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Home  JST's Cornered Test Drives Just drove a CTS-V
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Written by JST
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Saturday, 27 March 2004 |
Short version: A thunderingly fast, amazingly competent sports sedan
with a few minor flaws. Anyone who buys an E60 530i for the same money
is a ****ing idiot.
Somewhat longer version:
The interior of the CTS-V is pretty well executed. The gauges are large
and very legible, and the controls for the radio/climate control are
very intuitive and easy to use. Kudos, for example, for including a
large volume knob and large tuning knob for the radio.
Little details are also well done. There are two stalks, like in
European and Japanese cars, and they feel solid and precise--a far cry
from the ancillary controls that GM use to employ, which felt brittle
and cheap. There is a wealth of electronic information available,
including the individual tire pressures of all four tires (like the
E55), an electronic g-meter, and an electronic digital speedometer (in
addition to the analog display).
There are some missteps. The parking brake, in the grand American
tradition, is foot pedal operated, for some reason. The steering wheel
doesn't telescope. It's hard to describe, but the ignition key/lock
retains ghosts of the old GM interior feel, which isn't a good thing.
And the interior plastic is not as nice as that found in the E39 or
E46, though it is just as good (if not better) than the crap BMW is
putting in the E60/65/63.
The seats are acceptable. Side bolstering is not as aggressive as I
might like, though they are probably about as good as the
non-adjustable seats I have in my E46. The Alcantara center section
looks nice, and provides a sticky surface that holds you better than
the slick Nappa in the M3.
What's the drive like?
Pulling away, the first thing you notice is the steering, which is
quite light at low speeds. The steering wheel rim is thinner than the
fat boy in the M3, but is actually probably about the right thickness.
The engine is quiet and docile at idle, and the clutch takeup is
surprisingly smooth and light for a driveline this powerful. There is
some driveline snatch,* of a kind that will be familiar to M3 and M5
drivers, but if you concentrate a bit you can smooth your inputs and
make it go away.
As the traffic opens, and you can give the engine its head, you realize
that the LS6 is the dominating feature of this car. It has torque in a
bottomless, inexhaustible stream, and as the engine gains revs it
issues an unmistakable, hammering V8 cacophony. I've gotta say that I
love the way that high performance American V8s sound, because no
matter how much power they produce, they all retain a little bit of
that industrial backbeat that calls to mind Woodward in its glory days.
And this car is very, very fast. It adds speed effortlessly, the way a
buggy pulled by a Clydesdale on a cocaine binge might. But that's
missing the point a bit, because it feels much more relaxed than the M3
does--the M3 is wound tight, whereas the CTS-V is rangy and loping. I
can't speak to the axle tramp question, because I didn't push it hard
from a standing start, but in everyday driving it handles the power
with aplomb.
Throw it into a curve, and you can feel the weight. This car is clearly
bigger than the E46, and it's agility suffers a bit for it. The
steering firms up at speed, and while it remains lighter than the M3,
it's no less communicative. Hitting a mid-corner bump reveals the
stiffness of the damping, brought about in part by the F1 Supercar EMT
tires; while the ride is generally very good and very smooth, sharp
impacts can be transmitted through the chassis quite directly.
The shifter is workmanlike, but no one is ever going to write sonnets
about it. It's a bit vague, and the dreaded Skip Shift feature rears
its head when you are puttering about. It's fairly easy to override,
but disconnecting it (if that can still be done) would be the first
thing I would do when I got the car home. The shift throws are about
average, and the gate is reasonably well laid out, though 6th is way
over to the right. Oddly, reverse is up and to the right.
In terms of the overall driving gestalt, it's a bit unfair to compare
this car to an E46. It's a bigger car, and its extra space and
avoirdupois dictate that it will never have quite the same directness
as the M3. It's much better to compare it to an M5, and here the CTS-V
acquits itself very well. The things that the M5 does better than the
CTS-V are...well, I suspect that there may be some, but I can't think
of any at the moment. Wait, here's one: It impresses badge snobs
better. Other than that, the CTS-V has the measure of the E39 M5.
And this is the really good bit: It does all of that for right about
$50K. And that includes all manner of doo-dads that are either optional
or not available on the E39 (or E60), such as nav, the electronic info
center (transmission oil temp/g force gauge/tire pressure), XM radio,
auto wipers, heated seats, OnStar, etc. etc. Like the Acura TL, the
Cadillac comes loaded, and GM doesn't try and nickel and dime you to
death with stupid option prices. I suppose that if you are looking for
a stripped down club racer this is a bad thing, but if you are looking
for a stripped down club racer and you are thinking either M5 or CTS-V
you should have your head examined. For the type of driving this car is
going to do, the options are nice to have.
Comparing the CTS-V to a 400 hp M5 makes sense. Comparing it to the BMW
you can actually buy for the same money (a moderately well equipped
530) is just stupid. The Cadillac has 175 more hp, a performance
advantage that makes the BMW look laughably slow and overpriced, and
comes with a vast range of additional equipment. It also (to me) looks
better, though the very worst you can say about the styling of the
Cadillac is that even if you dislike it, it's honestly no more
polarizing than Bangle's bull****.
In the end, the only relevant question is whether, having driven a
CTS-V, I would buy one. The answer is unequivocally yes. The minor
flaws are meaningless compared to the impressive package that Cadillac
has put together. Because the M3 is smaller and lighter, I'm not
impressed *enough* with the Cadillac to end the lease on my M early.
But when it's time for the M3 to go back, the CTS-V is going to be the
first car on my shopping list.
________
* Heh heh. He said "snatch."
Originally posted on bimmerfest.com and carmudgeons.com.
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