Cadillac ATS travels to Nürburgring’s North Loop

The Cadillac ATS engineering team traveled to the world famous Nürburgring in Germany to give the cars an opportunity to perform in a strenuous, yet predictable environment. There, on the Nordschleife, or “North Loop,” the next chapter in the Cadillac ATS video series continues.

At this world-class road course, the team can fine-tune the ATS calibrations for the new 270 horsepower 2.0L turbo four-cylinder and 3.6L V-6 engines, along with the second- generation Cadillac Magnetic Ride Control suspension.

 “No other facility in the world is like this. You can accomplish more here in one lap around the ring than you can on dozens of tracks in the U.S.,” said Dave Mikels, energy and powertrain integration engineer. Mikels and his colleagues on the ATS team are Nürburgring-certified performance test drivers.

“There are places where you’re airborne, and then there are valleys where you’re in full compression. There are off-camber, on-camber turns. There’s no other place in the world where you can test for all of that, except here.”

Cadillac monitors every aspect of the cars and can transmit that data back to calibration teams back in Michigan, who can then upload new algorithms to calibrate shock stiffness and engine dynamics to continually shave seconds off of lap times.

Additional details on the ATS will be announced at the 2012 North American International Auto Show. The ATS, which will be revealed on Jan. 8, will be built at the Lansing (Mich.) Grand River plant alongside the Cadillac CTS Sedan, Coupe and Sport Wagon and V-Series performance cars.