Each year, the Dallas Auto Show includes test drive areas where manufacturers bring cars for potential customers to test drive. This year, Ford, GM and Chrysler and Mazda showed up for test drives. However, Mazda banned people under 18 years of age from riding in their vehicles, making me ineligible to evaluate any Mazdas.
As such, I rode as a passenger in the Chrysler 300 John Varvatos Edition, the Chrysler Town & Country Limited, the Chevrolet Cruze Diesel and the 2014 Cadillac CTS.
Chrysler 300
I came into this car with high expectation in comfort. Well, my first impression did not support that expectation; backseat headroom is atrocious. I'm not ridiculously tall at 5 feet 9 inches, so I was surprised to find myself unable to sit up straight at all in this large sedan. The 300 doesn't even have one of those headroom-eating sloping rooflines that seem to be all the rage in modern car design.
Another annoyance was the electronic shifter for the 8-speed automatic. It took my father a few moments getting the car into reverse. It took another few seconds for him to figure out how to knock the knob for the car to go into drive.
Other areas of the 300 were more palatable. Even equipped the 20-inch wheels, the ride was steady and solid. Impact harshness was more pronounced that I'd like, but that should be alleviated with smaller wheels. Quietness was good, thought I can't really speak for that since the top speed throughout the test drive was about 40 miles per hour.
The 3.6-liter V6 did seem to be more noisy that it should even at low revs. It's probably because all other sources of noise were muted. A disconcerting thing I noticed was some engine vibration upon acceleration, which is not good in a new car (or any car).
While inside the auto show, I fully evaluated the car's interior. Materials and plastics were nice, but there were cheap plastics around the lower panels. There were also some glaring misalignments with the glove box in the show car, but overall interior quality was favorable.
Chrysler Town & Country
I rode in this right after the 300, and the riding experience was immediately different. Road noise was much more pronounced, and the ride felt flinty over the broken pavement in downtown Dallas.
Though the seats were upholstered nicely with suede and leather, the rest of the interior in the second and third rows was expectedly underwhelming. Hard plastic was the main theme. On the other hand, space was not an issue due to this vehicle being a minivan.
The Town & Country is starting to show it age in the infotainment system. The screen is much smaller and uglier than the giant 8.4-inch screens in newer Chrysler cars.
Chevrolet Cruze Diesel
The Cruze was surprisingly quiet and steady for a compact car. I did not notice an excessively loud cabin or an excessively firm ride in the short test drive.
The diesel clatter is noticeable at parking lot speeds, but it's by no means intrusive. The Cruze otherwise felt like a gasoline car to me, a passenger.
Backseat space was frugal, yet I was able to fit my head and legs in fine even with a tall GM representative sitting in front of me. Granted, he had to move his seat forward so my legs weren't smashed in.
Cadillac CTS 2.0T
The Cadillac was exceptionally quiet. Either that, or we were traveling at even lower speeds than the previous test drives. Probably a combination of both. Unfortunately, the engine emitted a gruff four-cylinder sound under acceleration.
Ride quality was excellent. Impact harshness was well-muted, and the car felt smooth. It helped that our car had the smallest available wheel size.
Interior quality was top-notch. The back doors had padded panels all the way down, even in the miniature map packets underneath the window switches. The rear shelf was upholstered in woven headliner material. The wood trim looked genuine.
The touch-sensitive panel that replaced buttons was frustrating, though. To know to I was tapping the right spot and see that my tapping actually did something, I unavoidably have to look at the panel. For example, when I want to change the temperature for the rear seats, I had to look a the precise spot to tap and carefully tap. To turn off the rear heated seats, I had to stare at the little panel and tap at the precise spots to turn them off. Buttons would require so much less effort to operate daily features. They would also be less of a fingerprint magnet...
Overall, the Cadillac impressed me the most out of the cars I rode in. That's not particularly surprising, given that it's also the most expensive.
As such, I rode as a passenger in the Chrysler 300 John Varvatos Edition, the Chrysler Town & Country Limited, the Chevrolet Cruze Diesel and the 2014 Cadillac CTS.
Chrysler 300
I came into this car with high expectation in comfort. Well, my first impression did not support that expectation; backseat headroom is atrocious. I'm not ridiculously tall at 5 feet 9 inches, so I was surprised to find myself unable to sit up straight at all in this large sedan. The 300 doesn't even have one of those headroom-eating sloping rooflines that seem to be all the rage in modern car design.
Another annoyance was the electronic shifter for the 8-speed automatic. It took my father a few moments getting the car into reverse. It took another few seconds for him to figure out how to knock the knob for the car to go into drive.
Other areas of the 300 were more palatable. Even equipped the 20-inch wheels, the ride was steady and solid. Impact harshness was more pronounced that I'd like, but that should be alleviated with smaller wheels. Quietness was good, thought I can't really speak for that since the top speed throughout the test drive was about 40 miles per hour.
The 3.6-liter V6 did seem to be more noisy that it should even at low revs. It's probably because all other sources of noise were muted. A disconcerting thing I noticed was some engine vibration upon acceleration, which is not good in a new car (or any car).
While inside the auto show, I fully evaluated the car's interior. Materials and plastics were nice, but there were cheap plastics around the lower panels. There were also some glaring misalignments with the glove box in the show car, but overall interior quality was favorable.
Chrysler Town & Country
I rode in this right after the 300, and the riding experience was immediately different. Road noise was much more pronounced, and the ride felt flinty over the broken pavement in downtown Dallas.
Though the seats were upholstered nicely with suede and leather, the rest of the interior in the second and third rows was expectedly underwhelming. Hard plastic was the main theme. On the other hand, space was not an issue due to this vehicle being a minivan.
The Town & Country is starting to show it age in the infotainment system. The screen is much smaller and uglier than the giant 8.4-inch screens in newer Chrysler cars.
Chevrolet Cruze Diesel
The Cruze was surprisingly quiet and steady for a compact car. I did not notice an excessively loud cabin or an excessively firm ride in the short test drive.
The diesel clatter is noticeable at parking lot speeds, but it's by no means intrusive. The Cruze otherwise felt like a gasoline car to me, a passenger.
Backseat space was frugal, yet I was able to fit my head and legs in fine even with a tall GM representative sitting in front of me. Granted, he had to move his seat forward so my legs weren't smashed in.
Cadillac CTS 2.0T
The Cadillac was exceptionally quiet. Either that, or we were traveling at even lower speeds than the previous test drives. Probably a combination of both. Unfortunately, the engine emitted a gruff four-cylinder sound under acceleration.
Ride quality was excellent. Impact harshness was well-muted, and the car felt smooth. It helped that our car had the smallest available wheel size.
Interior quality was top-notch. The back doors had padded panels all the way down, even in the miniature map packets underneath the window switches. The rear shelf was upholstered in woven headliner material. The wood trim looked genuine.
The touch-sensitive panel that replaced buttons was frustrating, though. To know to I was tapping the right spot and see that my tapping actually did something, I unavoidably have to look at the panel. For example, when I want to change the temperature for the rear seats, I had to look a the precise spot to tap and carefully tap. To turn off the rear heated seats, I had to stare at the little panel and tap at the precise spots to turn them off. Buttons would require so much less effort to operate daily features. They would also be less of a fingerprint magnet...
Overall, the Cadillac impressed me the most out of the cars I rode in. That's not particularly surprising, given that it's also the most expensive.
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