Now we here at top speed have a bit of a thing for the Cadillac CTS-V ever since we had the chance to get well acquainted with the supercharged four door sport sedan. Now when we first saw the CTS Coupe concept we couldn’t help but dream that one day General Motor’s luxury brand would incorporate all of the same high performance stuff you don’t see that makes the V Series car so great into the two door version. Well Cadillac made our dreams come true when they confirmed the future CTS-V Coupe and things are looking up even more because they have just announced when we will see the 556 HP M3 obliterator. There is no better venue to show off Detroit’s finest than at the North American International Auto Show, and that is exactly where the CTS-V Coupe will make its debut.
As expected, the Cadillac CTS-V dominated the challenge that bears its own name after seven of the top 12 fastest laps recorded came from the CTS-V.
Guess that means GM boss Bob Lutz will have to eat crow at another day.
The CTS-V’s dominance was apparent from start to finish. Six of the top seven cars were CTS-Vs, with the notable exception being a BMW M3 Sedan owned by one Michael Cooper, which placed fourth in the overall standings. Bagging the top spot was former GM Performance Division Executive, John Henricy after posting a lap time of 2m and 46.56s.
As for Bob Lutz, his lap time earned him a seventh place finish with a fastest lap time of 2m and 56.231 seconds, although it’s worth mentioning that out of all the CTVs that finished in the top 12, his finished second to last, beating the CTS-V driven by Chris Fairman (10th overall) with a fastest lap time of 3m 14.292s
Well Bob Lutz laid down his V-Series Challenge and Cadillac seems to have retained their title of the world’s fastest sport sedan, with a little help from their friends of course. Owners of factory tuned fast four doors were invited to the Monticello Motor Club just outside of New York City and take on the CTS-V in a fast lap competition against the General Motors Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, as well as a few seasoned racers and friends of GM like Brian Redman, Aaron Link and John Heinricy. Throwing a wrench into Cadillac’s plans was Skip Barber graduate Michael Cooper and his four door BMW M3, although the New York native is no professional, he did manage to finish right behind GM’s trio of road course ringers. Either way Cadillac did prove that the CTS-V can go fast, even with Bob Lutz behind the wheel, and everyone in attendance had more than they can seem to remember. In a time where consumers are more concerned with efficiency than outright lap times, it is nice to see that there are still automaker’s that are giving high performance driving enthusiasts exactly what they are asking for. Even more importantly, it shows that they still know how to have fun.
Resting in the shadows of the award winning Converj concept car, Cadillac was showing off a piece of their production car finest, another award winner, the Cadillac CTS-V. The dark grey super sedan took Top Speed’s car of the year award last year thanks to its practical four door layout and ability to take up to five from 0 to 60 MPH in 3.9 seconds because of the 556 HP 6.2 Liter supercharged V8 sitting under the power bulge in the hood. The mid size sport sedan will be defending the honor of General Motors later on this week at New York state’s Monticello Motor Club as GM’s knight in shining armor because of King Lutz’s challenge.
Just last week we reported about how the satellite service Onstar stopped its first car jacking by disabling a 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe only 16 minutes after it was taken thanks to their Stolen Vehicle Slowdown system. Well this time the little blue button was still on alert, except that there was no cause for concern. The American tuning house Hennessey was testing their 700 HP Cadillac CTS-V at the drag strip when a hard launch measuring as much as .99 G of longitudinal force triggered one of Onstar’s safety parameters and caused an operator to contact the driver mid run down the 1320. Luckily no one was actually in need of assistance at the time, but this is just more reassuring proof that Onstar has you covered.
Recently Bob Lutz, General Motors Vice Chairman, issued a challenge to the world in which he hopes to prove that the Cadillac CTS-V is hands down the fastest four door sports car on the market today. Mr. Lutz is inviting all comers with a stock production sedan to challenge the chairman’s best lap time around the Monticello Motor Club’s race track on October 29. If you are intersted in taking on the 556 HP CTS-V in your own fast four door then follow the link below.
Unfortunately as a consequence of General Motor’s recent fiscal restructuring, their High Performance Vehicle Operations team was temporarily disbanded and put to work on everyday people movers. However this new spy shot thanks to our friends at Left Lane News, it looks like the supercharged Cadillac CTS-V is back on track to go on sale sometime in 2010. We had heard rumors of a possible V powered wagon, these photos of the two door model are giving us hope that there will be much more to come.
Giving away the fact that the camouflage wearing coupe is a BMW M3 fighting high performance V-series model are the: Cadillac crested large wire grill that shines through the plastic mesh covering, power dome in the hood that covers the blown 6.2 Liter LSA V8 that is good for a total of 556 HP and 551 ft-lb of torque and a rather meaty looking center mounted dual exhaust to finish off the upscale muscle car theme of the Cadillac V-Series lineup.
However the single largest aspect of the production ready looking CTS-V coupe mule that gives it away as a V-Series, aside from the taped up emblems on the doors, is the running gear. Only one other car in the General Motors catalog wears a set of wheels like those, and especially with a beefy set of brake calipers underneath. Due to the fact that the Pontiac G8 GXP doesn’t have much of a future, despite being such a wonderful automobile, is that this CTS-V coupe is looking more and more like a production car.
Wagons have gotten a bad rap recently, it’s almost like an automaker would rather call their utilitarian model a sport hatch before uttering that five letter word that reminds us of family road trips and faux wood paneling; it is almost worse than the truck/SUV controvery. Well the American essence of automotive luxury, Cadillac, has a few tricks up their sleeve that will hopefully help to change the nation’s attitude about practical transportation, with a high performance, V-Series twist.
Cadillac has announced that before putting the highly anticipated CTS Coupe into production next May that they will release the CTS-Vsport wagon. Now they did manage to squeeze the word sport into the name, but with a 6.2 Liter LSA supercharged V8 under the hood generating an estimated 550 HP and 550 lb-ft of torque, General Motors has all the right in the world.
The all new Cadillac CTS-V sport wagon will compete head to head with world class performance touring models like the BMW M5 Touring and the turbocharged Audi RS6 Avant.
General Motors has been playing games with the two door CTS, first it was an auto show hit and then the program was put on hold, then it was back on and then finaly it was delayed once again. Well play time is over, because it is now official, the Cadillac CTS Coupe will make it to production. The vehicle’s official debut will be made in February 2010 and production will begin shortly after in May.
The CTS Coupe will be available in both standard and CTS-V, high performance version. The new coupe will be the third edition of the CTS familiy when it joins the current sedan and wagon. The CTS Coupe will be powered by a gasoline direct injected V6 that will deliver 270 HP. The big boy CTS-V on the other hand, will be powered by a 556 HP 6.2 Liter supercharged V8, the same engine that is found in the sedan.
Until now there has been quite a bit of rumors about a future Cadillac CTS-V coupe, now it is official: Bob Lutz confirmed that the company is indeed preparing a coupe version of the high performance CTS-V, although CTS-V wagon hopefuls will have to wait for a future update.
"As of now, the V package is planned only for the sedan and coupe." As for more CTS-V models – specifically a Sport Wagon variant – Lutz said, "... should sufficient demand materialize, there is no reason why we couldn’t do a V-Series wagon, and I would be standing in line for one, just ahead of you."
The CTS-V is powered by a 6.2L LSA supercharged V8 engine that will deliver 500 HP and allow the Cadillac to become a serious competitor with other factory tuned machines like the BMW M3 Coupe.
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