Weekend roadtrip in the 2015 Cadillac ATS sedan

I am spending a week with the very nice 2015 Cadillac ATS sedan. My first adventure was a roadtrip to Palm Springs and back, 200 miles of freeway driving.

I’ll be writing more about my experience, but first impressions of the Cadillac ATS sedan are quite good. This is my second experience with an ATS, I drove the coupe up in San Francisco and Sonoma as part of my recent Fairmont Northern California Roadtrip with Cadillac.

Cadillac ATS interior — The luxurious , hand-crafted cut and sewn interior

Cadillac ATS in Palm Springs — Roadtrip to Palm Springs

Performance

I’m driving the Premium Collection edition, with a 2.0L turbo engine and six-speed transmission. The transmission has a manual mode with magnesium paddle shifters on the steering wheel. With Brembo brakes and a very responsive magnetic ride control and suspension, it’s a lot of fun with 272 HP yet offers 30 MPG on the highway, a good combination of performance and economy.

Cadillac ATS driver — Behind the wheel and headed to Palm Springs

Interior

The fit and finish of the interior is really, really nice. With hand-crafted, cut and sewn leather, there is beautiful stitching on everything. This car has the Kona brown leather interior with jet black accents. Nice woods and other finishes compete the cabin, again with great seams and finish on everything.

ATS fit and finish — The fit and finish of the interior is impressive

Palm Springs

In Palm Springs, I had a terrific dinner at Simon Kitchen + Bar, the city’s newest foodie spot inside the hip Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs. With a dinner that included highlights like Tuna Tiradito with caviar lime, avocado and popcorn, secret-recipe truffled mac and cheese and a great Jerk turkey burger, it was a fun night of eating, thanks to executive chef Kerry Simon. Before dinner, we checked out VillageFest, the weekly Thursday night street fair on Indian Canyon Drive.

Simon Bar and Kitchen in Palm Springs — Dinner was at Simon Kitchen + Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel

Kerry Simon Jerk turkey burger — The Jerk turkey burger

Kerry Simon Tuna Tiradito — Tuna Tiradito with popcorn

After a great drive home from Palm Springs in the ATS, it was nice to be home. The next day, it was out for another adventure in the Cadillac. I took the car through the canyons of Los Angeles for a lunch at The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel. With the ATS in the sport setting, it was firm and really responsive. I put the car in manual and had a huge amount of fun throwing it into the curves along Mullholland. The leather sport seats are quite supportive and the the car’s Brembo brakes perform perfectly. No evidence of fading even after an hour of aggressive driving.