Caddillac CTS-V = 415kW
June 10, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Well, who said American cars where slow and uninspiring? If you haven’t seen so already, watch the video clip of the Cadillac CTS-V going around Germany’s Nurburgring in under eight minutes.
How does it manage to do that? With 415 kW (@ 6,100rpm) and an enormous 747 Nm of torque at 3,800 RPM. The only question we have is, where do we sign?
Not only does it handle, as proven by the Nurburgring time, but given the announced power figures, it must go like an absolute rocket. How does 0-100km/h in less than 4 seconds sound? Thought so. Quarter mile in 12 seconds flat? Yep, it’s going to be a weapon.
The CTS-V will go head to head with its German rivals such as the BMW M5, which, although spectacular in its own right, only has 373kW and 520Nm of torque. The B-em-veh does the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.7 seconds.
The American might is generated by the sport sedan’s 6.2-litre supercharged V8 which is a derivative of the new Corvette ZR1’s LS9. If anything, the engine is capable of more and has been detuned (to keep Corvette the king) for the CTS-V.
The CTS-V also gets the same technology as the HSV GTS with Magnetic Ride Control as well as a new automatic transmission with paddle-shift control.
Caddillac says the aim of the V project was to make the CTS-V the world’s fastest production sedan. So far no one is disputing that claim.
Will the CTS-V come to Australia? So far GM Premium has only confirmed the standard specification CTS will make it down under. In saying that, we suspect the CTS-V will eventually find its way here as Cadillac will benefit enormously from the CTS-V as a halo car.
Print it: 
The car looks alright & the interior is first class. This vehicle can definitely move.
Cheers !
It could have 800kw….but its still an ugly fat turd :|
Awesome engine.
I don’t know about the boxy looks.
Actually terrible shape, same aerodynamics as a Hummer.
This is the engine we needed in the “W427″ to justify its price tag. Holden, give us this in something.
i love it, not only is it astonishing from a technical point of view, but i also happen to love the looks, love the interior and love the fact that it’s different to all the other people who buy BMW’s and Merc’s by default
Exactly, i agree richo. Its different from the typical audi, bmw and merc. In the flesh i think it would look better. It looks awkward in the photos though.
i much prefer the grill used in the standard caddilac much more euro and not tacky looking.
HOT
amazing performance, menacing looks and at last quality to match or even out do the euros
i would have this over an audi, merc or beemer any day
Is this some kind of very very VERY bad joke?
Was this car styled by 5 year olds?
I thought the series 1 AU Falcon was ugly..
.. but this is without a doubt the most appalling, ridiculous, UNBELIEVABLY ugly looking car I have ever EVER seen!
It is a joke right??? They will re-work the front end won’t they???
Looks like a Daewoo..
I find this car offensive, although you do have to admire the uncompromised design. It looks tough.
What on earth we’re they thinking?
I’d rather kill myself than suffer the torture of looking at it again..
AND THE ENGINE IS 50 YEARS OLD!!!!
It’s becoming clear to me why GM are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
I’m going to pretend I never saw it..
Can’t fault the performance, but the looks are an aquired taste. Yep it might have the BMW M3 licked but the engine is 1 and a half times as big. Stick a whopper like that in an M5 and it would go pretty sharpish as well.
I actually don’t mind the look of this thing.
Obviously the performance is there but that American build quality would always haunt me and make me think about it.
No match for a German car but good to see the yanks making a decent car.
At the end of the day I wouldn’t buy one though.
You have me scratching my head TP. Have you backflipped on your stance against pushrod V8s?
You’ve said numerous times before that the LS V8 engines from chev have impressive numbers but are not an impressive (.ie. technological) engine.
It’s his vain attempt to appear objective and gain some credibility.
Those performance figures are incredible!!!! OMG this destroys the europeans. Isn’t the CTS a 3 series sized car though?
What about some fuel consumption figures??
Take a look at the thick A pillar, the roof line, the waist line and the glass area.
Car Advice, am I wrong or is this the same platform the VE Commodore is built on?
Would love to know….
do these things have IRS?
415Kw – Does that mean the Cadill-ucgh is the world’s fastest Brick?
BMW new M5 will be having similar KWS, I imagine it wont look like its got an interior made in Woolworth’s and an exterior that belongs holding open the kitchen door.I imagine BMW Ms plant will tweak its handling up ,Caddillac,pffttttttt
Fuel economy ??? Who cares people that buy performance arent looking at economy. But I bet BMWs M5 would be better.
Even if the caddie is built on the same platform as the VE…. that doesnt really have an effect on the way the cars will look..
It actually has more of an impact on the cars performance as the wheelbase helps determine whether or not the engine will sit over or behind the front wheels which effects weight distribution and thereby its handling
For example look what happened on Top Gear when VW put a W12 engine inside the wheelbase of a Golf – As Murray Walker would say “round round round… spin spin spin”
I mean the new Camaro IS built on the same [Zeta] Platform as the VE SS Commodore and yet they look completely different – In a way the fact a Sedan and a Coupe can be built on the same platform; No stretching or shortening required.. shows how flexible the Zeta platform is..
I have seen many of the new Cadillacs on th eroad in the states and they look great.
The styling is well propotioned, strong and well executed.
They also look well built and would definately be a match for the Euro’s.
Hey they actually finally built the 6000 SUX…….from Robocop….you know!
Taken them a while I guess.
Put my name down for one of these too.
I think I can see where Holden and HSV got a bit of their inspiration from reguarging the VE sedan/E series range.
The au was the uglyiset car in history especially the interior. It was so shocking and appaling, it was all over the place the seats were so thin and small and is something you would so in a small car the consolde is some sort of a bubble and the samee with the rear seats which are 90 degrees. Infact the ef sold more than and au which cost 800 million and was around twice as long, shocking.
Your the joke dohcv8 you don’t what your talking about when this car is top quality and it has proven this through numerous reviews unlike the au falcon which was a terrible car. As a result even the ba depriciates much faster than the opposing vy because of the au falcons record.
dohcv8 the engine is 50 years old but it smashes every ford engine out there including the barra 5.4 which is a heavy and tall engine, it sits too forward and over steers under heavy braking and is the weak link in the ford range 0-100 in 6.3 what a joke! compared to the ve has a 50 year old engine as you said and it achieves 5.3 and at 270kw and the ford has 290kw this just shows how cheap the engine is as it has 20kw more and gets wrecked by a 50 year old engine by 1 second get your facts right mate, the all alloy engine is far superior. No wonder ford a getting a crappy 5.0 mustang engine which isnt great either.
“The car looks alright & the interior is first class.”
Until you sit inside and feel the cheap plastics that American cars tend come with…
Everything else on paper looks awesome…
I would love/hope to see this car on Australian roads. I think some people here are just annoyed that an American car can be as good if not better than their precious Euro brands.
The fact that this is a 5 Series/E Class competitor for the price of a 3 Series/C Class should really sting the Germans.
Morons are still posting the typical “pushrod engines are somehow less advanced than ohc engines” garbage again are they?
The looks are well, unique… but at least they’ve had a go. The performance is ridiculous! And they’ve even worked on the handling. Kudos to GM for the effort. I’d prefer a European atm, but this is only GM’s first serious effort. What will the next generation be like? It’ll be interesting to see.
Well pushrod is old technology. But eitherway still impressive power figures.
Senator, if you think the AU is the “ugliest car in history” then you must look at the “GM splits with Oil Companies” blog to see who really won that prize.
(hint, the EV-1)