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By Bloomberg

Last week I posted an unlabeled photo of the 2015 Cadillac ATS online and asked people to guess the car.

Suppositions included Bentley, “Alfa Romeo!” and “a Wraith.”

The wide range of (enthusiastic) feedback may reflect more on my friends than on that $47,845 ATS, but Cadillac would surely be happy with those results. Each of those brands carries a certain cachet that Cadillac has lacked in recent years.

Motown’s crown jewel must be pleased with its current position in the marketplace. After the automotive doldrums of 2008-2010, when parent company GM nearly died and Cadillac’s average buyer looked fresh off the set of a Life-Alert commercial, Cadillac has found solid financial footing and plenty of kinetic potential in its leadership ranks.

The 6-speed automatic transmission and paddle shifters work together well, and the ride is controlled and well-balanced. The ATS Coupe goes to 60mph in 5.6 seconds.

Source: © General Motors via BloombergFashion Forward

It’s starting to make moves.

In January, Cadillac installed its main offices in an artistic neighborhood in New York. In February, it registered a thorough involvement in New York Fashion Week, including hosting thecool-kid-favorite Public School runway at said headquarters. This month, it has posted inspirational quotes written across stark white backgrounds in the windows of strategically placed lofts and showrooms around Soho.

Such actions have piqued the interest of auto industry insiders and fashion intelligentsia alike. Rumors have even materialized that since Mercedes-Benz has declined to renew its contract, Cadillac would consider assuming the headline sponsorship of fashion week.

Exactly none of which actually has anything to do with the ATS coupe.

The 2015 ATS Coupe is a crucial step forward for Cadillac.

Source: © General Motors via Bloomberg

But here’s my point: it doesn’t matter what heights of coolness Cadillac reaches if its products can’t compete on the most fundamental of levels: quality. And in recent years, it hasn’t. At least not for a company positioned as a luxury brand—one that counts Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche as competitors. Who until lately (besides your Granddad) would have bought a CTS over a BMW 5-Series? An SRX over an Audi Q3? (Who even knew what an SRX was?)

So I’m happy to report the ATS is a crucial step forward, product-wise, for Cadillac. It’s not as tightly engineered as the BMW 3-Series. Nor does it have the elegant personality of a Mercedes CLA-Class. But it is better than the CTS coupe and the ATS sedan that proceed it.

And real change takes time. I’ve got time. But this is going to be a very mixed review. First Impressions

The first thing you notice about the new ATS Coupe is that it looks good, or at least doesn’t look bad. Which, in this case, is progress.

I smiled in relief when I collected it recently in Manhattan. Generally I prefer small cars to big ones, and this was refreshingly compact. It has a bold, flat grill folded back on either end into tall straight sides that plow toward a flat, vertical rear. Cadillac did a whole redesign thing on the ATS sedan to achieve this effect.

To which I say: Not bad.

Source: © General Motors via Bloomberg

The car both has good bone structure (see above) and applies make-up well: Stark white LED headlamps slim to a sliver along the sides of the hood. The Cadillac emblem on the grill complements the bold bodylines of the car—and is itself notable because it looks stretched and flattened, compared to the older version. And it’s lost that wreath! The illuminated door handles and sharply angled side mirrors are subtle and cool.

The ATS is the quiet girl standing in sunglasses across the room. You’ve seen her before, but you can’t quite place where. She’s understated. Potentially edgy. Maybe even interesting. Overstated Interiors

Inside, though, the car felt like an arcade. Or an upscale Acura. The dashboard gauges along the center are touch screens marred by bright purple and red and yellow lighting. If you like video games, you’ll think it looks cool, but I find that real- life buttons and knobs work infinitely better than iPhone-like screens when adjusting, say, the volume on Drake’s latest hit.

Source: © General Motors via Bloomberg

If you like video games, you’ll think the dashboard looks cool. But knobs and buttons are usually better than touchscreens.

In fact, the touchscreen often misread or missed my cues altogether. I felt distracted driving in the East Village as I stabbed my finger repeatedly into the dash.

“I SAID Hot 97!” I scolded the car, tapping the settings icon with various fingers and knuckles in an attempt to gain more traction. I fantasized about the long rectangular scrolling dial my ‘60s-era Buick Skylark had in high school—that long, rolling thing dominated the entire dashboard. And never missed a cue.

The things that did work well in the ATS Coupe were the heated steering wheel (it makes a considerable difference on single-digit-degree mornings), warming front seats, temperature sensitive mirrors with soothing dimmer lighting, and articulate rear-vision camera.

The rear seat was moderately large, with high sides and plenty of headroom. But the (standard) “leatherette” used to cover the seats should have been of higher quality. Its light color was pretty, and I appreciated the subtle, silver Cadillac V on the backs of the front chairs, but the fake leather felt stiff and cold.

The heated steering wheel, warming front seats, temperature sensitive mirrors with soothing dimmer lighting, and articulate rear-vision camera are very good.

Source: © General Motors via BloombergDriving Nowhere Fast

The actual drive feel of the ATS offers little of note. (Except for the VERY LOUD warning voice that metastasized often and out of nowhere to bemoan “NARROWING LANES AHEAD” and “CONSTRUCTION!” I presume there is a way to deactivate what was easily the most annoying of all car directive systems yet, but I failed to discern it.)

The 6-speed automatic transmission and paddle shifters work together pleasantly enough, and the ride is controlled and well- balanced. But this car needs a little nudge; it takes five seconds for the ATS to hit 60mph.

I wanted to poke it in the ribs and say, “Wake up!”

On the other hand (mixed review, remember?) the 3,400-pound coupe does have admirable gas mileage—21 miles per gallon in the city and 30 mpg on the highway, despite the fact that it weighs 45 lbs. more than the sedan version. And is built in Lansing, Mich., if you care about things like that.

In short, though, the standard 2.0-liter, turbocharged, 4- cylinder engine with 272hp (a 3.6-liter V6 with 321hp costs more) and available all-wheel drive are largely forgettable.Just Like The Others

To be fair, this amnesia characterizes most premium coupes and sedans sold today. They’re all decent, reliable, and far superior in safety, performance, and reliability to their forebears. But they’re relatively indistinguishable from each other. And you’re not going to feel passion when you drive them.

For most people these days, that’s A-OK. But you’re not most people.

Neither is Cadillac, or it shouldn’t be.

If Cadillac wants to live up to the hype—and I think it can—it’ll have to put more in our hands than the ATS. This is a start. But we need to know what it means to drive a Cadillac; we need to know what a Cadillac feels like. So far, I’m not able to give you a definite answer on either.

Cadillac, we want you to succeed. Turn up. Give us something great. We can handle it.