2018 Cadillac XTS Road Test and Review

2018 Cadillac XTS bluefront profile ・ Photo by Cadillac

Unless you closely follow motorsports, you’re probably unaware that Cadillacs have been winning major races and series championships since 2004. The brand is also hoping to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, which would be its first appearance at the world’s greatest automotive endurance event since 2002. Cadillac’s line of luxury cars and SUVs benefit from the technology tested under the severe conditions of competition. As the brand states, “What we learn on track goes into what we make.”

In the case of the 2018 Cadillac XTS — which is built in Ontario, Canada — Cadillac makes a powerful full-size luxury sedan with high-tech engines, available all-wheel drive, and advanced safety technology. Updated extensively for 2018, the new XTS slots between the CTS and CT6 sedans in Caddy’s extensive range, and competes with the Lincoln Continental, Lexus ES, Genesis G90, and Buick LaCrosse, as well as the popular Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series.

Standard 304 Horsepower

Cadillac offers the 2018 XTS in six trim levels: Standard, Luxury, Premium Luxury, Platinum, and V-Sport Platinum, which is the most powerful model. Prices start at $47,390, including $995 for destination. Standard features include keyless entry, push-button start, an onboard 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, and 19-inch wheels. The XTS Luxury, which costs just over $50,000, adds heated and vented front seats, heated rear seats, and navigation. With options, the Platinum can top $70,000.

Under its long hood, the Standard features a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V6 pumping out 304 horsepower. This engine also powers the Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum models. Front-wheel drive is standard, but Cadillac offers all-wheel drive on all but the base trim for an additional $6,000. No hybrid or diesel engines are offered. And Cadillac does not offer its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the XTS, despite the fact that it’s available in the brand’s three other sedan models. Every XTS gets a smooth-shifting six-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

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V-Sport Packs Twin-Turbos

Step up to the V-Sport Platinum, and you get a 410-hp twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6. It’s the same engine Cadillac puts in the rear-wheel drive CTS V-Sport and the high-performance ATS-V. In the XTS, it’s exclusively paired with all-wheel drive. With that twin-turbo engine, the XTS is one of the most powerful sedans in its class, with considerably more muscle than a 335-hp BMW 540i, although the big 5.0-liter V8 in the Genesis G90 is rated at 420 hp. The Cadillac is also one of the quickest, sprinting from 0-60 mph in just 5.2 seconds. Prices start at $73,490.

If you’re an enthusiast and set on a Cadillac XTS, the V-Sport Platinum is certainly the one to get. However, Cadillac offers more performance in the less-expensive rear-wheel drive CTS V-Sport, which can surge from 0-60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. And if you have a little more to spend, there’s the 640-hp CTS-V, which is GM’s quickest and most powerful sedan ever.

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A Sporty Sedan

If you haven’t been in a Cadillac since the days of tailfins and velour interiors, the performance and sporty nature of our all-wheel drive XTS Premium Luxury test vehicle may surprise you. It’s not exactly a sports sedan, but the XTS performs extremely well and its handling, thanks in part to its standard 20-inch wheels and large tires, is impressive. 

For 2018, Cadillac has retuned the chassis of the XTS to increase comfort, and the brand’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension delivers incredible body control and a compliant ride. The Caddy’s steering is precise and its brakes, which feature components from Brembo — a leading high-performance brake manufacturer — are responsive. With 304 hp, the V6 engine also provides more than enough punch. It's strong right off idle, and passing power on the highway is abundant even with four passengers onboard. The smooth-shifting six-speed automatic isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, but it partners well with the V6 and delivers a downshift when you need it.

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Fair Fuel Economy

The fuel economy of the 2018 Cadillac XTS is below many of its competitors. With front-wheel drive, the XTS is rated for 19 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway, while our all-wheel drive test vehicle was rated 17 mpg city and 26 mpg highway. We averaged 20 mpg in mixed driving. The XTS would achieve better fuel economy if Cadillac offered its excellent eight-speed automatic transmission and its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The good news is that the V6 runs on regular-grade gasoline to keep operating costs lower.

The much more powerful XTS V-Sport Platinum is considerably thirstier, with ratings of 16 mpg city and 23 mpg highway. Plus, its turbocharged engine requires more expensive premium fuel. 

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New Front-End Design

With more and more luxury sedans getting more and more conservative, Cadillac continues to be daring. For 2018 the brand’s designers have given the XTS an entirely new face that takes more chances and refuses to get lost in the valet lot. There are new fenders and a new grille, new LED headlights and taillights, and new front and rear fascias. The changes modernize the look of this luxury sedan, and they shorten it by more than an inch to a 200.9-inch overall length.

The sedan’s new headlamps are radical, with an extreme shape that looks like nothing else on the road. Cadillac also keeps chrome to a minimum on the XTS, and its fastback roofline and aggressively sculpted doors give it a sense of motion. Overall, the design is distinctive while remaining simple and understated. It’s attractive and modern, especially from the rear, where you can appreciate its large exhaust pipes, the cleanly integrated rear spoiler, and the subtle surfacing of its decklid.

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Spacious Interior

The XTS seats five comfortably, and Cadillac is quick to point out the expansive 40 inches of rear legroom and the large 18-cubic-foot trunk. These are competitive dimensions with the Lincoln Continental and two major reasons why the 2018 XTS is so popular with car services and Uber Black drivers.

But there’s more to the Caddy’s interior than just space. There’s also comfortable seating, high build quality, rich materials, and excellent control placement. Although the cabin isn’t up to the class-leading design of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Cadillac has redesigned the sedan’s seats this year for more comfort, and it has reduced the amount of noise allowed inside the cabin to create a more tranquil space.

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Available Advanced Safety Systems

Our XTS Premium Luxury test vehicle was also equipped with a long list of driver aids and tech-based advanced safety systems. Cadillac offers the Driver Awareness Package on the Luxury trim, but it is standard on the higher trim levels. The Driver Awareness Package adds low-speed automatic braking, a lane-change alert, a rear cross-traffic alert, and a side blind zone alert. It also includes Cadillac’s Safety Seat Alert, which vibrates sections of the driver’s seat to alert the driver of possible hazards and their direction. It feels funky at first, but it really works.

The Driver Assist Package, which is available on the Premium Luxury version and standard on Platinum models, adds adaptive cruise control and forward and reverse automatic braking. A backup camera is standard on every XTS, and Cadillac offers automatic parking assist, which practically steers the sedan into a parallel parking space for you. The XTS is also available with Surround Vision, which provides the drivers with an overhead 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the car during parking and other low-speed maneuvers.

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Excellent In-Cabin Infotainment

When it comes to the in-cabin tech, the 2018 Cadillac XTS keeps things simple and user-friendly. Cadillac’s excellent CUE infotainment system has been improved for 2018 with even quicker responses, and its large 8-inch touchscreen is well-placed. The system thinks quickly and seems to anticipate your needs, and its graphics are clean and colorful. Onboard 4G LTE Wi-Fi is standard, which makes everyone’s kids happy, and for 2018 Cadillac has added a signal strength display. Plus, the CUE system offers Apply CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and its touchscreen responds to smartphone gestures like swiping and pinching-to-zoom.  

Premium Luxury and Platinum models also get a reconfigurable 12.3-inch gauge cluster, though unfortunately the design of the gauges isn’t particularly special. Also available is a color head-up display and a banging Bose premium sound system with 14 speakers.

Photo by Cadillac

Final Thoughts

The 2018 Cadillac XTS is well-appointed and very comfortable — and its performance is sure to surprise you. Although we’re huge fans of the available 410-hp twin-turbo V6 engine, the standard V6 is strong enough for most buyers, and its fuel economy is considerably better. Regardless, driving enthusiasts should make a swan dive for the all-wheel drive XTS V-Sport.

Although it's smaller than the Cadillac CT6, in many ways the XTS remains Cadillac’s most traditional sedan. It performs well, but it’s not quite as sporty as the CTS or CT6. That’s OK. Even if Cadillac is winning more races now than it ever has, there’s still room in this world for a full-size luxury sedan that prioritizes the comfort of its passengers over its lap times at the racetrack.

Photo by Cadillac