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Grapesoda · 09-08-2010, 05:13 AM

I took the cts v for a drive... looks like I need one. when will I ever learn

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/20...ok-like-taxis/

Controversy can be a good thing, and there’s a fair bit of it surrounding the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, the new two-door version of the Caddy sedan with a 556-hp supercharged V8 forged in Mount Doom.

Is it better than a BMW M3 or Audi RS 5? Is it, or is it not, pathetic that Motor Trend and Car and Driver this month attempt to compare the CTS-V with these European performance coupes? Is the CTS-V’s styling – as angular as early Kraftwerk, a strange splintered diamond chip of a car – wonderful and heroic, or a fugly waste of photons?

I’ve just spent a week in the CTS-V and, while debate can be bracing and informative, I hereby invoke cloture. Here’s the cold-blooded, clear-eyed, un-debatable bottom line about the CTS-V:

Styling: Not even close. The CTS-V is a visual event, an annunciation, a car that radiates masculinity and soul as if it were a fresh fuel rod. Go ahead and park the CTS-V next to the German rivals. Open yourself up to the melancholic moment when the two other cars seem to shrink, to shrivel into ordinariness, to waste away like a worm on a hot muffler. I’m not saying the CTS-V is aesthetically perfect. I’m saying it makes the German cars look like taxis. End of debate.

Driving: The CTS-V is more fun to drive than the M3 or the RS 5. Importantly, I’m not saying it’s a finer, more advanced performance machine, even though the Caddy – bigger and heavier – is quicker around the Nurburgring than those two cars, and anyone who says American cars don’t handle is a pathetic hater. I’ve driven lots of performance automobiles, from Alfa 8C Competiziones to Zondas, and I can assure you, the CTS-V – with the big racy rubber, the magnetic dampers, the limited-slip diff, the Brembo land anchors, the gut-bucket torque – gets around corners wonderfully.

But, never mind: I said fun. The entertainment factor is off the charts in the CTS-V. Why? Well, first, because it’s a dancing bear. This is a big, steel-bodied front-engine coupe, and that means, when you dive into a corner, a lot of weight transfers, so you feel like you’ve really got a hold of something. But because of Caddy’s superb chassis tuning and 1-g lateral grip, the car take a nice firm suspension set early and affirmatively. Now it’s locked down, shoulder to the ground, effortlessly predictable. From this posture you can tuck in, chase the apex and let the car understeer through the corner or you can pick up the throttle early and help it rotate with power-on oversteer. The CTS-V makes it easy for mere civilians to drift like Tanner Foust. It’s the fact that you have such a broad range of options – and therefore cornering lines – that makes the car fun.

And then there’s corner exit. It’s true that the CTS-V supercharged V8 isn’t quite the wraith-shrieking wundermill of a German sports coupe. But the grunt – peak torque is 551 pound-feet at 3,800 rpm – is galling, enormous, awesome. And Caddy engineers specifically tuned the traction management to wring the last Mu of grip out of the asphalt before the computer steps in to feather, ever so slightly, the output. The result is a car that absolutely digs for China as you unwind the wheel on corner exit.

And, oh yeah, it’s fast. This is a car that effortlessly reaches 100 mph in about 9 seconds and when the supercharger is fully angered, you can well and truly smoke the baloneys in third gear. Oh my. I need a moment.

Other indisputable facts: The Recaro seats are splendid. Herman Miller never sold a chair half its equal.

The overrun engines noises are delirious, a lush, pyrotechnic cackle, like the rewarding sound of a distant string of Daisy Cutter munitions falling on Al Qaeda hideouts.

The Caddy’s suede steering wheel rim is so much better than the BMW’s Nerf-y, thick-sectioned wheel, it isn’t even funny.

The Caddy is – at the risk of being political incorrectness – a man’s car. Hefty steering, locking rear diff, glowering aesthetics. This car isn’t going to appeal to everybody. Only a few good men.

As I said, these are the facts of the case and they are not in dispute.

09-08-2010, 05:13 AM
Grapesoda So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Montana Posts: 46,238	boy did I fuck up yesterday I took the cts v for a drive... looks like I need one. when will I ever learn http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/20...ok-like-taxis/ Controversy can be a good thing, and there’s a fair bit of it surrounding the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, the new two-door version of the Caddy sedan with a 556-hp supercharged V8 forged in Mount Doom. Is it better than a BMW M3 or Audi RS 5? Is it, or is it not, pathetic that Motor Trend and Car and Driver this month attempt to compare the CTS-V with these European performance coupes? Is the CTS-V’s styling – as angular as early Kraftwerk, a strange splintered diamond chip of a car – wonderful and heroic, or a fugly waste of photons? I’ve just spent a week in the CTS-V and, while debate can be bracing and informative, I hereby invoke cloture. Here’s the cold-blooded, clear-eyed, un-debatable bottom line about the CTS-V: Styling: Not even close. The CTS-V is a visual event, an annunciation, a car that radiates masculinity and soul as if it were a fresh fuel rod. Go ahead and park the CTS-V next to the German rivals. Open yourself up to the melancholic moment when the two other cars seem to shrink, to shrivel into ordinariness, to waste away like a worm on a hot muffler. I’m not saying the CTS-V is aesthetically perfect. I’m saying it makes the German cars look like taxis. End of debate. Driving: The CTS-V is more fun to drive than the M3 or the RS 5. Importantly, I’m not saying it’s a finer, more advanced performance machine, even though the Caddy – bigger and heavier – is quicker around the Nurburgring than those two cars, and anyone who says American cars don’t handle is a pathetic hater. I’ve driven lots of performance automobiles, from Alfa 8C Competiziones to Zondas, and I can assure you, the CTS-V – with the big racy rubber, the magnetic dampers, the limited-slip diff, the Brembo land anchors, the gut-bucket torque – gets around corners wonderfully. But, never mind: I said fun. The entertainment factor is off the charts in the CTS-V. Why? Well, first, because it’s a dancing bear. This is a big, steel-bodied front-engine coupe, and that means, when you dive into a corner, a lot of weight transfers, so you feel like you’ve really got a hold of something. But because of Caddy’s superb chassis tuning and 1-g lateral grip, the car take a nice firm suspension set early and affirmatively. Now it’s locked down, shoulder to the ground, effortlessly predictable. From this posture you can tuck in, chase the apex and let the car understeer through the corner or you can pick up the throttle early and help it rotate with power-on oversteer. The CTS-V makes it easy for mere civilians to drift like Tanner Foust. It’s the fact that you have such a broad range of options – and therefore cornering lines – that makes the car fun. And then there’s corner exit. It’s true that the CTS-V supercharged V8 isn’t quite the wraith-shrieking wundermill of a German sports coupe. But the grunt – peak torque is 551 pound-feet at 3,800 rpm – is galling, enormous, awesome. And Caddy engineers specifically tuned the traction management to wring the last Mu of grip out of the asphalt before the computer steps in to feather, ever so slightly, the output. The result is a car that absolutely digs for China as you unwind the wheel on corner exit. And, oh yeah, it’s fast. This is a car that effortlessly reaches 100 mph in about 9 seconds and when the supercharger is fully angered, you can well and truly smoke the baloneys in third gear. Oh my. I need a moment. Other indisputable facts: The Recaro seats are splendid. Herman Miller never sold a chair half its equal. The overrun engines noises are delirious, a lush, pyrotechnic cackle, like the rewarding sound of a distant string of Daisy Cutter munitions falling on Al Qaeda hideouts. The Caddy’s suede steering wheel rim is so much better than the BMW’s Nerf-y, thick-sectioned wheel, it isn’t even funny. The Caddy is – at the risk of being political incorrectness – a man’s car. Hefty steering, locking rear diff, glowering aesthetics. This car isn’t going to appeal to everybody. Only a few good men. As I said, these are the facts of the case and they are not in dispute. Last edited by Grapesoda; 09-08-2010 at 05:16 AM..