There’s no denying it: getting media fleet vehicles for review is a cool experience. What’s even more cool about the entire situation is when something like a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V gets delivered for review, which is exactly what happened a couple weeks ago.
Dressed in Red Obsession, the hue proved to be a precursor to my feelings for this car…obsessed. The 650 horsepower super-sedan didn’t just look good, but proved to be a mechanical marvel of a luxury sedan.
Below are some of my notes from my (way too short) week with the CTS-V, with a full review coming soon!
- Launching the car with the windows down makes your ears pop because the air pressure changes so quickly inside the cabin.
- The 8L90 eight-speed automatic is as good as they claim. In track mode under aggressive driving it avoids up-shifts when you let off the throttle, and is smart enough to down-shift at the right moments. It’s not perfect, though.
- I put just at 300 miles on the car and averaged 14.3 MPG with it. Do I care? No. Should you? No.
- The Recaro seats are a bit overdone. They’re also ridiculously complicated to adjust.
- This CTS-V FEELS entirely different than the last generation car. The lightness of the Alpha chassis with the brute force of the LT4 changes the whole dynamic. It feels small and at times almost too tossable for your own good.
- In track mode the exhaust is borderline provocative, which puts a grin on my face.
- Like most GM performance cars, it’s extremely livable when in tour mode and driven “normally.”
- The front carbon fiber splitter makes parking a royal pain.
- In this application, Cadillac CUE worked flawlessly. Yes, flawlessly.
More to come!
Yes. This quote is 100% true:
“This CTS-V FEELS entirely different than the last generation car. The lightness of the Alpha chassis with the brute force of the LT4 changes the whole dynamic. It feels small and at times almost too tossable for your own good.”
Coming from the last gen Sedan and then Coupe, it was a bit of a shock at how small this car feels in terms of handling and such. It really does feel like U are driving a Vette in how light it is on its feet. Dangerous in fact because without knowing the car.. one could easily see themselves in an uncontrollable throw, even at higher speeds. For instance I was in Sport Mode, on the highway and decided at already 80mph, to hit the throttle and pass another car in the fast lane.. well hit the throttle I did.. but just a “blip” and I was BLAM in triple digits, but because the handling is so keen.. so precise.. my mind hadn’t wrapped around the speed yet when I when for the 1-2 turn in to get back in the first lane coming out of the second.. My tail felt a lil to slippery for comfort. Mistake made.. all was well.. lesson learned. NOW I understand that this is not my old 300 lb heavier, and almost 100HP less ‘2009 or 2012 VSeries. It almost makes me think that GM should require CTS-V and Z06 buyers to go thru a class before buying
I can honestly say I’ve never seen this car driven slowly. All four I’ve seen in person have been hauling ass pass me lol. Also, hopefully video reviews is something that’s coming to the site in the near future. Would have been great to see and hear.