2011 Cadillac CTS-V Test Drive

While a test drive in a new production model vehicle isn't something that we typically cover, we thought all our fellow 'cruisers' out there would like to hear a review about a vehicle that has really blown our socks off, the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V. Thanks to our contributor, Alan Galbraith, we're able to put you in the driver's seat.

2011 Cadillac CTS-V Test Drive by Alan Galbraith

“You’re gunna drive me to drinking if you don’t stop driving that Hot Rod Cadillac.” Wait, that’s not how the song goes. Perhaps its time for a re-write because the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V is unlikely to get passed by anything, much less a Lincoln powered Model A.

Let’s get the numbers out there right now so you can keep them in mind while reading the rest of this article. 556 hp and 551 ft. lbs of torque from a 6.2 liter (376 cu. in) Supercharged pushrod V8 mated to a TR-6060 6 speed trans and a 4.15 geared independent rear end. That translates into 3.9 seconds from zero to 60 mph and a 12.0 -second quarter-mile. Don’t be fooled into thinking its just a straight line maven, the CTS-V lapped the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:59:32. For reference that lap time is faster than many dedicated sports and super cars. All of this from the same company that brought you the chrome and fin laden luxo barges of the 50’s and the forgettable and regrettable Cimarron in the 80’s? Yes, the very same.

Let's cut right to the chase, what is it like to drive? In a word, amazing. Put the preceding performance numbers into a hot rod or muscle car and you’d have a barely steerable monster. Cadillac has tamed those numbers into a package that is just sporty enough to let you know all the time what kind of car you have in your control, but yet soft enough to take long road trips very comfortably. The power delivery hits hard but isn’t brutal off the line and just keeps building and building. Extra-legal speeds are just a right foot flex and couple of seconds away. Unless you are professional race driver the CTS-V can handle better than your driving talents can. The 6-speed transmission is a peach. The throw is short and it only takes a couple of fingers to row the cogs into the next gear ratio up or down. Monstrous 15 inch disc Bembo brakes scrub off the speed in rapid fashion. The car feels ready to go even when just cruising around town. It’s just waiting for your command to go while being just as happy to doodle around conserving its power and might for the right time and stretch of road. The CTS-V strikes a balance between the two worlds or sport and luxury like none of its competition can.

Cadillac took aim at European luxury sports sedans, think BMW M3, M5, Audi S6 and the Mercedes E63 AMG when it introduced the CTS-V 2004. They scored a wounding blow with that first shot and scored a killed shit when the revised CTS-V rolled off the line in 2009. Where the European sedans are luxurious with sporting intentions, the Cadillac is a true sports sedan that is luxurious. The sporting feel of the CTS-V is right there all the time, not hidden deep down in the performance envelope like the others. The Europeans have slightly nicer interiors but that luxury comes at a price, around $15-25K more than the CTS-V. Our CTS-V stickered at $68k and change with every available option but the sunroof. To get the same power and performance from Europe be ready to pay $86K for an E63 Mercedes, or $135k for a Porsche Panamera Turbo. Nice cars no doubt, but they don’t have the sporting feel of the CTS-V nor are they built in the US where hot rodding runs deep.

There are many technical explanations as to why the CTS-V is so good. The magnetorheological fluid filled shocks controlled by a computer with more power than a jet fighter, the water-to-air intercooler in the supercharger, the speed-sensitive hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion steering, the endless laps of the Nurburgring during development all come to mind. There are aspects of the car I haven’t even touched on in this review, like the integrated voice controlled navigation system, the 5.1 Surround stereo system with its own 40gig hard drive for storing your tunes, the ample trunk space and seating room for 4 reasonably sized adults, the HID headlights that turn with the steering inputs and the heated and air conditioned Recaro seats to name just a few. The list of amazing technology and design features included in the CTS-V is as long as your arm and would take a full issue to go over, but suffice to say that it all just adds more to an already fantastic car. The old song ended with the Cadillac pulling over the let the Hot Rod pass, today if you see a CTS-V in your rear view please pull over to make way for the Hot Rod Cadillac.

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