I just bought one. Not a Acura NSX or an Italian super car, but they "GM" are not claiming that. It is a Luxury performance car. I dropped by the Cadillac dealer because I had nothing else to do. The dealer talked me into driving it because I have owned a lot of performance cars and I enjoy them. I am glad he he did . They compare the CTSV to a M5 BMW and the Mercedes AMG. After driving the car and then buying it I think that is fair. It is a luxury performance car. The car is comfortable, fast and an a enjoyable drive. It will be my everyday car. They claim it is cable of racing and winning. They give you a invitation to several racing events that Cadillac does. You just have to show up and they provide a stock CTSV and a race driver. They show you how to drive the car to get the performance the car was designed with. Anyway after driving the car I was shocked how good it really is. The GM engineers should be proud of what they have created.Who would have thought Cadillac would create a drivers car and a good one. Not me! Best Lee
Congrats on the car. I have see a few on the streets and have been very impressed by the stance and overall look of the car. Are they selling very well as I don't see that many?
I do not know. It is hard to change the image of an old persons car to a luxury performance car for everybody. The car is spot on and it will do better with time. The dealer told me he was only getting one V car this year, so GM must know this. I see normal Caddies very often here, but no V's as you point out. This reminds me of the Acura NSX I bought last year. When I showed ip with it nobody knew what is was or how capable as a sports car it is. Now people know especially the young people. The Cadillac CTSV is not a NSX but it is an option for the BMW M5 buyer. Best Lee
Actually, among GM people we all know about the CTSV. It is a giant killer doing almost everything better than it's competition for a fraction of the price with GM reliability and parts availability in every corner of the USA. Many people are club racing gutted versions of the CTSV. GM proved the CTSV platform in lower level pro racing too with a CTSV equivalent of the corvette C5R+ series of corvette racecar. The CTSV is BADA$$.
i had the prev version coupe, i loved the performance but i felt it was work to drive , almost like a 2 seat sports car as opposed to a luxury 4 seat coupe. i like caddy , i have an xts as another driver, but ctsv was too much work, not caddy comfortable i am used to.
The CTSV is certainly a giant improvement over Caddy's first venture into a sporty performance car. Glad GM finally got it right. Anyone remember their first attempt- the $100K XLR? Built off a modified Corvette C5 chassis but with a Caddy 4.6L Northstar V-8 engine. Today, a 2009 is running about $40K while the special supercharged 4.4L XLR-V model is around $50K. By comparison, today's CTSV is a vast improvement and bargain. For posterity, this article shows how far Caddy has come: The Cadillac XLR: The Worst Corvette Chevy Never Made
I don't think so. It has all the angularity of a Ferrari 430 kinda ugly. When I see the CTSV I think all business like you don't want a piece of this... Then if you do it will take you up on the challenge and likely beat you to a bloody pulp.
The CTS-Vs have always been sleepers and absolute beasts. I've loved them from the performance point of view, but the looks of the 1st and 2nd gens never grew on me. The 3rd gen finally looks right. Too bad no manual.
And 4 doors. The earlier CTS-V coupe was too radical for me. They should have used the ELR body from the start. Same car but offer different drivetrains. . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Today's 10 speed auto that GM and Ford conspired on is at DCT speeds with slushbox reliability. We are talking winner! I race 6sp manual heel n toe downshift and left foot brake everywhere and I am happy to give up my manual gearbox.
Thank you for all of the posts. I was at the Cadillac dealer today , they are such nice people. We spent the afternoon setting up all of the special features this car has, unbelievable, all adjustable to the owners desires ! I like the automatic in this car for my intended usage. Normally I like manuals but they are dying. I like the design of the car both inside and out, but I agree it is bold and some may not like it and that is expected and okay. I wish they made the V in two doors, four doors is not my preference. They do make a two door lesser model with lower HP. Some one posted the car is "work" to drive. I have not seen that, I think the opposite and feel it is quite civil even when driven with anger. I love the track setting improves everything Best Lee
Well, everyone who bemoans the lack of 3 pedal cars can fix this pronto....BUY 3 pedal cars. The takeaway rate on manual CTS-V's was next to nothing, much like Ferrari 430's. If your buyers tell you that they are not interested, then why do it. F1 verses manual in the 430 was 90+% F1 and that is why there are no 3 pedal Ferraris. I'm sure the CTS-V was even more skewed in favor of the automatic. The day of the high performance manual transmission sedan is GONE, I think Cadillac was about the last to offer a manual, and NO ONE cared enough to buy one.
I agree, I have owned three Ferrari's. I was upset when the 430 was only a few manuals than complete conversion to flappy paddles. I asked the dealer to call Ferrari Italy to see if they had the parts around to sell me a manual car. I told them to float me a price and I might bite. No was the answer. So sad My Corvette Z06 is a manual. I agree with this gentleman's statement. I would also add , at some point many buyers will not know how to drive a stick. So manual cars will become harder to sell. Best Lee
For the last four years my daily driver has been a CTS-V coupe. When looking I had only two requirements: 4 seats, 12 sec car. There aren't too many options out there. Based on reliability & dealer issues BMW & Mercedes was out. Maserati to much $ for a DD. No SUV hybrid stuff, and a 911 was just to small. Panamera, blaaa. And forget any car that if you took the badges off could be any of 4 or 5 brands at 30 feet. The V has/is serving me well. It's heavy and you can feel it. Goes through tires but boy does it scream. Most fun is smoking WRX's driven by snowflakes (rocketing away after 50 mph). Been looking at a 700hp kit but no time. For a DD in traffic it's extremely quiet and I can have conference calls during the 1 hr commute with no distractions. The biggest issue is mpg. At and avg of 20 mph after 40K miles the mpg is 13.1, and because of the small tank I can barely get 180 miles. Rarely driven hard except in a straight line. The only issues I've had are suspension. Front control arms have been replaced twice, and one rear shock locked up at about 20K miles. All in all if it dies I have no idea what I'd replace it with.
I drove a CTSV for 6 years as my daily driver (for work) they were great cars fast and very reliable never had a problem put about 50k miles on each of them ... drive an RS 7 now ... all pretty great car also
