tristatez28lt1
Tire Trailblazer
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Wow. What a car. The most incredible part is the low weight. I have to applaud the engineers for bringing the weight down to almost 4,100 lbs. That is segment leading by a large margin. And it is the as tested weight. Not some unrealistic manufacturer claim. Or even outright lie as JLR does lol.
Audi RS7: 4450 lbs (+321 lbs)
BMW M5: 4370 lbs (+241 lbs)
Mercedes E63: 4400 lbs (+279 lbs)
Jaguar XF-R: 4,400 lbs (+279 lbs)
Cadillac CTS-V: 4,129 lbs
2016 Cadillac CTS-V
The Cadillac CTS-V is a screaming supersedan out to tear the legs off the German competition.
Need we remind you these are seriously twisted times? Without prompt intervention, Bartholomew JoJo Simpson, that lovable fourth-grade cartoon cutup, will never see his 11th birthday. Homer is dumping Marge for a younger woman. Former down-home darling Miley Cyrus might be the instrument of some secret society. And in our own world, zero-emission vehicles are vying for garage space with modern muscle cars.
What we need to weather this maelstrom is a car we can trust. Something fast and fun, an automobile suitable for commuting that will broom cerebral cobwebs with every brush of the right pedal. An American Pharoah, if you will.
Cadillac has raised both hands to answer this call. With a decade of V models under its belt, a division boss who understands the fast-four-door gambit (after having helped Audi master it), and the General’s steadfast backing, the redesigned and newly wreathless crest is ready to play supersedan hardball courtesy of its third-generation CTS-V.
This segment could use a spritz of vitality. Jaguar has sold its meager allotment of XFR-Ss. Lexus’s new GS F lacks sufficient firepower. APorsche Panamera with competitive gusto costs $142,295. That leaves only the Audi RS7, BMW M5, and Mercedes-AMG E63 S on Cadillac’s dartboard.
Caddy’s dart is built on an efficient Alpha platform evolved from the ATS. A supercharged and intercooled 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 borrowed from the Chevy Corvette Z06 provides a healthy 640 horsepower at 6400 rpm and 630 pound-feet of torque at 3600 rpm. Smart electronic controls regulate the eight-speed automatic transmission, electrically assisted power steering, magnetorheological dampers, and limited-slip differential. There’s enough Brembo braking capacity here to slow a locomotive. Recaro sport seats and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on forged aluminum wheels enhance traction inside and underneath. A smattering of carbon-fiber components, including the hood, help the CTS-V beat the curb weights of its enemies by 100 to 600 pounds. This is pharmaceutical-grade stuff.
To prove that its track-day stamina isn’t hollow braggadocio, Cadillac turned us loose on Road America’s four-mile circuit where we topped 140 mph three times per lap. This was the ideal venue to learn the CTS-V’s finer points. First lesson: Don’t try to outsmart the gearbox by clicking the paddle shifters. Simply leaving the console shifter in D in any driving mode above Tour runs the engine to within 200 rpm of the 6500-rpm redline before upshifts, while also providing the right gear for hustling out of bends. We observed the CTS-V’s astute Performance Traction Management system adjusting power and differential lock-up to modulate understeer during turn-in and oversteer when exiting turns. Our third discovery is that the real fun comes in PTM’s Race mode when all the well-intentioned assist systems are mostly dormant. The trick is to trail the brakes entering a corner so the front tires don’t wash out; then you carefully add throttle in the middle of the turn to avoid wagging the tail. One of the CTS-V’s most endearing traits is the reserve built into the last 10 percent of accelerator-pedal travel. Saving that booster rocket for the corner exit rewards you with big speed at the end of the straight.
Working the quick, hefty steering is the best isometric exercise you can enjoy sitting down, though you must concentrate to sense the faint feedback from the front tires. In the interest of maximizing hand-to-wheel and butt-to-bucket grip, don’t skip the $300 faux-suede steering wheel and shifter covers or the $2300 Recaro front seats. Note to Cadillac: A more congenial surface for bracing a left knee against the door panel would be welcome.
Given the CTS-V’s two-ton-plus heft, you’d think that carbon-ceramic brakes would be handy for track-day expeditions. Chief engineer Tony Roma and Brembo engineer Benjamin Pohl acknowledge that such an option was considered but rejected on cost grounds and the desire to configure the base car in track-ready form. Instead of complicating the CTS-V with two brake packages, Cadillac set a goal of providing enough thermal capacity to support two fuel tanks’ worth of uninterrupted track lapping without overheating the brakes. To achieve that objective, the six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers grab four of the largest vented-iron rotors in captivity. The fronts are 15.4 inches in diameter, the rears 14.4. The pedal feels happy in its work, with deceleration directly proportional to the applied pressure and minimal droop during hot lapping. Bolted-in aluminum centers save weight, and a patented ferritic nitro-carburizing process (heat treating in a nitrogen-rich atmosphere) improves durability while discouraging corrosion.
Considering the 640 horsepower leaving the crankshaft at 6400 rpm, this pushrod small-block is surprisingly quiet. There’s minimal supercharger whine and redline ruckus. What you hear is the growling stomach of a bear rousing from a long winter’s nap. Outside the cabin, the din is more like an F/A-18 with afterburners lit. To take the edge off engine noise, Cadillac installs a muff at the rear of the Eaton TVS supercharger and programs the Bose sound system to neuter the harsh notes. The muffler-bypass valves are closed during start-up to avoid angry 6 a.m. calls from exasperated neighbors.
With Ferrari-grade power, intelligent traction management, and Michelin’s finest 19-inch radials on tap, we expected an exemplary performance with the test gear strapped on. Sure enough, the new CTS-V clicked off a run to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds on its way to 100 mph in only 7.5 seconds. The quarter-mile ticket—124 mph in 11.8 seconds—spots this car in the thick of the quickest imported sedans. Belying its 4129-pound curb weight and heavily laden front tires, this Cadillac corners at 0.98 g. Stopping from 70 mph in 149 feet without fade during repetitive braking tests, it beats two of the three Germans in its gun sight. Launch control is so effective that we struggled to beat it with the feature disabled. And the leap from 50 to 70 mph during our passing test is a grand jeté from eighth to third gear requiring just 2.1 seconds.
The greater surprise is the CTS-V’s poise in ordinary driving. Adaptive dampers deftly curb body motion without spoiling the ride, so cruising most roads feels like rolling across freshly groomed putting greens. Neither swell nor heave catches this chassis out. Reinforced by stiff castings, plates, and tubular struts galore, this body shell is positively ingotlike. Acoustic glass, sound deadening, and a nicely tuned suspension system filter out extraneous noise to support genteel conversation at 100 mph. It’s no mere Corvette with a back seat: This new CTS-V performs well enough to send the Germans back to their dyno cells while simultaneously raising the speed-luxury stakes.
After whining incessantly about Cadillac’s poorly executed CUE infotainment gear, we’re elated to report that major amends have been made. The main eight-inch infotainment touch screen is smarter and quicker-responding thanks to a new processor. Other bonuses: A color head-up display is standard, and a reconfigurable 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster lights up with a high-contrast black-on-white tachometer in performance-driving modes. The $1300 Performance Data Recorder stores your best laps for replay, both in the car and via laptop during cocktail hour. Apple’s CarPlay can be routed directly to the CUE screen, and Android Auto will be available shortly.
A breakthrough supersedan is what you get when you turn a dedicated bunch of racers loose on a liberal budget. The speed affliction runs deep here. Chassis-development engineer Drew Cattell competes in endurance karts and an American Sedan Chevy Camaro. Brian Wallace, the engineer who proved this Cadillac could top 200 mph, raced with his father, Tom Wallace, a former Corvette chief engineer. Lead V-series development engineer John Buttermore won two SCCA Touring class national championships. Tony Roma climbed GM ranks through high-performance V-8 engine development, Cadillac’s endurance-racing program, and theCamaro ZL1 launch. He’s road-raced everything from an MG Midget to a Pontiac Firebird. And Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen is no stranger to victory champagne, having celebrated 10 Le Mans 24-hour race victories during his 19 years at Audi. In such a stormy world, a seasoned crew like this restores our faith.
Lighter and leaner than America’s other speed hero, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, the CTS-V stands ready and, based on this test, able to match wheels with Europe’s hottest. Next stop: a bare-knuckle, over-the-road smackdown to determine which supersedan deserves the C/D crown.
Highs, Lows, and Verdict
Highs:
Incredible power, poise, and performance.
Lows:
Steering is light on feedback, door makes an uncomfortable knee brace.
Verdict:
A very scary sedan, but only if you happen to be employed by Mercedes-AMG, BMW’s M division, or Audi’s Quattro GmbH.
VEHICLE TYPE:front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED:$95,290 (base price: $84,990)
ENGINE TYPE:supercharged and intercooled V-8, aluminum block and heads
DISPLACEMENT:376 cu in, 6162 cc
Power: 640 hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 630 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
TRANSMISSION:8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 114.6 in
Length: 197.7 in
Width: 72.2 in Height:57.2 in
SAE interior volume: F:61 cu ft R: 42 cu ft
Trunk: 14 cu ft
Curb weight: 4129 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.6 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 7.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 13.6 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 17.4 sec
Zero to 170 mph: 25.8 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 3.8 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 2.0 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 2.1 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.8 sec @ 124 mph
Top speed (drag ltd, mfr's claim): 200 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 149 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.98 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway (C/Dest): 14/20 mpg
Audi RS7: 4450 lbs (+321 lbs)
BMW M5: 4370 lbs (+241 lbs)
Mercedes E63: 4400 lbs (+279 lbs)
Jaguar XF-R: 4,400 lbs (+279 lbs)
Cadillac CTS-V: 4,129 lbs
2016 Cadillac CTS-V
The Cadillac CTS-V is a screaming supersedan out to tear the legs off the German competition.
Need we remind you these are seriously twisted times? Without prompt intervention, Bartholomew JoJo Simpson, that lovable fourth-grade cartoon cutup, will never see his 11th birthday. Homer is dumping Marge for a younger woman. Former down-home darling Miley Cyrus might be the instrument of some secret society. And in our own world, zero-emission vehicles are vying for garage space with modern muscle cars.
What we need to weather this maelstrom is a car we can trust. Something fast and fun, an automobile suitable for commuting that will broom cerebral cobwebs with every brush of the right pedal. An American Pharoah, if you will.
Cadillac has raised both hands to answer this call. With a decade of V models under its belt, a division boss who understands the fast-four-door gambit (after having helped Audi master it), and the General’s steadfast backing, the redesigned and newly wreathless crest is ready to play supersedan hardball courtesy of its third-generation CTS-V.
This segment could use a spritz of vitality. Jaguar has sold its meager allotment of XFR-Ss. Lexus’s new GS F lacks sufficient firepower. APorsche Panamera with competitive gusto costs $142,295. That leaves only the Audi RS7, BMW M5, and Mercedes-AMG E63 S on Cadillac’s dartboard.
Caddy’s dart is built on an efficient Alpha platform evolved from the ATS. A supercharged and intercooled 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 borrowed from the Chevy Corvette Z06 provides a healthy 640 horsepower at 6400 rpm and 630 pound-feet of torque at 3600 rpm. Smart electronic controls regulate the eight-speed automatic transmission, electrically assisted power steering, magnetorheological dampers, and limited-slip differential. There’s enough Brembo braking capacity here to slow a locomotive. Recaro sport seats and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on forged aluminum wheels enhance traction inside and underneath. A smattering of carbon-fiber components, including the hood, help the CTS-V beat the curb weights of its enemies by 100 to 600 pounds. This is pharmaceutical-grade stuff.
To prove that its track-day stamina isn’t hollow braggadocio, Cadillac turned us loose on Road America’s four-mile circuit where we topped 140 mph three times per lap. This was the ideal venue to learn the CTS-V’s finer points. First lesson: Don’t try to outsmart the gearbox by clicking the paddle shifters. Simply leaving the console shifter in D in any driving mode above Tour runs the engine to within 200 rpm of the 6500-rpm redline before upshifts, while also providing the right gear for hustling out of bends. We observed the CTS-V’s astute Performance Traction Management system adjusting power and differential lock-up to modulate understeer during turn-in and oversteer when exiting turns. Our third discovery is that the real fun comes in PTM’s Race mode when all the well-intentioned assist systems are mostly dormant. The trick is to trail the brakes entering a corner so the front tires don’t wash out; then you carefully add throttle in the middle of the turn to avoid wagging the tail. One of the CTS-V’s most endearing traits is the reserve built into the last 10 percent of accelerator-pedal travel. Saving that booster rocket for the corner exit rewards you with big speed at the end of the straight.
Working the quick, hefty steering is the best isometric exercise you can enjoy sitting down, though you must concentrate to sense the faint feedback from the front tires. In the interest of maximizing hand-to-wheel and butt-to-bucket grip, don’t skip the $300 faux-suede steering wheel and shifter covers or the $2300 Recaro front seats. Note to Cadillac: A more congenial surface for bracing a left knee against the door panel would be welcome.
Given the CTS-V’s two-ton-plus heft, you’d think that carbon-ceramic brakes would be handy for track-day expeditions. Chief engineer Tony Roma and Brembo engineer Benjamin Pohl acknowledge that such an option was considered but rejected on cost grounds and the desire to configure the base car in track-ready form. Instead of complicating the CTS-V with two brake packages, Cadillac set a goal of providing enough thermal capacity to support two fuel tanks’ worth of uninterrupted track lapping without overheating the brakes. To achieve that objective, the six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers grab four of the largest vented-iron rotors in captivity. The fronts are 15.4 inches in diameter, the rears 14.4. The pedal feels happy in its work, with deceleration directly proportional to the applied pressure and minimal droop during hot lapping. Bolted-in aluminum centers save weight, and a patented ferritic nitro-carburizing process (heat treating in a nitrogen-rich atmosphere) improves durability while discouraging corrosion.
Considering the 640 horsepower leaving the crankshaft at 6400 rpm, this pushrod small-block is surprisingly quiet. There’s minimal supercharger whine and redline ruckus. What you hear is the growling stomach of a bear rousing from a long winter’s nap. Outside the cabin, the din is more like an F/A-18 with afterburners lit. To take the edge off engine noise, Cadillac installs a muff at the rear of the Eaton TVS supercharger and programs the Bose sound system to neuter the harsh notes. The muffler-bypass valves are closed during start-up to avoid angry 6 a.m. calls from exasperated neighbors.
With Ferrari-grade power, intelligent traction management, and Michelin’s finest 19-inch radials on tap, we expected an exemplary performance with the test gear strapped on. Sure enough, the new CTS-V clicked off a run to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds on its way to 100 mph in only 7.5 seconds. The quarter-mile ticket—124 mph in 11.8 seconds—spots this car in the thick of the quickest imported sedans. Belying its 4129-pound curb weight and heavily laden front tires, this Cadillac corners at 0.98 g. Stopping from 70 mph in 149 feet without fade during repetitive braking tests, it beats two of the three Germans in its gun sight. Launch control is so effective that we struggled to beat it with the feature disabled. And the leap from 50 to 70 mph during our passing test is a grand jeté from eighth to third gear requiring just 2.1 seconds.
The greater surprise is the CTS-V’s poise in ordinary driving. Adaptive dampers deftly curb body motion without spoiling the ride, so cruising most roads feels like rolling across freshly groomed putting greens. Neither swell nor heave catches this chassis out. Reinforced by stiff castings, plates, and tubular struts galore, this body shell is positively ingotlike. Acoustic glass, sound deadening, and a nicely tuned suspension system filter out extraneous noise to support genteel conversation at 100 mph. It’s no mere Corvette with a back seat: This new CTS-V performs well enough to send the Germans back to their dyno cells while simultaneously raising the speed-luxury stakes.
After whining incessantly about Cadillac’s poorly executed CUE infotainment gear, we’re elated to report that major amends have been made. The main eight-inch infotainment touch screen is smarter and quicker-responding thanks to a new processor. Other bonuses: A color head-up display is standard, and a reconfigurable 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster lights up with a high-contrast black-on-white tachometer in performance-driving modes. The $1300 Performance Data Recorder stores your best laps for replay, both in the car and via laptop during cocktail hour. Apple’s CarPlay can be routed directly to the CUE screen, and Android Auto will be available shortly.
A breakthrough supersedan is what you get when you turn a dedicated bunch of racers loose on a liberal budget. The speed affliction runs deep here. Chassis-development engineer Drew Cattell competes in endurance karts and an American Sedan Chevy Camaro. Brian Wallace, the engineer who proved this Cadillac could top 200 mph, raced with his father, Tom Wallace, a former Corvette chief engineer. Lead V-series development engineer John Buttermore won two SCCA Touring class national championships. Tony Roma climbed GM ranks through high-performance V-8 engine development, Cadillac’s endurance-racing program, and theCamaro ZL1 launch. He’s road-raced everything from an MG Midget to a Pontiac Firebird. And Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen is no stranger to victory champagne, having celebrated 10 Le Mans 24-hour race victories during his 19 years at Audi. In such a stormy world, a seasoned crew like this restores our faith.
Lighter and leaner than America’s other speed hero, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, the CTS-V stands ready and, based on this test, able to match wheels with Europe’s hottest. Next stop: a bare-knuckle, over-the-road smackdown to determine which supersedan deserves the C/D crown.
Highs, Lows, and Verdict
Highs:
Incredible power, poise, and performance.
Lows:
Steering is light on feedback, door makes an uncomfortable knee brace.
Verdict:
A very scary sedan, but only if you happen to be employed by Mercedes-AMG, BMW’s M division, or Audi’s Quattro GmbH.
VEHICLE TYPE:front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED:$95,290 (base price: $84,990)
ENGINE TYPE:supercharged and intercooled V-8, aluminum block and heads
DISPLACEMENT:376 cu in, 6162 cc
Power: 640 hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 630 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
TRANSMISSION:8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 114.6 in
Length: 197.7 in
Width: 72.2 in Height:57.2 in
SAE interior volume: F:61 cu ft R: 42 cu ft
Trunk: 14 cu ft
Curb weight: 4129 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.6 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 7.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 13.6 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 17.4 sec
Zero to 170 mph: 25.8 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 3.8 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 2.0 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 2.1 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.8 sec @ 124 mph
Top speed (drag ltd, mfr's claim): 200 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 149 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.98 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway (C/Dest): 14/20 mpg
? While I am half kidding, as long as you have another fun toy, and you don't plan to track your 2 ton behemoth or live where chargers are scarce... it does most things better.
