Pop-up screens often seem like afterthoughts, as if the automaker grudgingly gives in to the concept of technology, and wants you to put the gadget away when you're not using it. (Also, pop-ups have no hood shielding them from glare.) But since the CTS display also shows audio information, Cadillac has a cute compromise: When navigation is off and audio is on, the screen pokes out only halfway. The center of the dash has a selection knob that functions as a kinder, gentler variant of BMW's iDrive or Audi's MMI. This one is surrounded by buttons that establish your initial choices (CD, radio, navigation); you use the knob to fine-tune your selections.

On the road
At 192 inches long, the back seat of the CTS is more in league with BMW's 5 Series than the 3 Series sedan. The modern cockpit and dashboard feel like what they are: Cadillac's desire to have hipper, more European-feeling cars for younger buyers, led by the CTS, while still providing a couple plusher, softly sprung models for traditional buyers whose numbers are dwindling through age.

The CTS handles well on the road. It's great on long trips. The entertainment and navigation aids keep you from getting bored or lost. The LCD display has the ability to show both entertainment and navigation information simultaneously. The music capabilities are great: CDs, MP3 music off iPods or music keys, radio, and XM satellite radio. You can record music (even radio, up to 60 minutes) to the hard disk. The center stack controller was fairly easy to use, especially because you first let the surrounding buttons help with your initial choices. The 30 buttons on the center stack aren't excessive. The steering wheel has the usual audio and cruise control buttons, but they're not easy to distinguish from each other. Also, the thumb cutouts on the steering wheel aren't shaped for comfortably holding the wheel.

Is the CTS really as good as a BMW 3 Series?
Is this America's answer to the 3 Series and is it as good, or better? A lot of reviewers dance around this point with platitudes such as "few cars have reached the level of the CTS." (Or mine, above: "The Cadillac CTS represents the best luxury sports sedan you can buy from a U.S.-based automaker.") I can name two that the surpass the CTS, and where they beat the CTS: If you're going to the track for a club lapping day, you'd be better off in a BMW 3 Series, which weighs several hundred pounds less, or Infiniti G35. (That's even though Cadillac tested the CTS at Germany's famed Nurburgring racetrack.) Everywhere else, you'll be fine with a CTS. BMW has a few nosebleed-pricing tech features the CTS lacks, particularly active cruise control. Also, BMW's bulletproof Bluetooth system is part of a $750 package (cheap by BMW standards) that also includes four years of telematics Mayday calling. (Cadillac's OnStar is built into the base price and includes one year of assistance; extra years are $200.)

Out with the old: Not your father's Catera
Cadillac once was the self-proclaimed Standard of the World and people used to admiringly say, "That's the Cadillac of wristwatches," or washing machines. Then the cars got fat and then Cadillac made some of its cars too cheaply. It's hard to believe that a decade ago the position of the CTS was held by the Cadillac Catera, based on an already-developed, cheap-to-build, modest-handling small-car chassis onto which Cadillac installed nicer leather and the crested wreath badge. Then, in an effort to attract female buyers, Cadillac hired Cindy Crawford (above left) and an animated duck (this was pre-AFLAC) as spokesmodels, focusing the camera on Cindy's short skirt and long legs. And you wonder why the Catera didn't sell? We digress. But the main point is: Cadillac really has changed and the CTS leads the way. The first generation CTS arrived as a 2003 model and the second generation (this one) came in 2008.

Should you buy?
If you don't want to be the fifth lookalike BMW 3 Series on your status-conscious block, the Cadillac CTS makes a fine alternative. Choose judiciously from among the bewildering array of options, including five different luxury packages. Do you really need Chromaflair paint ($995) that changes color as you walk past? Building a car online is difficult because there's a still a vestige of the old Cadillac in the quirky ways options are described and packaged. Example: If you want all-wheel-drive, you select "Transmission, , 6-speed automatic for AWD (MX7), $3,200" (complete with extra commas), rather than an all-wheel-drive option. Nowhere is there a checkbox for all-wheel-drive. Instead, you intuit that the transmission includes the AWD option. The site is also light on details about the car's features.

I'd choose the base model 263-hp, not 306-hp, V6 engine with rear drive and the six-speed ZF automatic transmission. I'd take the audio/navigation system ($3,145) with an 8-inch pop-up LCD display, 40-GB hard drive (for navigation data and music), XM NavTraffic/rear time weather, USB connector for iPods and music keys, and a 10- not eight-speaker Bose audio system. To get Bluetooth, I'd curse Cadillac's marketing department and then grudgingly order the seat package which includes leather seating surfaces, 10-way power passenger seat, power lumbar controls, seat heaters, windshield washer-fluid heater, and Bluetooth ($2,200).

Even more grudgingly I'd order the Luxury Level Two package ($2,025) with a folding rear seat, keyless entry and remote start, embedded garage door opener, and tilt/telescope steering wheel in order to get ventilated/heated seats (kind of nice) and (what I really want) rear parking sonar. Total cost, $43,090, by bypassing the sunroof, even-bigger rims, summer-only high-performance tires, and the direct-injected V6.

Because the current CTS is much-improved, if you appreciate technology, this is not a good choice for picking up cheaply as a three-year-old model coming off lease. On the other hand, if you care more about the looks, then you may find good deals used.

Cadillac CTS
www.cadillac.om
Price: $34,420 - $58,185
EPA economy: 18 mpg city, 26 mpg highway (regular fuel)

Pros
Great handling. Good looks. Excellent audio and navigation packages with real time traffic and weather. Uses regular fuel.

Cons
Confusing options packages: Must-have tech items require packages with unneeded luxury frills. Smallish back seat. Heavy for its class. Price can reach the mid-fifties. Confusing web site.

Bottom line
The Cadillac CTS has most every mainstream tech option you could want. For most people, it will be as good as a BMW 3 Series or Infiniti G35.