars? E- commuters. Also standard on the XLR are a XLR is a great image car that needs mail Click and Clack by visiting the Car Talk section ofcars.com heads-up display system that projeets some’ Seasoning to measure upto its on the World Wide Web, speed and other information on the transglobafrivals. 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Cancellations: You will receive a “kill” num- ber when cancelling an ad. No allowances will be made without this number, ee grown starting out, when we used to eyeball it. “That look straight to 4 ~ ee ee ee crystal gravity. But to their credit, the designers at Cadillac in particular GM head of design Wayne Cherry remained committed to Art and Science, and eventually the public came around. Today’s Cadillacs seem to live quite comfortablyinside their geometric skins. The 2004 XLR a compact, twoseat roadster with a retractable hardtop and a $76,525 price tag is closest to the well of Art and Science, and perhaps that’s why it’s the most successful expression of Cadillac’s new brand styling. Based on the next-generation Corvette platform andbuilt in Bowling Green, Ky., alongside Corvette, the XLR is a low, wide and wedgy car, with a severe, nose-down profile that from certain angles makes it look like a Sharper Image stapler. It is roughlythe samesize as its competitors, including the Lexus SC 430, Mercedes-Benz 5O0SL and Porsche 911 cabriolet, but the Caddie has proportionally a much longer wheelbase, which gives it a very athletic stance. I'he thing practically smolders with visual heat: the recessed rear glass between the roof pillars; the wide trapezoidal stop lamp integrated into thetrailing edge ofthe trunk; the chiseled LED taillights; the pagoda-like angularity of the front fenders as they sweep up to meet the shoulderline Yikes. Is ita beautiful car? Honestly, | can’t tell. But it sizzles. Not surprisingly, the XLR_ plays great in Los Angeles. I spent a day = = > ,_ > & +71: “eens eveusceasusauesnus? == © = wee een n a guy named Igor limping aroundit. Ray: Most frame machines are not terribly high-tech. In fact, (c) 2003, Los Angeles Times malevolent esr eeveaees St Prer Art meets science in new Cadillac XLR Fee December 19, 2003 AUTOMOTIVE AdvertisingsupplementproducedbytheNewspaper Agency Corporation |