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The Cadillac that hates it's tires
By Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Date posted: 08-29-2008
Here's the thing most folks missed at this year's Detroit auto show: When Bob Lutz was standing on stage with the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V, he said it would be the quickest sedan in the world.
Really?
"You know," we immediately asked a GM contact, "An M5 will crank out a quarter-mile in like 12.7 seconds, right?"
"Yep," came the answer.
Even Lutz, with his notoriously loose lips, doesn't get up on stage in front of the world and beat his chest without some major-league assurances from the product guys. So we had to assume that there was some basis in reality for the claim — at least until we had a chance to test it.
Well, now we have. And guess what? It is the quickest production sedan we have ever tested, including a couple of hot cars that have arrived since Lutz's bit of bravado on the Cadillac stand in Detroit last January.
THE EVIDENCE
As it has since the model line's introduction in 2004, Cadillac pitches the CTS-V at the similar-size German sedans including the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class, and then prices it like a BMW 3 Series or Mercedes C-Class.
Such is the case with the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. Cadillac names the M5 and E63 as its main targets, yet pricing should be closer to the M3 and C63. Figure somewhere around $65,000, although Cadillac won't announce a price until closer to the model's on-sale date this fall.
But none of this actually matters since the 556-horsepower supercharged-V8 CTS-V will out-power all four-door comers, size small, medium or large.
Equipped with the six-speed automatic, the CTS-V sprints to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (4 seconds flat with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip). And then it powers on to a quarter-mile time of 12.4 seconds at 115 mph.
The CTS-V equipped with the Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual that we also tested did the deeds just a tick slower at 4.6 seconds to 60 mph (4.3 seconds with 1 foot of rollout) and then completed the quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds at 115.3 mph.
Yes, that takes down the CLS63's quarter-mile performance of 12.8 seconds at 111.8 mph, while the mighty V10-powered M5 goes down, too, with its run at 12.7 seconds at 113 mph. The M3? Nope — not as quick. The Audi RS4? Nuh-uh. The Lexus IS-F? Please. What about the C63 — that little bugger with the big lump? Well, now, this one's close, and makes a pass in 12.5 seconds at 113.7 mph. That's close — real close. But the CTS-V is still a hair quicker.
And for all this, Cadillac claims it can make the car do 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and then clock the quarter-mile in 12.0 seconds at 118 mph.
CREEPER WEED
Listen, though, some dude could have slapped a fat turbo on the first-generation CTS-V's naturally aspirated V8 and thrown some sticky tires on the rear and maybe gotten a fast run or two off before the car tore its own ass off. Well, actually with the old CTS-V's legendary axle hop, we wouldn't have gotten any clean runs....
Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V launches from a standstill and accelerates so smoothly and easily that the car is sneaky fast. While we took a break from driving from suburban New York City to the private country-club racetrack in Monticello, New York, for some laps, a colleague of ours sidled up close and whispered, "Did that feel like 556 horsepower to you? I mean, it felt fast, but not that fast."
Like the previous generation of AMG-massaged Mercedes cars, the perception of speed in the CTS-V is divorced from reality. Under hard acceleration, there isn't a blaring or shrieking exhaust note. Instead there is a barely perceptible whine from the supercharger (although the whine is more noticeable to bystanders). There are no power-induced histrionics from the rear suspension. At launch, you simply decide how much of those pricey Michelin PS2 summer tires you'd like to exfoliate and hit it. And then you're off. No big deal. No violence. Didn't feel that fast. But then you look at the speedometer and...Heavens to Betsy!
This is true of launching both the automatic and the manual, because these transmissions are as impressive as the engine. The automatic shifts firmly, but not like the kidney jabs BMW's SMG-equipped M5 is always delivering. And it's frankly quicker to let the transmission's brain (in Sport mode) command the shift points. There's no time to be had in using the shift buttons on the steering wheel.
Meanwhile, the manual transmission — a version of the same transmission found in the Camaro, Corvette, Challenger, Viper, etc. — has a nice firm action. The dual-plate clutch, similar to the one used in the Corvette ZR1, feels solid, intuitive and seems overall quite light in feel for the level of power going through it.
A smooth, powerful motor and solid, quick-shifting transmissions certainly get the bulk of the credit for the impressive performance. But the asymmetrical half-shafts (one is larger in diameter) help quell the rear suspension's tendency toward hop during a fast launch. In fact, it is as hard to generate axle hop on this version of the CTS-V as it was easy to generate it on the previous generation.
The Cadillac that hates it's tires
By Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Date posted: 08-29-2008
Here's the thing most folks missed at this year's Detroit auto show: When Bob Lutz was standing on stage with the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V, he said it would be the quickest sedan in the world.
Really?
"You know," we immediately asked a GM contact, "An M5 will crank out a quarter-mile in like 12.7 seconds, right?"
"Yep," came the answer.
Even Lutz, with his notoriously loose lips, doesn't get up on stage in front of the world and beat his chest without some major-league assurances from the product guys. So we had to assume that there was some basis in reality for the claim — at least until we had a chance to test it.
Well, now we have. And guess what? It is the quickest production sedan we have ever tested, including a couple of hot cars that have arrived since Lutz's bit of bravado on the Cadillac stand in Detroit last January.
THE EVIDENCE
As it has since the model line's introduction in 2004, Cadillac pitches the CTS-V at the similar-size German sedans including the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class, and then prices it like a BMW 3 Series or Mercedes C-Class.
Such is the case with the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. Cadillac names the M5 and E63 as its main targets, yet pricing should be closer to the M3 and C63. Figure somewhere around $65,000, although Cadillac won't announce a price until closer to the model's on-sale date this fall.
But none of this actually matters since the 556-horsepower supercharged-V8 CTS-V will out-power all four-door comers, size small, medium or large.
Equipped with the six-speed automatic, the CTS-V sprints to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (4 seconds flat with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip). And then it powers on to a quarter-mile time of 12.4 seconds at 115 mph.
The CTS-V equipped with the Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual that we also tested did the deeds just a tick slower at 4.6 seconds to 60 mph (4.3 seconds with 1 foot of rollout) and then completed the quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds at 115.3 mph.
Yes, that takes down the CLS63's quarter-mile performance of 12.8 seconds at 111.8 mph, while the mighty V10-powered M5 goes down, too, with its run at 12.7 seconds at 113 mph. The M3? Nope — not as quick. The Audi RS4? Nuh-uh. The Lexus IS-F? Please. What about the C63 — that little bugger with the big lump? Well, now, this one's close, and makes a pass in 12.5 seconds at 113.7 mph. That's close — real close. But the CTS-V is still a hair quicker.
And for all this, Cadillac claims it can make the car do 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and then clock the quarter-mile in 12.0 seconds at 118 mph.
CREEPER WEED
Listen, though, some dude could have slapped a fat turbo on the first-generation CTS-V's naturally aspirated V8 and thrown some sticky tires on the rear and maybe gotten a fast run or two off before the car tore its own ass off. Well, actually with the old CTS-V's legendary axle hop, we wouldn't have gotten any clean runs....
Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V launches from a standstill and accelerates so smoothly and easily that the car is sneaky fast. While we took a break from driving from suburban New York City to the private country-club racetrack in Monticello, New York, for some laps, a colleague of ours sidled up close and whispered, "Did that feel like 556 horsepower to you? I mean, it felt fast, but not that fast."
Like the previous generation of AMG-massaged Mercedes cars, the perception of speed in the CTS-V is divorced from reality. Under hard acceleration, there isn't a blaring or shrieking exhaust note. Instead there is a barely perceptible whine from the supercharger (although the whine is more noticeable to bystanders). There are no power-induced histrionics from the rear suspension. At launch, you simply decide how much of those pricey Michelin PS2 summer tires you'd like to exfoliate and hit it. And then you're off. No big deal. No violence. Didn't feel that fast. But then you look at the speedometer and...Heavens to Betsy!
This is true of launching both the automatic and the manual, because these transmissions are as impressive as the engine. The automatic shifts firmly, but not like the kidney jabs BMW's SMG-equipped M5 is always delivering. And it's frankly quicker to let the transmission's brain (in Sport mode) command the shift points. There's no time to be had in using the shift buttons on the steering wheel.
Meanwhile, the manual transmission — a version of the same transmission found in the Camaro, Corvette, Challenger, Viper, etc. — has a nice firm action. The dual-plate clutch, similar to the one used in the Corvette ZR1, feels solid, intuitive and seems overall quite light in feel for the level of power going through it.
A smooth, powerful motor and solid, quick-shifting transmissions certainly get the bulk of the credit for the impressive performance. But the asymmetrical half-shafts (one is larger in diameter) help quell the rear suspension's tendency toward hop during a fast launch. In fact, it is as hard to generate axle hop on this version of the CTS-V as it was easy to generate it on the previous generation.
