washingtonpost.com's view

I ALWAYS GET suspicious of auto makers who boast about the new frontends of their cars or who prattle on about the relocation of hoodornaments. I figure they’ve got something to hide — like cars thatdon’t work or machines of mediocre performance.

The folks at Cadillac are masters of this fluff talk, and that’s toobad. Cadillac nowadays is busy with more than automotive facelifts andde-ornamented hoods. General Motors’ much-maligned luxury divisionactually is producing some first-class stuff.

Take the case of the 1988 1/2 Cadillac STS (Seville Touring Sedan)– a car introduced in the middle of the model year, thus the ” 1/2″designation.

The STS is an admirably blatant attempt to cultivate a youngerCadillac audience, a task made necessary by statistics showing that 50percent of current Caddy owners are well-to-do retired people. Hmph. Theonly folks retiring to the STS are those who wanna boogie.

This car’s no rocking chair, no boudoir on wheels. It can scoot fromzero to 60 mph in under 10 seconds, take curves with the confidence ofan adolescent not yet acquainted with mortality and wind its waythrough thick urban traffic with the flex of a break dancer.

The STS isno BMW killer, and that’s no slam. What we’ve got here is a car with adistinctively American personality — a big-city, high-bucks streetmachine that would be at home at the country club or on the local dragstrip. Lots of folks won’t go for this kind of car, or for its close,even rowdier relative — the Cadillac Eldorado. But enough people arefalling for these and other Cadillac acts to keep Cadillac thebest-selling luxury nameplate in America.

Complaints: The STSinstrument panel is far too busy. The designers seem to have fallen inlove with itsy-bitsy little buttons that are too hard to see and reach,particularly when the car is moving.

And we really don’t need 12-way adjustable power bucket front seatsin this one, GM. If a parking lot attendant messes up a setting, you canspend an eternity trying to get the affected seat to fit your backagain.

Praise: Excellent, world-competitive craftsmanship, right downto the real elm burl wood on the dash and the doors.

Head-turningquotient: Some folks hold on to the notion that it’s declasse’ to lustafter anything with a Cadillac label. But I caught several of those fopscasting admiring glances at the pretty, pearl-mist test model.

Ride, acceleration, handling, braking: Excellent all around. Thefront-wheel-drive, four-passenger STS is powered by a new 4.5-liter,fuel-injected V-8, rated 155 hp at 4,000 rpm. Four-wheel power discbrakes and an electronically controlled anti-lock brake system (byTeves) are standard.

Handling in the STS is enhanced by a large (31mm) front stabilizerbar and the addition of a 16mm stabilizer bar in the rear.

Sound system: AM/FM electronic stereo radio and cassette withfive-band graphic equalizer, by GM/Delco-Bose. Excellent.

Mi leage: About 18 to the gallon (18.8-gallon tank, estimated 330-milerange on usable volume), combined city-highway, running mostly driveronly and with air conditioner on at maximum setting. The engine wasrelatively fresh — barely 2,000 miles on it at delivery — whichmight’ve hurt mileage on the test runs.

Price: $34,375, including a $525 destination charge. Period. The STSis an option. Aw, cut it out, will ya? This column does review lots ofaffordable, lower-priced cars. But rich folks have rights, too, don’tthey? And so do rich dealers: The dealer’s invoice price is $28,788, amarkup of more than $5,000.