Cadillac CTS

Saturday, February 23, 2008

It did not take the full week General Motors granted me to appreciate the brilliant engineering behind the 2005 Cadillac CTS-V. I was hooked the second I simultaneously let out the heavy duty clutch and stomped on the gas pedal.
The unexpected torque released through the power train threw me further back in the seat, and drove home the point that this was no ordinary Cadillac.
Just imagine a four-door Corvette wearing Cadillac luxury car threads, and you have the quintessence of the CTS-V.
I am talking about a high-performance midsize sedan that seats four in comfort, and pumps out a whopping 400 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque from a revised version of the 5.7-liter overhed valve V8 found in the Corvette ZO6.
Mate the robust LS6 engine to a beefed-up Tremec six-speed manual transmission and 3.73:1 final drive ration limited-slip rear axle, and I was doing 0-60 miles per hour in 5-seconds, close to the factory issued 4.6-second claim.
Cadillac further reports that a stock CTS-V recorded a top speed of 163 miles per hour on Germany's famed Nurburgring racetrack.
One major factor why this Caddie is a thoroughbred winner stems from all engineering work being performed by the GM Performance Division. This in-house center develops enthusiast-oriented editions of production models like the CTS-V and upcoming 2006 STS-V and 2006 XLR-V versions.
Hand-picked team members developed performance modifications to the lightweight aluminum LS6 engine for increase horsepower and torque output, and to reduce noise, vibration and harshness.
Providing the single greatest horsepower boost to the 5.7-liter V8 was swapping the stock camshaft with a high-profile steel billet unit Newly created high-flow glass reinforced nylon resin intake manifold delivers larger amounts of airflow, and is combined with high-flow fuel injectors that add fuel at a faster rate (3.55 grams per second) along with the greater airflow.
Further horsepower gains come via the dual 2.5-inch diameter stainless steel pipes. These massive tubes minimize backpressure, and at the same time, emit beautiful baritone-pitched exhaust tones.