Repair-It

For reference, the ATS-V Sedan essentially matches our long-term 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 in all performance metrics, and it does so with an extra 400 pounds in tow

Outside the test track and out in the real world, the ATS-V in either form is a remarkable car. Its German rivals often feel like they were built as luxury cars first and sports cars second, but the ATS-V is the opposite. It's a sports car that just so happens to have a supple ride, leather interior, and a comfortable-for-its-size back seat. Already small, the ATS-V does what good sports cars do best and shrinks around the driver once it starts being pushed. The ATS-V is telepathic, becoming one with your body as it gets flung from corner to corner. The small-diameter steering wheel offers up the perfect amount of heft and feedback, and the magnetic shocks do their job and keep the V cornering flat.

If there's anything to take issue with, it's the ATS-V's engine. It's not that the twin-turbo V-6 mill is a bad engine — it's actually anything but. It's just that it's lacking in personality. It's too quiet. Cadillac V-cars are supposed to be loud and in-your-face — the Guns N' Roses to BMW and Mercedes' Scorpions — and this one just isn't.

Cadillac V-cars are supposed to be loud and in-your-face — the Guns N' Roses to BMW and Mercedes' Scorpions

12.1 seconds at 116.2

The ATS-V also stops in a hurry. With nothing but steel rotors, the ATS-V goes from 60 mph to zero in just 99 feet. That's equal to a Ferrari 458 Italia, though the Corvette Stingray does it in 95 feet. As for the two Germans? The AMG with its $5,450 carbon-ceramic front brakes (rears are steel) requires 101 feet from 60 mph, and the M3 with its $8,150 full carbon-ceramic brake package needs 104 feet. As you can see, in a straight line, America wins. But when you start turning the wheel … USA still comes out on top. The Cadillac dusted the competition, running around our figure-eight course in 23.7 seconds, whereas the two Germans both required 24.1 seconds. To illustrate just how phenomenally all three cars handle, that Corvette Stingray needs 23.5 seconds to lap the figure eight, while a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S requires 23.9. Ferrari 458 Italia? 23.6 seconds, all of which should give you a clear illustration of how ludicrous the Caddy's handling prowess is. The conclusion from our test team is that if performance is all you care about, buy the Cadillac.

Scott Evans was behind me in the ATS-V. I simply could not shake him. Straight line or corners, the Caddy had no issue whatsoever sitting on the M3's back bumper. As Evans said about the ATS-V, it's a "great, great car, so quick, so smooth, so easy to drive fast." He's not alone in his assessment. "To me, the ATS-V felt the most like a sports car of the three," Christian Seabaugh said. "For better or worse, it seems that Cadillac engineered the ATS-V to be sport sedan first and a luxury car second."

There's one final hunk of data I'd like to toss at you. We happily let Pobst run all three cars around Willow Springs International Raceway's 2.42-mile circuit (the big track, aka Big Willow), and here are the results, in descending order: BMW M3 1:32.51, C63 1:31.52, Caddy ATS-V 1:31.43. The ATS-V and the C63 are both a second quicker than the M3, and the Cadillac beats the Mercedes by nine hundredths of a second. Also note that whatever advantage the Cadillac had over the C63 in our normal testing was nearly neutralized on the track. Likewise, where the BMW and Mercedes were virtually tied at the drag-strip, on the racetrack the C63 is measurably better. Pobst liked the BMW the least (snappy at the limit) and felt like he was 5 seconds per lap faster in the Mercedes than in the ATS-V. He was shocked to learn he was quicker in the Caddy. But we're talking less than a tenth.

The end of the story is that all four of us ranked the BMW in last place

Went back and looked at the stats and I am just dumbfounded at the Bimmer’s defeat. Consider:
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Lightest by far (matches Caddy’s lb’s/hp and beats the Merc)
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Best weight distribution
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Biggest breaks in the group (carbon ceramic to boot)
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Only twin clutch in the group

Yet it proves to be lesser than the sum of its parts and takes a back seat to a sublimely handling Caddy and a thoroughly beautiful but overweight Merc? What is going on? Did GM hire all BMW’s good chassis engineers?