Super Cruise in the news

In case you missed it, there’s big news from Cadillac—and we at Budds’ couldn’t be any more excited.

The grand old brand has released “Super Cruise”— the “first, true hands-free” driving system—with the 2018 CT6.

Now before you envision Jetsons-style cars rocketing through space, be aware that Super Cruise can only be enabled in certain circumstances:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) must be on
• Forward Collision System is set to alert and brake
• The vehicle is on a limited-access freeway where oncoming traffic is separated—such as the QEW or 403
• Camera or radar sensors are not covered, obstructed, or damaged
• The system, through its face-detection camera, knows that you appear attentive (in other words, no texting or sleeping, please)
• Lane markings are clearly visible and not obscured, for example, by glare or poor weather conditions
• Teen Driver is not active

But when those conditions are right… Yes, you can take your hands off the wheel and let the car take over.

It doesn’t do all of the driving—for example, you’ll need to change lanes—and yes, you’ll need to pay attention at all times.

But still… Pretty cool, we say.

Everybody’s talkin’

Others think so too. Cadillac recently brought journalists on a cross-country trip, and that set the Internet talking.

Bloomberg said:

“As I zipped out of Manhattan and into New Jersey, jets from Newark Liberty hurtled overhead, filled with passengers binging on Broad City. Down below, I sat behind the wheel with my arms folded, focused on the road ahead. Super Cruise felt like a box of Blue Apron groceries: The meal is meticulously planned and the ingredients prepped, but I still had to cook it.”

Forbes had a less-than-easy ride, but boldly proclaimed, “The future of motoring is here.”

Yahoo drove 350 miles and had this to say:

“The CT6 ably dealt with slowing and merging traffic, and having the right lane closed off with orange cones didn’t faze it either. It only seemed confused for two brief moments: It jerked slightly to the right as we came off an overpass, then spent a few seconds hunting left and right in a stretch of road on which black squiggles of crack sealant obscured many lane markings.

“Seeing the wheel turn unbidden was deeply weird. So was realizing how quickly I accepted the car driving me and trusted it not to sideswipe an 18-wheeler. I would have thought that 30 years of driving experience, much of it in a vehicle with a manual transmission, would have made me more reluctant to surrender control of a car.”

And here’s the Chicago Tribune:

“In our brief experience of over 30 miles on the Edens Expressway in midday, Super Cruise feels much more conservative than the half-dozen systems we’ve tested. That’s not a bad thing; it feels more advanced, more deferential to the driver, safer.

“Activating the system is as easy as setting the cruise control; just push a button on the steering wheel, set the desired car length for adaptive cruise, and it takes control. But the gray icon that appears in the top of the cluster to indicate the system is ready to be engaged was ready about two-thirds of the time. We’d expect a higher degree of usability in lower speed bumper-to-bumper traffic, or on more open freeways with fewer merging lanes.

“It seemed as if converging lanes and shoulder construction made it defer to the driver. Like other systems, it deferred where the road lines were unclear, such as in construction areas.”

Even Men’s Health got in on the act:

“Whether or not Super Cruise is something you need depends on so many factors. It’s impressive, and weird, and almost mind-blowing when you ride in it firsthand-less. On a pit stop later in the afternoon, a man asked if this was the new Cadillac. I told him we’d been driving without our hands for most of the ride and he didn’t believe me. After all, it does look like a regular Cadillac with the words Super Cruise on the windshield. It’s not perfect. But since I took the train back home, I haven’t stopped thinking about lifting my hands off the wheel.”

If you’re sensing a trend, it’s one that Cadillac is deliberately encouraging. “We do not seek to replace the driver,” Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has said.

“True luxury means the flexibility of choice.”

Plenty of fully drivable Cadillacs at Budds’

While we don’t have word yet on when we’ll be seeing the Super Cruise-enabled CT6 at Budds’, we have a wide range of more conventional Caddies ready and waiting for you. You’ll have to keep your hands on the wheel, but trust us… You won’t mind.