Cadillac is offering us an insight into its next generation models, revealing new approaches to how designers are streamlining the form and function of headlamps, known as the “eyes” of a car.
The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS sport sedan combines light-emitting diode (LED) and high intensity discharge lights to create a sleeker new face for Cadillac, befitting the new sedan’s distinction of being the lightest car in its class.
The CTS sedan features 16 indirect fire LED lights on each headlamp with eight LEDs beginning on the fender of the car and an additional eight LEDs continuing down the front bumper. The eight LED lights on the front bumper also double as a turn indicator, helping eliminate additional lights and keeping a clean aesthetic.
Together these LEDs function as day-time running (DRL) lights, enabling a safety feature to add an element of drama to the front of the car.
The main projector headlights are also multi-purpose. A single HID element acts as both low and high beams. Active Forward Lighting helps drivers see more clearly through corners by turning with steering direction.
“The CTS is the first Cadillac to combine DRL and turn signal under the same lens,” said Brian Smith, CTS exterior design manager. “Giving the HID projectors a dual purpose allowed us to shorten the front headlamps and give the CTS the most dramatic signature lighting of any Cadillac to date.”
Introduced at the recent New York International Auto Show, the all-new CTS ascends to the heart of the midsize luxury market with expanded performance, elevated luxury and sophisticated technology. The third-generation CTS adopts engineering and design solutions from the award-winning architecture of the ATS sport sedan and will be the segment’s lightest car.
Production of the CTS begins this fall in Lansing, Michigan.
