Cadillac ATS-V (Spy)

Is this the Cadillac ATS-V?

Regular Cadillac ATS mules have been running around for several months now, but today, we’ve spied a new one and it looks to be something hotter! Judging from the engineer’s hasty retreat once he saw us snapping, we think we’ve got the first photos of an early development car for the Cadillac ATS V-series!

The most obvious change from past ATS mules is that the one from today is wearing modified CTS-V bodywork instead of regular CTS bodywork. Another significant change we see is at the rear. This mule has a pair of high performance, low-profile tires in back that earlier mules did not have. The rear wheels also appear to be somewhat larger, and more sporty, than the wheels we saw last time.

While this mule’s exhaust appears to be tucked up under the bumper, we imagine GM would want to hide any possible dual-exhaust setup so as not to give away the high-performance nature of this test car. What we can see are two exhaust cutouts on the driver’s side and one exhaust cutout on the passenger side.

Overall, the front and rear axles have been moved towards the middle of the chassis on this mule. We can also see the fuel filler has been moved several inches towards the center of the car. That makes for one odd looking vehicle and indicates a shorter-than-CTS chassis. Riding on GM’s new Alpha chassis, the ATS has been described as a smaller CTS-like vehicle. GM intends it to be a true competitor to the BMW 3-series.

The standard ATS will likely be powered by a 2.0L four-cylinder, but the hotter ATS-V is rumored to be in line for a twin-turbocharged V6. No power ratings have been uncovered, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see at least 350 horsepower — or more — in the V version of the ATS.

Currently, production of the ATS sedan is slated to start in July of 2012, followed by the coupe in July of 2013. No word on when the ATS-V might bow

Leftlane: Is this the Cadillac ATS-V?

ps: spero di non aver sbagliato ad aprire il thread, ho visto che c'era già quello della ATS normale, questo è della serie più potente (come per la serie 1 M coupè), nel caso uniteli e scusate, non si sa mai che poi vi "arrabbiate"