Spied: 2009 Cadillac CTS Coupe
August 29, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Late yesterday, our spy photographers caught the 2010 Cadillac CTS coupe in all its glory outside of the Milford Proving Grounds in the United States with no camouflage in sight.
This sleek two door, code-named GMX226, follows the concept rather closely. Even the dual exhaust will make it to production. Only the concept’s front end will see a minor toning down to bring it inline with the CTS sedan.
The coupe will feature a backup camera, which you can see under the chrome strip on the rear. We can also see an elegant engraving of the “Cadillac” script on that rear strip.
Additionally, the coupe won’t have traditional door handles, but will instead use a touch pad setup.
The only things not production-ready on this prototype are the taillights. We’d expect the final car to have lights very similar to the “tailfin” lights we saw on the concept.
Powertrains for the Americans should include the regular 3.6-litre V6 and the 226kW direct injection V6. The V-series CTS Coupe will pack the 6.2-litres supercharged V8 known as the “LSA” motor.
Production of the regular coupe, as well as the V-series, will start in May of 2009 at the Lansing Grand River Plant. The official debut of the regular coupe is set for the LA Auto Show in November.
We previously saw the CTS Coupe with a little more disguise here. Plus we had a glimpse of the car’s interior here.
Will the CTS Coupe come to Australia? Holden will not confirm either way, however we suspect that if the CTS does well in Australia other variants, including the CTS-V and the CTS Coupe may follow.
Cadillac is launching the CTS sedan in Australia next month and CarAdvice will be there to bring you all the latest news and a first steer of the CTS sedan.
Print it: 
Oh, well done Andrew M. Give us a run down of spec and colour, would you? :)
sure,
XR6 ute
safety pack
XR sports pack
Towpack
6sp manual
and they let me have till monday morning to confirm a colour with them.
at the moment breeze is a front runner.
Dash is nice, but i fear it may date a little quicker.
Nitro also looks great, but there are a lot of blues out there.
i also took the SV6 and SS for a burn.
the gear nob of the SS kept moving when i was changing gears until a point where it actually came off in my hand
they actually offered me a better price on the SS than the SV6?????
the falcon is a much better drive though.
Andrew M – if you are wondering if i was disappointed when i found about a couple of wally’s decided to ruin it for everybody else, i was – very much so!!
Toyota has not cheated in NASCAR while JGR is a very honourable and respected motor racing team.
The investigation proved that Toyota/TRD and the bulk of the JGR team including the drivers had no participation or knowledge in the event bar a couple of crew chiefs who took it upon themselves to ruin it for everybody.
The cars of interest were raced in accordance to the rules but the crew chiefs after the event tried to hide the true output by placing a 1/4 inch shim under the accelerator pedal.
As for cheating, Ford and Chevrolet have been the biggest cheaters of all and this year has been no different. Ford and Chevrolet have both been caught a couple of times with tampered aerodynamic packages that were illegal and altered after pre-race inspections.
Toyota had gained a huge advantage over the other manufactuers because thier engines were producing greater output all within the boundaries but despite this as admitted by NASCAR and the fact that it was mid-season, NASCAR decided to restrict Toyota’s advantage and YES … Toyota and the Teams became very annoyed with this as they should – wouldn’t you !!
All thier dedicated work was forcefuly restricted becuase Chevrolet and Ford more so then Dodge jumped up and down, whinged and swined because Toyota was winning a huge amount of races.
Toyota managed to re-gain the output but a couple of wally’s who have been severally delt with by Joe Gibbs himself tried to hide it.
Despite the ka-buffle (spelling) Toyota managed to gain more respect and fanfare from the ordeal with many slamming Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge for bad sportmanship and instead of working harder to catch Toyota, they took the easy road instead.
If Toyota can remain competitive as i expect them to do then hopefully it will be a win-win situation for them by year end.
Cheers
Wheelnut – what i will be keen to see is how the Statesman and Caprice fair against the Cadillac not just in comparisons but retail sales,prices are about the same give or take a wee bit.
Will Stato drivers switch to a Cadillac or remain with something they have known for a long time.
Personally, i don’t like the look of the Caddy but according to late initial Quality Surveys, the quality has improved.
Ironic how we were talking about NASCAR … The Nationwide Series has just finished with Kyle Busch (JGR)and Brian Vickers (Braun Racing) finishing 1st and 3rd for Toyota split by Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway) 2nd for Ford.
Kyle started on pole and lead entire race of 150 laps.
Sprint Cup is tomorrow !!
Ooops … i was a little wrong, Kyle Busch led all but 6 laps and they were associated with pit stops.
If its not Dingo that is impersonating Golfie or bavarian Missile.. then I suspect it could possily be TP given that he is yet to make an appearance on the most recent topics and that he was the first person to impersonate other bloggers
He tried to impersonate me back on a topic relating to the Holden Sportwagon and make people think that I had 98% of my brain removed so that [overnight] I hated Holdens and was obsessed with Toyotas.. he got found out too again due mainly to his writing style grammar and sentence structure.
Wheelnut – if any of us are gonna get over this crap then all of us have to simply move on.
We are here to talk cars so lets just do it !!
I don’t think that the Statesman the Clubbie or any other luxury/performance sedan on the Australian market has too much to worry about in relation to arrival of the new Caddie.. even if quality has improved – ever so slightly
The main reason as I have seaid before will be purely because of the design and the way the Caddie looks compared to its rivals.. and given their are so many image conscious poseurs around these days looks are vitally important.. and this car is so ugly it makes a 300C look as sleek sporty and as aerodynamic as as a Lamborghini
Then there’s the level of specifications and features..
from photos that I have seen of the Caddies interior it isn’t very ergonomic or stylish compared to its rivals [BMW] nor is it exactly what you would call spacious – I’ve seen roomier bathrooms/toilets.
You want to be friends .ie. not enemies now Dingo? Is that it?
No need to “get something straight and no mistakes”. That’s why I qualified my question “i.e not enemies”. It’s obvious you aren’t looking to make friends.
It just seems your tired of having your posts deleted and hopping ISPs.
As for the CTS I quite like most of the exterior, not the front. The only Cadillac that made me go “wow, that’s hot and utterly unique” is the Cadillac16 prototype from a few years ago. A sheikh offered GM $10m for it and they turned him down.
Oh and the Caddy from “The Island” which also featured on Gran Turismo 4. I’ll have to go check it’s exact name.
Who on earth designed this it looks like it was designed one lunch hour by the guys in charge of the spare parts bins,YUUUUUK!
AndrewM – When you ordered your new ute did you manage to get 8 cases of premium beer in the back as a “factory fitted option”?
Bavarian Missiles brother Matt owns an Atomic Green VE SS-V ute; and last week he took a mate for a ride. His mate was so impressed that afternoon they stopped of at a Holden Dealer in WA where Matts mate ordered a Voodoo VE SS-V ute.
It was end of the month and the sales rep wanted to close the deal so much that he asked “What do I have to do to get you to sign up for a new ute today?”
Matt’s mate said “what about 8 cases of beer?”
The sales rep went away to discuss it with his manager came back and said “done deal.”
And on the bottom of the contract there is a note that says “8 Cases of Pure Blonde beer in Tray upon delivery”
Watto – I wonder if the Sheik who offered GM $10m for the Caddie was the same one who offered Holden $15m for the Efijy – only to be turned down yet again.
Yep true story,wonder they dont have it on the contract as a box to tick.
Possibly Wheelnut ;-) I’d nudge toward the 16 myself.
I think it might have been the first GM product featuring DOD too. Switches between 4, 8, and 16 cylinders. I’ll reserve judgement on how effective DOD actually is for the moment because Falcon proved more effiecient than Aurion AND Accord with DOD according to CA.
I’d want 8 cases of Crown lager over that Pure Blonde crap.
Damn, everyones getting their new XR6 or SS-V or whatever, and I’m still holding off/saving for mine. Lucky bugger Andrew.M
Yeah, it certainly isn’t as svelte as an M3 BM ;-)
Cadillac used to make a V16 “tourer” back in the 30-40s.. The main reason was to save [wealthy] female drivers the embarrassment of “bunny hopping” as they changed gear as the engine would have enough power / revs to maintain velocity etc.
Although the engine didn’t produce as much power as a modern V6 or V8 does today due to the shear weight of the thing
I prefer Beez Kneez myself…. Crown Lager is just VB [Very Bogan] which has been put through the process twice and is in a more stylish bottle
How do I know this.. My Dad was Customer Services manager for the South Australian Brewing Company – he spent his whole life around Beer
Further to the old 1930-40s V16 Caddie…. the engine was a purpose built V16 block [approx 1m long] NOT two V8s bolted end to end as it was in the I-16 Concept car.. or the W16 in the Bugatti Veyron etc
It was a massive 7.4 Litres although most of the 450ci of power was lost due to weight
Wheelnut Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
As I have said before the new Cadillacs are hideous and I doubt very few people will pay the premium price of around $70-80k when they can have a BMW or even a Lexus.
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You don’t get much BMW or even Lexus for that matter for $70,000 to $80,000. These are Corolla sized cars competing against a Commodore sized Cadillac, they have 2.5 litre 6 cylinder engines versus a 3.6 litre direct injection engine for the Caddy, and they will also be lacking in features.
Dodge Viper ACR claims current Nurburgring Nordschlieffe honours doesn’t it?
Considering your first lap is usually null because it’s while exiting the pits, the Caddy must have done at least 2 laps. I’d say it did much more than two though.
Dingo Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
“As much as i dislike anything from GM (always have, always will)…….”
NM RESPONSE….Toyota wanting Holden to build wedge on wheels being the Priarse’s at California is being strongly muted. Hmmmm amnesia perhaps! Strong dose! How can Toyota think of that!
??? I already said that?
The best the Caddie could do was 7.59.5 which was beaten by the new Nissan GT-R with a 7.38.2.Yet the car that holds the current lap record around the ring is the latest Z06 Crvette with a 7.26.4 [there is actually a video of the Vette on CA]
Although ant car that manges to do it in less than 8 minutes is impressive
Sorry Wheelnut, the Dodge Viper ACR did it in 7:22.1 recently. Barely a production car though ;-)
CTS-V, R35, Viper, Z06, whatever, just gimme one, haha.
Clarkson driving a Merc (can’t remember which type) didn’t quite crack 10 minutes, yet a German woman (damn can’t remember her name) almost beat him in a Ford Transit van.
Watto – I know the Viper went faster than the Vette but as you said its not really a production car its more of a purpiose built race car..and as this website focuses more on producion cars which you and I can aspire to owning one day – cars that can be road registered etc I quoted the Z06s time.
BTW the female race car driver ywho did it in the transit is Sabine Schmidt.
Wheelnut,
unfortunately i didnt get the 8 cases of beer on the contract :(
i reckon i got a great deal none the less.
i had to visit a second ford dealership to get it though.
even after the second offer it was still not at the figure i proposed.
it was 4:10pm and the dealership closes at 4pm.
yesterday was also the last trading day of the month. (they cant trade sundays here)
i told them i would take their offer home and think about it.
as i was walking out i was introduced to the sales manager and he asked how it went.
i told him it was not quite there and he asked what i would sign for.
i sort of said he was only half way there when hey presto $1800 fell off the price.
he asked if that was enough, and i said that it was now very tempting.
i sat back down while he reworked figures and came back and said he could do it.
and to ice it off, i reminded the salesman that as of September 1, DSC becomes standard on the utes and a price increase comes in to cover it.
the salesman knew nothing of it (typical) and went to confirm it with his manager
the manager came out and said yep, youve just gotten another $500 out of me.
i actually wouldnt have minded if i had to fork out the extra few green backs, but they just copped it on the chin with out even really talking about it.
the only thing is, ive got an 8 week wait!!!!!
and he said the waiting list is shorter than it was a month ago.
oh well,
it will be worth it.
i think im pretty much settled on breeze…….
I saw a New Ford Ute in “Breeze” in Elizabeth [The Home of Holden] today; and I must say it looked cool. A cool breeze ha-ha.
Wheelnut,
the SS is a good drive.
after driving the SV6 directly before it, i found it easy to see why so many chose the SS ofver holdens 6.
and especially when they were going to throw the SS at me for a better deal.
i also drove the XR8 ute, and can say without a doubt the SS has a much better note.
They only had an auto XR8 there, but i would say the performance from the SS and XR8 are pretty much on par with each other.
It was noticable that the XR8 idled a lot smoother. the SS has quite a rough idle. its almost like a spark plug needs a clean or something. (many journos have noticed the rough idle too).
the commodores utes would have to have the worst visibility. i thought the blind spot was bad enough in the falcon utes, but the commodores have it twice as bad.
the centre console of the commys just looks cheap.
you have a tacky looking “Blaupunkt” branding label staring right at you. (not to mention the handbrake)
i may just sounded a bit negative on it, but if you are on the red side of the fence, it is nothing to be ashamed of.
it one hell of a fun drive.
my driving preference lies with the fords for a number of reasons, but if for some reason the only ute available to me was an SS, i wouldnt be complaining.
SV6 on the other hand pretty much isnt that special.
you have no grunt onboard till about 1000RPM after the falcons starts to sing. and even when its in its “singing range”, its still more like a whine.
i can see why holden sell a lot of cars though.
the salesmen there actually knew what they were talking about!!!!!!!
pity i cant say the same for fords salespeople.
fords salespeople are pathetic, they really are.
they cant even tell you the list price of the vehicle with out looking into their little pocket book.
if i was going around having done no research and knowing nothing about the vehicles i was being shown,
i would have signed for an SS.
holdens sales people were very informative and sales motivated
Dingo Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Chucky – you might not get the same size car with a BM, MB or Lexus for 70k as the Caddy but what you do get is a lot better.
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I wouldn’t be so sure with this new Caddy. Apparently the interior build quality is on par with the Germans (except maybe Audi) and it looks a lot nicer inside. I like the new C Class and might buy one for my wife next year, but the dashboard just looks like a big grey hunk of plastic.
If I was in the market for a large luxury sedan I would definitely seriously consider it. Its direct competitors would be the Audi A6, Volvo S80, and Honda Legend which are all very forgettable cars that no one pays any attention to.
I know what you mean with the VEs centre console Andrew M particularly with the Blaupunkt stereo.
However the thing is the head unit in the Ford is an odd shape/size [as it was in the BF] and theerfore; very hard to upgrade you are virtually stuck with the factory unit – which I believe is from Philips
Whereas the Holden uses a standard sized head unit it can easily be upgraded to a better premium aftermarket head unit such as JVC or Alpine [which is what I am gunna do] as Blaupunkt like Philips ain’t that great.. it can then be connected back up to the steering wheel controls.
I would love Holden to put a Bose System in the ute though
Yep Wheelnut, that Viper seemed a bit “purposeful”.
Sabine sure can steer.
Congrats on the new ute Andrew.M even though there’s a wait. Yours must be nearly delivered Wheelnut?
What I hear so far is on the FG stereo is the head unit is quite good (premium) but speakers only average. Upgrade the speakers, perhaps an amp too.
Good thing about the Commodore is ability to swap to a unit you really want. Good thing about Falcon is iPod/mp3/FMinfo all displayed on centre screen, full integration charges it and all and Bluetooth caller ID, voice tags, etc.
wheelnut,
also the shockingly flimsy glovebox in the VE’s.
(there is a comparo for you on glove box’s F-O)
if i was looking for an upgraded stereo, i would get the upgrade ford offers from the factory.
it would be cheaper anyway.
sure, you can go and get your JVC head deck for around 400 bucks, but it costs you another 500 big ones for the kit to enable you to still control it through your steering wheel.
i know someone with a Getz,
they were telling me all about the new JVC head deck they had just purchased so they could have an ipod input. little did they know until i told them that it wouldnt be compatible with their wheel controls.
the price for the kit was $500!!!!!
im not actually sure who ford use at the moment, but the last time they had any branding on their decks/speakers, it was pioneer, and before that it was phillips.
in Ford Euro’s range (mondeo, focus etc) they use Sony.
they may even have Sony in their cars here because at one point they had a promo “Sony Explode XR8″
You have given me a task to find out what they are currently using…..
i personally would rather upgrade the factory unit so everything stays intergrated and neat.
an aftermarket stereo in a car stands out like dogs…..
i was also told a while ago that the head decks in the fords are actually pretty good. apparently its the speakers that are the weaker link.
i was told that upgrading the speakers in the falcon was what was needed and not the head deck.
i didnt opt for an upgraded stereo because i find the factory unit good enough.
im not really a “doof doof” kind of guy
i spent the money on the beter wheels more airbags and alarm etc instead.
extra airbags and integrated alarm for a $600 tick of the box was a great deal i reckon
Watto,
you beat me too it.
i took too long to write my last post.
i too just said i was told the ford head decks arent the problem, and that i would prefer the integrated system
Andrew.M, on the Ford Australia Forums some people have looked at upgrading the stereo and what they’ve found so far is the original premium package is fine for most.
Serious audiophiles really just need amp and better speakers, the head unit is quite good. Some have had an issue with iPod connectivity having some background noise but only some and have sorted that with filters. By all accounts the ICC is very good for a standard unit.
The Fg has A Sanyo unit but The facia and buttons are supplied and assembled by sumitomo in australia.
G6ETurbo,
cool,
i couldnt find that info anywhere, but then again im not the greatest surfer of the web.
how do you know? have you pulled one out before?
what gear do they put in the “Premium” stereo option??
(what Amp and speakers etc)
The Amp is also a sanyo. It only runs the small sub.
The speakers are the cheapest they can find.
I know cause it’s part of my job. I have been 4 times
To japan where they’re designed and penang Malaysia where they manufactured.
Yep, at minimum toss the speakers, and possibly add an amp to drive the new ones better, and you’re set.
this Cadillac is awesome..Really cool..