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With each passing year, cars are becoming more like consumer electronics.
Where we used to ask how much horsepower a car has, today we're more
likely to ask how compatible it is with the latest iPhone.
In a world overloaded with apps, it's only a matter of time before we'reupgrading our cars yearly, perhaps stopping at the dealer to switch from Version 2.0 to 3.0.
Nowhere have I seen this as obviously as the car I drove recently,
the Cadillac SRX.
Now, the SRX is a great luxury crossover to begin with. I've loved it ever since it was fitted with a direct-injected V6 engine and firmer suspension, making it one of the best on the market.
The big changes for this year aren't so much about making the SRX a
better vehicle, but making it a better electronic accessory.
And it blew me away.
The SRX now comes with Cadillac User Experience (CUE). It's a new digital interface that Cadillac makes standard equipment on the SRX and XTS, and optional on the new, compact ATS sports sedan.
Basically, it makes the car operate like a tablet computer. Its
centerpiece is a big, touch-sensitive digital display above the center
console on the dash.
It's more than sensitive to touch, though. Like the Chevrolet Volt, it has a screen that will respond to the lightest, gentlest touch. It also gives tactile feedback like an Android smartphone, letting you feel a slight "click" after you touch the display.
Virtually everything on the car can be controlled from this one
screen, including the climate control, sound system, navigation system
and various internet-style "apps" that work much like those on
smartphones and iPads.
That in itself isn't remarkable. Lots of cars are offering apps these days. The difference is that CUE is designed to be easy to use and highly customizable. It's very much like controlling your car through an Apple iDevice or Android phone, On of my favorite features was a separate digital display directly in front of the driver that's controlled by a switch on the steering wheel. It lets you customize the information that's shown on the instrument panel, like your current gas mileage or a digital readout of your speed. Basically, it's an old-fashioned trip computer on steroids.
On the downside, all this technology overload takes some getting used
to. Even after a week of driving it, I struggled to remember how to do
simple things like change the radio station. Call me a Luddite, but I
like having a knob just for that purpose.
CUE isn't the only high-tech feature added to the SRX this year. It comes with active noise cancellation, which uses microphones to detect noise in the cabin and then pumps vibrations through the audio system to cancel them out — sort of like driving inside a giant pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones.
It has some fancy new safety features, too. Automatic front and rear
braking will help to stop the car if it senses you're about to collide
with something in your path, and it's available with forward collision
alert and lane departure warnings if you're venturing across the lines
in the road.
It even has a seat that vibrates to warn you of dangers and keep you alert.
So, while the SRX still has an engine, brakes and transmission, and
even a slightly tweaked body style, all those things take a back seat
to the crazy-cool electronic updates for 2013.
I think it's a sign of things to come.
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Deek Price is an automotive columnist for CNHI News Service. Contact him at carcolumn@gmail.com.
x x x x
INFO BOX:
RATINGS
Style: 9
Performance: 9
Price: 8
Handling: 10
Ride: 7
Comfort: 8
Quality: 10
Overall: 9
What was tested?
2013 Cadillac SRX FWD Premium Collection ($47,745). Options: Rear-seat
entertainment system ($1,595), 20-inch polished wheels ($495). Price
as tested (including $875 destination charge): $50,710.
Why buy it?
Cadillac is turning this crossover into a real innovator. The CUE
digital graphics are mind-blowing, and its active safety and noise
cancellation features keep it on the cutting edge of luxury
crossovers.
Why hesitate?
CUE's jam-packed digital screen means this car comes with a learning curve.
