Cadillac CTS V

Author
Discussion

bermuda

Original Poster:

45 posts

277 months

Wednesday 8th October 2003
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Will the Corvette engined Cadillac give BMW a run for their money?
What do you think of the engine/transmission package--I think it is right from the Vette.

jpf

1,315 posts

283 months

Thursday 9th October 2003
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On paper it all makes sense. Just hope that Cadillac knows how to make the driving environment as special as BMW--I can live a transmission that isn't as slick as the M5 because I can afford the CTS V--a 4 door Corvette!

ZR1415

17,999 posts

256 months

Thursday 9th October 2003
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If it performs anything like the vette there should be no problem,if they are planning to hit Europe with it they should push the mpg a bit more,over here the cynics still think a big V8 means low mpg whereas very few know that they can be as economical as high 20s-low 30s.
Are they going to do manual aswell as auto?

Btw, welcome

fizz

251 posts

277 months

Friday 7th November 2003
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Market the CTS V as the poor mans M5!

Hope it does well--I don't think it will hold its value particularly well, but I think it will offer tremendous value for the buck!

z064life

1,926 posts

255 months

Friday 7th November 2003
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fizz said:
Market the CTS V as the poor mans M5!

Hope it does well--I don't think it will hold its value particularly well, but I think it will offer tremendous value for the buck!


Just like the Vette (lol).

I wish Caddy was to come to Europe, WITH the Vette.

JBZ06

8 posts

254 months

Sunday 9th November 2003
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GM tests show the CTS V series travels the famous Nurenburgring (sp) faster than either the BMW M5 or M3

I've seen the V series LS6 400 hp with M12 Six speed manual tranny and its an awesome car.Pricing here in the United States is 50,000

Comes only in black or silver..

The interior is sharp too...

Half tempted but couldn't sell the Z

ZR1415

17,999 posts

256 months

Sunday 9th November 2003
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Any photo's of this car anyone.

vetteheadracer

8,271 posts

260 months

Monday 10th November 2003
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I saw two at Petit Le Mans. A black one being driven by Dave Hill and a metallic red one on the Corvette heritage stand (not sure why).

ZR1415, if you check out my Petit Le Mans album at Klickonline you will see a couple of pics!

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Tuesday 11th November 2003
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I see there's no Camaro forum here so I'll have to join in with you guys since you will know more than two things about American cars and are far less likely to be buried up your own butts when expressing an opinion.

I think the CTS-V is probably one of the ugliest cars ever conceived but how accommodating of BMW to turn the new 5 series into a national eyesore to give it a chance.

I would hope that the CTS-V does for Cadillac what the GN did for Buick ie give it a performance image that it patently lacks at present. Certainly, the Buick GN succeeded despite it's looks rather than because of them.

The only downside that I can see is that Buick GN drivers spent most of their time trumpeting their superiority over the Corvette C4 and I rather fancy they were lost Corvette sales rather than anything else.

I would welcome the Caddy, however. Who knows, it may assume it's own cult status. I regret that for my purposes, the C5 is at least one seat too few and the options are therefore limited. Cerberas are too unreliable and pricey and too damn small to be honest. The Holdens are fine cars but they look like Vauxhalls and are shortly to matamorphose into Griffin-clad supersaloons. I think that A Cadillac that handles and sporting at least 400bhp could be a very attractive proposition.

Unfortunately, unless it attracts that cult status, the depreciation will not be something I would necessarily want to experience.

JenkinsComp

918 posts

254 months

Tuesday 11th November 2003
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ZR1415 said:
Any photo's of this car anyone.


I have just written a news item for next months Street Machine (out 1st week of December) about a new 500bhp version of the CTS V, and have done news items on the regular 400bhp CTS V in past issues. The 500 bhp version looks cool but still ugly.
I have spy piccies of both cars, send me a reply or a private message and I will e-mail them to you.
I should be test driving the first European spec CTS cars to be distributed by Kroymans in Holland soon too.
Can't wait, the 400bhp CTS-V is said to have lapped the Nurburgring 2 secs a lap quicker than an M5 which is not bad at all...

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Tuesday 11th November 2003
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Well maybe the Nurburgring doesn't prove as much as you might hope. I have a video of what appears to be a Lotus Exige vs a "street C5" round the Nurburgring where the Vettes top end advantage sees it destroy the Lotus even though it can be seen skittering round some corners hard pressed by the Exige. All I'm saying is the Nurburgring favours cars with lots of power even if the handling is not exactly flawless.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 11th November 2003
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You're on the money LuS1feR. Those two cars are chalk and cheese.

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Wednesday 12th November 2003
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<a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=6979">www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=6979</a>

I don't know about you lot but goddam, I'm starting to WANT one of these cars. Sure is more distinctive than one of those Holdens. In this context, I think "butt ugly" is better than bland. Kind of adds to the aura of the car, you know, the acknowledgement that your car is not only mean and ugly but more than capable of kicking your Germanic butt.

$50000 is £33000. Come on Cadillac, you foisted the STS on us, give us this car!

Talking of the STS, the 2005 new STS-V is slated for a 450bhp+ twin turbo Northstar. It would be amazing in the CTS-V .

>> Edited by LuS1fer on Wednesday 12th November 16:40

>> Edited by LuS1fer on Saturday 15th November 13:39

fizz

251 posts

277 months

Tuesday 18th November 2003
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What about the Pontiac GTO (Holden Monaro) versus the CTS V? Is the GTO the M3 fighter and the CTS V the M5 fighter?

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Wednesday 19th November 2003
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I think the GTO is too big to be an M3 fighter and probably too slow. The CTS and GTO are the same size but one has two more doors.

JenkinsComp

918 posts

254 months

Friday 21st November 2003
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LuS1fer said:
I think the GTO is too big to be an M3 fighter and probably too slow. The CTS and GTO are the same size but one has two more doors.



Too slow? Stock, maybe. But thats missing the point. The GTO as standard is just the tip of the iceberg, there is soo much room for improvement.
However the M3 is a finely honed tool, which is so good as standard that you won't improve a great deal on BMWs work. It's already got just over 107bhp/litre, compared to the GTOs 61.4. Obviously it is easy to improve on that; heads and cam on the LS1 can lift power to 485bhp, if you don't want to go as far as removing the engine, then the bolt on mods such as larger throttle bodies, headers, free flow cats, chip, air induction kit if all added will make well over 400 bhp, more than enough to see off M3s. And then you can add blowers, turbos or nitrous and still have enough strength capacity in the stock gearbox and axle to take it. Ultimately, the GTO is a far quicker car. The Holden Monaro which the GTO is based on absolutely wiped the floor with the opposition in the Bathurst 24hrs last year, using a 7 litre version of the LS1 motor and walked away from 360 Modenas, and 911 GT3s down the Conrod straight like they were in reverse. This years Bathurst 24 hours in on this weekend.

>> Edited by JenkinsComp on Friday 21st November 09:41

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Friday 21st November 2003
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No. I think "Stock" is exactly the point. This will be a Vauxhall and 99% of owners will not only never modify it, it won't even cross their mind. Being "potentially" an M3 beater is all very well but as we know, even the 370bhp version isn't an M3 beater as an overall package.

Besides which, once you start modifying, you might just as well say you can modify the M3 as well (though I take your point at least until BMW put in an even bigger engine).

I think talking about 7 litre race cars is as relevant as a BTCC car is to a roadgoing Astra.

Cams and heads are going to be alien territory over here. The bolt-on mods won't make 400bhp and tests have proved the fallacy of claims made in that respect, at least so far as cumulative gains are concerned. I'll also tell you why the "M3 challenge" will never be really met in the UK and that's because the dealers aren't interested.

I asked a Chevy dealer to fit 3.73 gears to my back axle. Sharp intake of breath. "Ooh, no, we don't alter them from standard". But the manual comes with these gears as standard "Ooh no, we don't go messing about with things that aren't standard". I also don't see anyone making a living out of the LS1 in the Uk whilst we are set with the Wa*x Power mentality of the hybrid turbo and dump valve brigade which involves far less engineering skills.

The final nail in the argument's coffin is probably that once you start modifying the Holden, you start to creep nearer the M3's price and in the UK, badge snobbery is way above what a car can or can't do.

>> Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 21st November 20:12

>> Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 21st November 20:14

anonymous-user

61 months

Friday 21st November 2003
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Is the M3 a good all round performance car for the money? Yes.

Is the M3 a sports car? I say no. Why? Because it looks much the same as the 316i driven by Clive in accounts.

Is the Merc SL an extremely fine motor car? Yes. But it's too big/bloated plutocrat to mix it with M3s, let alone sports cars.

Well what about the Jag XKR? I still say no, because it's for retired gents at the golf club.

So is there room for some different compromise solution along the lines of the new Vette and its relations? Good question. The looks and performance should be beyond question but ultimately the "sale" is driven by ride/handling. You can't impress your mates for long with a car that has concrete suspension on the high street or wayward handling.

If the General has got the message there could be real potential for the new cars.

By the way, if you don't agree with this view can you explain for me why the Mazda MX5 is so successful?

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Saturday 22nd November 2003
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Because it's a girl's car?

LuS1fer

41,778 posts

252 months

Sunday 7th December 2003
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This month's Street Machine shows that Cadillac isn't just toying with BMW and Mercedes, they want AMG as well. There are pictures of a 500bhp CTS-V under development which will presumably use the C6 6.0 engine. The bigger arches and mesh lend a really aggressive look to the car that overcomes the "hit with an ugly stick" look and makes it into a bit of a compelling monster.

I just hope The Stig gets to put that one round the Top Gear track one day.