"It'll kill the BMW M3." That's the totally original sentence that GM's Mark Reuss used to describe the Cadillac ATS-V. Nobody has ever tried to kill the BMW M3 before. No sir. And while we don't yet have full specs, we do have these: The first ever shots of the ATS-V Coupe. And it has the look to scare the shit out of the M3.
The soft ATS coupe has become rock solid with the introduction of the ATS-V, which has a very CTS-V-esque front grille treatment, a wonderful — wonderful — hood scoop, quad pipes, and a rear deck spoiler that looks more tacked on than functional. In fact, the rear of the car looks like someone at GM called Pep Boys and asked them how to make a car look sporty.
While we don't have official word on the powertrain yet, we do expect the ATS-V will be the first turbocharged Cadillac V car, with a version of the 3.6 liter twin turbo that is found in the CTS Vsport.
In that car, it makes 420 horsepower and 430 horsepower, which are similar numbers to the brand new BMW M3 and M4 twins. We'd expect that Cadillac will bump that up for the ATS-V, something about 450 horsepower feels right for this application.
Now, will it "kill" the M3 and M4? Many have tried, but nobody has ever murdered that car, since, y'know, it's still around.
We bet that it won't kill the M3 or M4, but it will be a valid contender from one of America's great brands. We can't wait to see it in person at the LA Auto Show and to drive it sooner than later.