"WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe" (wesbarton89)
01/28/2015 at 14:16 • Filed to: Oppositelock Revue
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"WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe" (wesbarton89)
01/28/2015 at 14:16 • Filed to: Oppositelock Revue | 0
| 8 |
So, the contest was a three way tie, between the Aveo, Cadillac, and Bonneville. I'll do all three, but start with this one. Pictures included are not of the actual car. I don't have any, anymore.
The Cadillac DeVille was a boat of a car. Massive, and a long-lasting nameplate. A true V8 luxobarge.
( Full disclosure : Cadillac wanted me to drive this car so bad, he sold it to someone who bought it new, then sold it to my stepdad, complete with maintenance records, and a bad head gasket, for $400. It was purchased during the summer of 2007, with just over 100k miles. My stepdad fixed the head gaskets, and I drove it once to the hospital, where I found out my fiancee was pregnant with our first child)
Exterior 7/10
The one I drove looked just like this one, except it was more of a champagne color, and it had a crack in the top of the grille. I rather liked the design. It took a lot of cues from the Fleetwood, and it's basically a bit shorter, but very similar otherwise. It's an elegant design with no fuss. The hood is very long though, and seeing out of the front of the car can be challenging, especially with judging distance, if you're not used to driving a large car. There was no rust on the body, and panel fit was pretty good.
Interior 9/10
Wow. This interior does not mess around. Leather and soft touch materials and wood grain everywhere. These are some of the softest, best smelling leather seats I've been in. The original leather maker tag was still on the seat! Very little wear. Adjustments and buttons everywhere. The steering wheel is nice and large, but with no bolstering, just round with spokes, adjustments, and a loud horn. There are no analog gauges, it's all digital, but I'll go over that in more detail in the Toys section. A very nice place to be, and a great example of American luxury accommodations. It could seat six people with room to spare. My older brother, who is close to 6'5", and not a skinny person, could fit in the backseat without issue.
Acceleration 8/10
Acceleration from the 32V Northstar 4.6L V8 is incredibly smooth. It puts out 300hp and 295lb-ft of torque, on a vehicle just shy of 4,000lbs. All things considered, that's not a horrible curb weight, and it translates to pretty good, supremely smooth pull on highway passes, or just cruising. It could reach 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, which is pretty dang quick for its size. Nowadays, that's not so fast, but it was pretty quick back then, I'd say.
Braking 5/10
It needed the brakes replaced, but braking was adequate. It did well considering its size. I believe it had discs all around, which did fine. It didn't ever give me any problems.
Ride 9/10
Unbelievably buttery smooth. It felt like you were riding on a cloud, which was characteristic of those types of cars at the time. The thing soaked up all kinds of bumps and imperfections, and was just effortlessly comfortable, and incredibly quiet at speed. You could not feel how fast you were going.
Handling 3/10
Well, it's a big FWD V8 sedan, it doesn't so much as handle as it just drives. It goes in the direction that you point it in, and it turns when you turn the wheel, but don't try to drift it around a corner. It's not made for canyon carving or track days. It's not a V-car, it's a whole different beast altogether.
Gearbox 6/10
It's a four-speed column shift automatic. It's better than some autos I've driven, and it's not too bad in the gear-hunting department. Gear changes are smooth enough, with little to complain about, other than the fact that you can't row your own.
Toys 8/10
This thing has some toys, being the fully loaded Concours model. All digital dash display, with different readout setting, monitors and displays. It has steering wheel mounted audio controls, cruise control, auto headlights, rain sensing wipers, and so on. Also included are heated driver and passenger seats (which didn't work), power adjustments for just about everything, digital climate control, and an aftermarket CD player with USB and Bluetooth input. Some serious chops in the toys department. I love the digital dash, as 90s as it is, it just looks cool.
Audio 8/10
As I said, it had an aftermarket head unit, replacing the Bose cassette player. The new radio was not hooked up with the steering wheel audio controls, so you couldn't use them. But still, the Kenwood unit was awesome, and it cost more than the car did. Bluetooth, USB, AUX input, phone integration, the works. The music was very clear, and sounded great. On the engine front, it was a V8, but inside the cabin, it was near silent, even during acceleration, so you couldn't get much of a rumble from it.
Value 7/10
As I said, my stepdad paid $400 for the vehicle, when it was only 11 years old, and replaced the head gaskets for a couple hundred more. Including the audio, there was maybe $1,200 invested into this car. It ran great for several years until my stepdad loaned it to his brother and his brother's junkie girlfriend, where they wrecked it, and then blew the engine, thus necessitating it to be sent to the scrap yard.
Overall 70/100
Definitely a nice car, but not a Jalop car by any means. It's buttery smooth on the highway, doesn't cause any fuss, has lots of tech, and just drives where you want it to drive, as long as it's not a track or on twisty roads. I did enjoy driving it and getting a good feel for a big car. It's pretty nice overall.
Engine : 4.6L 32V Northstar V8
Output : 300hp @ 6000 rpm/295 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm
Transmission : 4-speed automatic
0-60 time : 7.1s
Top speed : Around 150mph
Curb weight : 3,981lbs
Seating : 6
MPG : 15 city/24 hwy
Price when new: Expensive
Price as tested: $400
T5Killer
> WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
01/28/2015 at 14:18 |
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NM plates for the WIN.
(I love how we have to put USA on them for east coasters to not get confused)
Margin Of Error
> WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
01/28/2015 at 14:21 |
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This car is fantastic !
Congrats !
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WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
> T5Killer
01/28/2015 at 14:24 |
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Haha, yes! That's Saul Goodman's car from Breaking Bad, except that it's a 1997. Almost identical though.
That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
> WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
01/28/2015 at 14:50 |
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Question, since we're talking DeVille Coucours here. Did yours have bucket seats and a console shifter? I know you said the pictures were generics, but I didn't see a mention of the console. I had a black '98 Concours which had bucket seats and a console, really made it a bitch to try and find a missing cup holder cover that was missing since they apparently didn't do many DeVille consoles. Had to get a part off an STS.
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T5Killer
> WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
01/28/2015 at 14:54 |
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Oh I know where that car is from, trust me being from Albuquerque you cannot escape Breaking bad here its everywhere for good reason.
Thunderface
> WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
01/28/2015 at 14:56 |
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Give it some credit....it's at least a BIT jalop
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WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
> That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
01/28/2015 at 15:06 |
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This one had bench seats.
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WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe
> T5Killer
01/28/2015 at 15:07 |
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I'd love to do a BB tour down there at some point, and maybe catch some filming of BCS.