The concept stretches just over six inches longer than the CT6, the company’s current flagship, leading us to believe this may be Cadillac’s answer to the Teutonic luxury competition currently dominating the niche — the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, and Mercedes S-Class.

Although maintaining a predominately angular design language, the silhouette has been softened to create a more finessed form. Sweeping, yet still angular chromed vents aft of the front wheels correlate with massive front scoops below the grille, and all the elements work together with accents at the back of the massive windows to visually stretch the vehicle. While the front lights unmistakably draw from the current generation Camaro, they balance aggression with elegance in a minimalist and understated way.

The name Escala might draw from the existing luxury SUV Escalade model, yet it’s also meant to be suggestive of the nature of the car and its position as Cadillac’s luxury flagship. The concept is powered by a 4.2-liter twin-turbo engine, designed for cylinder deactivation to reduce the consumption of the V-8.

Stunning screens make use of relatively new OLED technology, making for a familiar, yet modernized, interior which should be comfortable to the existing Cadillac customer, yet engaging and contemporary enough to attract new buyers. Buyers like you and me.

The post Truly Lust-Worthy: The Escala is the Cadillac You’ll Want Next Year appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Now in its second year of production, the Audi A3 offers the best compromise between performance, size and price. It’s a step-down from the Audi A4, but not by much. In terms of cabin space, the Audi A4 is already cramped enough that we feel like the A3 Sedan isn’t taking anything away from that. In fact, that’s the only downfall of the Audi A3. Passenger space as well as cargo space seem to be extremely limited. This isn’t to say that you can’t drive people or haul stuff around. It’s just that you can’t drive two or three people in the back for prolonged periods of time. And nor can you fit large things in the boot. If you can handle these shortcomings however, we guarantee you won’t have anything else to complain about.

The main rival of the A3 Sedan is the Mercedes CLA-Class sedan. Many people say the CLA is better looking but seeing as how that’s a subjective thing, we’ll leave it up to you, the reader. In terms of performance however, there’s nothing in it. If anything, the A3 may be better in certain areas and match the CLA in others.

Both the 2.0 TDI and the 1.8 TFSI are good, but it’s the 2.0 TFSI that really impresses. It delivers 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque right out of the box, with potential for a lot more if you decide to upgrade it with intakes, exhausts and so on. It’s a great unit, especially because the A3 with the 2.0T gets an all-wheel drive system as standard. The 0 to 60 mph sprint is dealt with in just 5.8 seconds, an incredible time for a small sedan. The 2.0T returns 27 mpg on the combined run, making it not just fast, but economical as well.

The driving dynamics of the A3 are impressive too. It’s nippy and agile and although it can feel a bit sluggish at low speeds due to its light steering, it weights up at higher speeds. It will understeer at the limit like all Audis, but that limit is really high for anyone to reach it safely in normal driving conditions on a public road. The DCT shifts super fast, and it’s a joy to use with the paddles. What’s more, the same light steering effort at low speeds makes it easy to park in tight spaces.

The Audi A3 may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s alright in our book. If you’re thinking of getting one, do it. You won’t be disappointed at all.

The post The Audi A3 Sedan Is The Car For Every Occasion appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

I’ll come right out and say it: upholstery and interior work isn’t really my forte. It takes me a fortnight to wrap anything in leather well enough that it doesn’t look like a prop for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Planning all those little triangle cuts you make to wrap around edges and avoid folds and creases – my brain just doesn’t seem capable of working in a way to predict them. That’s why, after much trial and error, I decided to send the Porsche Backdate Project’s interior off to be done professionally by an adult with an actual attention span.

So while that little failure still tasted of ash in my mouth, I tackled installing the headliner. This is the so-called toughest DIY job on a Porsche 911 coupe. Half that difficulty comes from the fact that said DIY restorer needs to remove the glass, the upper upholstery, the sunroof, the dash, etc. – pretty much the entire interior above the carpet. “Lucky” for me I bought a very trashed donor car with no interior anyway, and I’ve already removed everything else for the paint job. So all I had left was the second half of this impossible job: stretching it perfectly and symmetrically across the interior roof without a single crease or fold.

Honestly, for all the paragraphs written in all the books, blogs, and forums about how tough it is to do the headliner at home, and that you DEFINITELY need an assistant, I found it relatively easy to tackle myself over three days. If you are doing this yourself in a classic car, just work slow and be prepared to start over several times. Beyond that, it’s truly not a bad job to do. Headliner done, as well as gluing in all the sound proofing and insulation panels, it was time to move on the actual biggest project for our backdate interior – a little something custom I had cooked up in a fever dream when I first got the car.

Looking at how dainty the rear seats on a classic 911 are, and how far I need to have my seat back to fit, the two rear seats were clearly going to be useless. Years ago, as an awful 25 year old with spiky hair and a love of dubious fashion, I owned a third-gen Mazda RX-7. It was a two-seater with little storage compartments where rear seats would go. In four years of ownership I only needed more than two seats once, and that was an emergency. I was and am confident that I would not miss rear seats in this car. But alas, all the rear seat delete/storage compartments you can buy or build yourself were either ugly or more money than my paintjob, and all of them opened the “wrong” way – from the front like a glove box rather than the logical top. So clearly, I had to design and build my own custom solution. Because this project isn’t already one year and $10,000 over budget…

I’ve always liked the look of interior-matching car luggage held down by belts. It is just instant old-school cool. So my dumb idea was this: make a rear shelf with top-mounted storage bins, and have a pair of custom suitcases be the lids to those compartments. I know what you’re thinking: I’m a genius. Or an idiot.

Over the course of two days, I mocked up my idea in cardboard, then in very thin plywood, and finally in ½ inch wood pieces. I determined along the way that this would be the optimal place to put the subwoofer of my over-enthusiastic stereo I ripped out of my RX-7. Once every edge of the shelf was massaged to fit and allow room for being upholstered, it was sent off to the professionals because, as I’ve already said, fabric wrapping is beyond me.

Also sent off were my very sorry and very cracked dash and miscellaneous cabin pieces all needing to be matched to the dash. Dropping everything off at the upholstery shop, it was discussed and determined that vinyl rather than real leather would be the best option for longevity. I was fully prepared to go full leather (aren’t I always?), and have seen arguments for and against, but at the end of the day I’ll take the recommendation of the expert.

While the interior pieces were out of the car, I laid out the stereo system amplifiers and wires in preparation for hiding everything under the carpet. Once all the wires were run, it was time to lay down the charcoal carpets I chose. This was relatively easy as all the pieces were pre-cut and edged – like a giant fabric puzzle. There was no diagram or instructions included with this RS carpet kit so I had to wing it and refer to online pictures to figure it out. I still have lots of extra pieces left over, but oh well…

With that done all that remained for the interior, and the whole car really, was just reassembly. Adult Legos. The project is going to move rapidly towards completion now as I bolt everything on. The end-game has begun.

If you would like to follow the nitty gritty details of this build, they are 
posted on a Porsche technical forum here.

The post Porsche Backdate Pt 9: Leather and Lace appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.