BEST BODY PART: Heads Up in the 2013 Cadillac XTS

By Jessica Dufresne

Distracted drivers, pay attention! This innovation is for you. Cadillac’s new luxury sedan, the 2013 Cadillac XTS, features a new technology designed for the seamless integration of your phone and any other media device to the car. The CUE (Cadillac User Experience), which is accessed through an 8-inch touchscreen on the radio console and the display area above the steering wheel, has all kinds of bells and whistles: voice recognition, GPS, smartphone/MP3 compatibility, and even haptic feedback (translation: when you touch anything on the screen, it feels bumpy–sort of like braille–so that, even when you’re not looking, you’ll know you’ve activated something).

While all that is great, one of the most fascinating aspects of the CUE system is undoubtedly the Heads-Up Display, or HUD. Commonly used in military vehicles, HUD has been in use in civilian cars before, but was not as advanced at it is now. GM has perfected the display–which is essentially a floating screen on the driver’s side windshield–so that it’s less of a distraction, but still easy to see, thanks to its customizable color and size. It’s basically a hologram-like version of the touchscreen, but you won’t have to take your eyes off the road to see it. From turn-by-turn navigation, to your MP3 song playlist, to call logs and the speedometer/odometer display, you can see it all right in your natural line of sight. HUD is one of those luxuries you didn’t even think you needed until seeing it.

Thank Cadillac later. Right after your test drive.

CUE is available on all Cadillac XTS models. HUD comes standard on the Premium and Platinum collections (starts at approximately $53,000). The 2013 Cadillac XTS starts at approximately $44,000.

 gallery:

Pause Play Play Prev | Next