Cadillac Country Club

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Vinny O'Hare

Smartphone Holder To Use In Your Car

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Just got a cool package in the mail. It is a smartphone holder for the car. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the iMagnet company that sent this to me and asked if I would do a review. Usually I would say no but this one looked pretty cool and I actually need a smart phone holder so I agreed. I made the video in the Hyundai as it gave me room to set up the camera and tripod in the back seat. It is the first time I used the video on the camera so it is a little shaky.

I messed up and didn’t read the instructions first and put the metal plate that the magnet uses on the outside of the case. That was my own fault though. It has very good adhesive on it and is kind of hard to get off if you do it wrong like me. If I had to do it over again I probably would have only peeled half the tape off the backing. Why don’t guys read directions anyway 🙂

The magnet is very strong and if you are worried about the phone falling off I can tell you that shouldn’t be an issue. It sticks really tight to the cradle.

You can pick this up for $22.99 and if you purchase it our club gets a small commission if you use this link to buy it. Enter coupon 5OFFAFF2015 at checkout and save 5%.

Cool Cadillac Picture With New Canon Camera

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Just got back from a trip to Las Vegas on business. A few days before my girlfriend Debbie surprised me by getting me a new camera. A few months ago when I was back in New York I went to the canon event for the new Canon 7D Mark II and was so impressed with it I knew I had to have it. Although money is tight with the new flood insurance bill going up (Big surprise there huh) Debbie knew that it was time to get my mind off that and upgrade my 10 year old camera. Half way to Las Vegas we pulled off along the side of the road. While Debbie was taking photos of Joshua trees I was casually taking photos of the cars going by at anywhere from 80-90 MPH.  I was a good 100 yards from this Cadillac CTS V coupe when I snapped a photo. Look at the wheels you can really see the car was moving.

Cadillac coupe

Major Website Change Coming 

Over the next few weeks Google is changing the way they rank websites based on mobile. Unfortunately our main site was built to not be friendly with these changes and we will be taking a hit in the search rankings. I have to move the thousands of pages that were hand coded over to a new system. The good news is the site will look better on tablets, iPhones, and iPads. The bad news is it is going to take me weeks to transfer all the pages one at a time.

Pictures of Cadillac CT6

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Here are some photos of the new Cadillac CT6 that are supplied by Cadillac. I really like the extra room in the back seat. It is also the first Cadillac to offer the new 8 speed transmission. The details on that are below the pictures. I can see this becoming the daily driver for many of the people in our Cadillac club as it is what we have been asking for a long time.

Cadillac CT6 NYC

2016 cadillac ct6 with man

black 2016 cadillac ct6

cadillac ct6 side view

Cadillac ct6 interior

2016 cadillac ct6 cabin

2016 cadillac ct6 seats

2016 cadillac ct6 steering wheel

2016 cadillac ct6 back seat

Cadillac Introduces New 8-Speed Automatic on CT6

Patented design offers seamless performance, supports stop/start tech
DETROIT – Cadillac advances its legacy of technologically driven performance and luxury with the Hydra-Matic 8L45 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission, which debuts with the all-new 2016 Cadillac CT6.

Matched with the next-generation 3.6L V-6, the 8L45 transmission is based on the same acclaimed General Motors-designed eight-speed automatic family introduced on the Corvette Stingray – with the higher-capacity 8L90 version paired with the CT6’s available 3.0L twin-turbo V-6 engine.

“The shift performance of the new 8L45 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission complements the CT6’s new threshold for efficient luxury to help take it to an even higher level,” said Bill Goodrich, assistant chief engineer for eight-speed automatic transmissions. “The shifts are quick and nearly imperceptible, establishing a benchmark for Cadillac.”

The 8L45 eight-speed shares the architecture and design features of the Hydra-Matic 8L90 transmission, but it is scaled and calibrated for the performance envelope of the new 3.6L V-6. It also incorporates components to support the engine’s stop/start technology.

Stop/start shuts down the engine to reduce fuel consumption when vehicle comes to a complete stop, and it automatically restarts the engine when the driver takes his or her foot off the brake pedal.

In addition to stop/start efficiency, the 8L45 eight-speed’s wide 7.0 overall ratio and numerically lower top gear offer an up to a GM estimated 5 percent fuel economy benefit over a comparable six-speed automatic transmission.

A numerically higher 4.62 first gear ratio also helps drivers start off more confidently, with a greater feeling of immediate performance.

“The 8L45 was designed to enhance the CT6’s driving experience, offering a strong balance between performance and efficiency,” said Goodrich. “Perhaps its best attribute will be that customers really won’t notice it – they’ll simply enjoy the CT6’s seamless, smooth driving experience and on-demand performance.”

Compact, mass-efficient design
With four simple gearsets for optimal efficiency and five clutches (two brake clutches and three rotating clutches), creative packaging enables GM’s eight-speed automatic to fit the same space as the previous six-speed automatic, with a lower weight.

The new 8L45’s smaller package size enables approximately 33 pounds (15 kg) mass saving compared to the 8L90 eight-speed – a transmission that was already lighter than GM’s 6L80 six-speed automatic.

Smaller steps between gears, compared to a six-speed transmission, keep the engine within its optimal rpm range, making the most of its horsepower and torque to optimize performance and efficiency.

Ratios compared: Hydra-Matic 8L45 vs. 8L90

Additionally, friction-reducing design features – including synthetic fluid – and lower spin losses via a powerflow that uses only two open clutches per gear and an off-axis binary vane pump contribute further to efficiency.

The torque converter design with turbine damper enhances refinement, particularly during low-speed gear changes, for smoother performance.

Architectural features
More than 1,100 computer-aided engineering analyses were made during the development of the Hydra-Matic eight-speed transmission family – resulting in more than two dozen patents – to ensure strength, durability, performance and refinement.

Architectural highlights include:
A one-piece case with an integral bell housing for enhanced powertrain stiffness
The grounding clutches are located rearward of the middle of the structure, outside the gearsets, and are splined to the case, eliminating the need for a the center support, which reduces weight
The rotating clutches are located near the front of the transmission, with short oil feed channels, to support very fast shifts
A unique oil-storage accumulator is incorporated to support stop/start technology. It ensures the clutches have oil for immediate take-off when the engine is re-started
World-class shift time quickness and responsiveness are accomplished with a Gen II controls system, which works with variable force solenoid technology and three internal Hall Effect speed sensors
The transmission controller is mounted externally and its processor executes hundreds of calculations and commands every 6.25 milliseconds.

The Hydra-Matic 8L45 and 8L90 transmissions are built at GM’s Toledo, Ohio, and Silao, Mexico, transmission facilities. They will also be offered in the 2016 Cadillac CTS and ATS, including CTS-V and ATS-V.

FAST FACT: In 1941, Cadillac was one of the first major automakers to offer a fully automatic transmission. That early Hydra-Matic transmission was also paired with Cadillac V-8 engines to drive M24 Chaffee tanks during World War II.