CTS-V Wagon as 4 season DD

Hi all.

Currently driving a 2013 WRX limited hatch as my daily. Previous car was an '06 cayenne s that I had from new.

The wrx was fun when I had a 5 miles back road commute. I moved a month ago and now have a 20 mile commute each way. Kind of tiresome for longer commutes. Suspension is way too soft, the road noise is horrible, stereo is awful, and sometimes wish I had just a little bit more room. But, its torquey, light, and fun. On a nice day, I love cruising around with the windows down, and road noise and the awful stereo doesn't even matter. But after a stressful day at work, sometimes I just want a nice quiet comfortable santuary to drive home in.

Another thing that I don't really like about the WRX is the plain interior and lack of creature comforts. All the plastic doesn't really bother me, but its just seems rather bare bones. The car was 32K new. A $30K kia optima seems more put together in terms of fit and finish, and technology. I'd compare the interior of the WRX almost to that of a '96 Taurus lol. (at least I have automatic windows)

Cayenne was great, and have been trying to keep my eyes out for a 2008-2010 gts or turbo. But I am strangely pulled into the CTS V wagon. Whats this car like to drive on a daily basis?

I live up in boston area, and we get some pretty good snow. Subaru was pretty damn good in the snow, even though I drove through 2 winters on summer tires. lol

In the heavy snow, we have an SUV, and also talking the train to work would aslo be an option, so I'm not too worried about winter driving.

I did a quick search on here, and found reviews of the sedan and coupe, but none for the wagon. From what I've read, there are issues with the rear end, and supercharge isolator (GM has extended warranty until 2015 on S/Cs I believe)

I test drove a manual coupe V a few years back. I remember awful blind spots, and a plastic-y interior. I don't really remember much about the ride. I remember the clutch was very light and easy to operate (compared to F355 or even the WRX)

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also... I have been reading the Cadillac forums; but its hard to get an unbiased opinion there.

 

not necessarily unbiased , but i'm on my 3rd CTS V Coupe....current one a '15
the V's are identical underneith........Sedan,Coupe,Wagon
personally I don't like a manual as a DD, but that's just me
for an occasional car a manual is great, but as a day in, day out car in traffic, etc. I prefer an auto and all 3 of my Coupes have been autos
winter driving a V is not recommended, particularly here in the 'mid waste' where last winter was the worst on record with the amount of snowfall
I've used snow tires on the last 2 and never been stranded or stuck ( Pirelli Sotto Zeros)
not sure what your reference to 'rear end' problems or 'supercharger isolation issues' are but
i've driven a combination of over 65K miles with the 1st 2 cars and have made no visits back to the dealer for service except for complimentary oil changes
several friends have Wagons in both base & V configuration with no complaints so far that I'm aware of
the ability to load cargo in behind the rear seat is something they all have great praise for......coupled with near Ferrari performance #'s with 0-60 in 4 seconds
can't say that I agree with your comment on the 'plasticky' interior, but to each his/her own
the wagons are out of production & only 500 Coupes will be built, so if you are at all interested, i would act sooner rather than later
every car magazine has nothing but high praise for the V Wagons, and if you Google CTS V Wagon you can read some 'unbiased' critiques
oh, and if gas mileage is an issue, figure @ 16 -17 MPG around town....deal with it 556 HP

 

Maybe my memory isn't serving me right... But I seem to remember the dash being plastic. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.

Re: the issue with the supercharger and rear end:

Super charger rattle caused by torsional isolator. Common fix is aftermarket solid isolator. But now GM is replacing the whole S/C under warranty:
GM found a fix for the supercharger rattle!
GM Identifies Problem With Supercharger On Certain Cadillac CTS-V And Camaro ZL1 Models

Seems the diff problems I was reading about were on built cars....


As for mpgs.... i'm getting 18.5 combined right now. 14.3 previously in the cayenne. I'll be ok with 16-17.

Honesty question- does this car get a lot of attention? I'm thinking in wagon form it may fly under the radar a bit.

 

never experienced the supercharger issue with any of the 3 I've had, but evidently some cars had that noise

the wagon can indeed 'fly under the radar'......not so much for the Coupe
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I had at 2010 and loved it so much I got a 2014 V wagon since this is it, no more. I doubt there will ever be a 556 hp, 6-speed station wagon ever made. my 2010 did have a diff failure, but I actually noticed a hint of a whine and when the car was in for the included service, they replaced the diff without my asking.

I am not a fan of the sunroof, as there is too much wind noise and I rarely used it.

As for use in the snow, I'd say it's OK, but nowhere near as nice as your Subie.

I am a huge fan of the V wagon and there is a real cult following. I'd be willing to bet it is very hard to find a 6-speed version.

Oh and 16 mpg? On what planet. I get more like 13. But my highway pace tends to be above 60 and I do a lot of city driving.
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honest......I get 15 -16
must be my driving style

great color & yes they are no more sad to say...........but it WAS fun while it lasted!

 

I have a 6 speed Manual V sport Wagon. Make 18.5 MPG on highway at speeds that are within what one receives a reprieve on the highway. Car rides and handles as well as any sports car and have a few of those to compare it with.
Can not go wrong but would choose a manual for fun and automatic for ease of operation if in city all the time.

 

Rarely pop open the sunroof, but I like all the light it allows in the interior
Gets away from the cave feeling most dark interior cars have

 

I had the sedan for about a year. My biggest problem was the size of the gas tank. I am used to cars with bad gas mileage but the size of the tank in the CTS-V had me filling up every other day. I have a friend with the wagon and he had the same complaint. I replaced the car with an E63. The Caddy handled better but I liked everything else about the E63 better.

 

Good luck finding a cts v wagon. Cool ride but limited number produced.....(I d get the automatic for a daily driver)

Put snow tires on a second set of rims for the winter and you ll be fine.

 

+1 on the snow tires!
+2 on the auto-box for DD

 

Yuck on the auto. The manual shifts beautifully and honestly, if you don't want to DRIVE, get a minivan. IMO the point of the V is it is a DRIVERS car. I'd agree the E63 is a better choice if driving dynamics are less important.

 

sorry,I'll 'stick' with the auto
and no, I don't need a minivan
and yes i do want to DRIVE

John Heinricy was quicker around the Nurburgring in the auto V than with the manual V.....if those things are important to you
for my DD, with too much traffic, a manual is no fun at all
besides with a manual i couldn't hold my Starbucks and text while driving..

 

I'd have to have Heinrecy tell me he was quicker with the auto to believe it. And I am surprised it did not overheat on track. I just cannot stand automatic transmissions, but I will admit that in bumper-to-bumper traffic they are better, but then again that is not driving, but instead wasted life-time you do not get back.

 

when John and I were working on the CTS he specifically told me the auto was faster around the ring......and I do believe him
i think there was a video of him on YouTube making that record run, at the time the world's fastest production sedan
he said the the electronic controls for the auto could/would change gears more effectively than he could ever do manually, but of course for the street that's a moot point..unless you're breaking the law

 

And he would never tell you that, because it's not necessarily true. When I talked to him at a CTS-V track day back in 2011, he stated that he was more familiar with the auto car, since he had been doing the development work on the 'Ring in that car, and there wasn't time to relearn the best technique in a manual car in time to make the record run.

He pretty much says the same thing here:

Race Legend John Heinricy Talks about the CTS-V Record Breaking Lap at Nurburgring - DragTimes.com

 

Indeed it is. Only a few hundred manual wagons were made.

I found a used 6 speed wagon at Texas Direct recently, and when I went to drive it, I was shocked to find it shod with....Blizzaks!

Having said that, those tires actually transmitted the torque to the ground surprisingly well. That might have been the most surprising part.

 

That's the same story he relayed to us. He was happy that he was able to break the record.

 

What color is that? Its beautiful.

 

Yes, but that is not the same as saying the auto was faster, when in actuality, he spent little to no time in a manual V. With today's new 8spd auto, things might be different, but I suspect if the Heinrocket had time to learn the Ring with a stick, it would have been quicker still in his hands.

 

maybe yes.....maybe no, I guess we'll never know

 

Majestic Plum Metallic. Only for 2014. And maybe only for the wagon. Wonder how many purple 6-speed wagons there are?

 

There is one here in town with the same color & a manual
probably the only 2 in existence!!!
it's a keeper


belongs to Jim Hall....... "automotive guru"
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I have had a 2010 CTS V sedan put about 50K miles on it never had an issue at all . then bought a 2013 ctsV sedan has about 22000 miles so far . Love the car never had it back to the dealer for anything it is an automatic but I love it .. I have a lot of cars but with the recaro seats it is very comfortable and very fast ... quiet when you want it to be and sounds good when you want it to.. I thought hard about getting a wagon but just could not do it although I really like them .. my wife did not so that solved that ...
I get maybe 13 or so miles per gallon but then again i like putting my foot in it ..