Cadillac CTS (February 2008)

Launched: Cadillac CTS

Wheels Magazine
January, 2008

Cadillac's plans to export America's chrome-plated values to the world aren't going quite as well as the White House's plans for same. The Saab-based BLS was a bust, and you still can't buy a Cadillac in the one land outside of the States that truly reveres them - Cuba, of course.

GM execs now admit that making the wreath and crest a global brand may take one or three decades longer than expected. Pity, as the new CTS launched in the US last September is GM at its current best for interior quality, V6 power output, smoothness, and driving dynamics.

The good news for Australia is that the superb 3.6-litre direct-injection V6 that sits atop the CTS's three-engine menu, with 226kW and a willing 7000rpm redline, will find its way into Holden products during the current lifecycle.

Meanwhile, the CTS matures for its second act with fresh, more athletic styling and improved dynamics on a largely carry-over version of the US-only rear-drive platform known within GM as Sigma. The wheelbase remains the same as before at a bridge-spanning 2880mm, while the overall length grows almost 40mm and the beam by nearly 50mm.

A larger shadow naturally means more tonnage: 1830kg with the 45kg sunroof fitted but without the optional all-wheel-drive.

Still, the Caddy is a bit quicker thanks to a direct-injection power infusion to the 3.6 litre; GM's so-called 'high feature' V6 with four-cam variable valve timing. The DI engine is a $2600 option but makes the speedo hit 100km/h in a claimed 5.8 seconds, and does it with a rousing, snarling charge from 4000rpm to the 7000rpm redline.

The new car's suspension was thoroughly wrung out at the 73-turn Nürburgring. Somewhere between the Flugplatz and that corner with the 11-syllable name and all the chalk scribbles, GM's engineers extracted more straight-line stability, greater steering precision, and better poise under braking, even if the steering remains on the lighter side.

The aluminium alloy suspension, with control arms fore and a multi-link bramble in back remains unchanged, but the geometry is revised and new tyres (235/50 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s) accompany the optional, FE3 suspension and 18-inch wheels.

GM management also swallowed a lot of extravagance developing the new CTS. The same materials supplier used by Mercedes-Benz was approached to orchestrate the Cad's symphony of soft-touch, no-sheen plastics, alloy-hued trim, polished wood, and luminescent dials.

The heaviest criticisms fall on the Aisin 6-speed manual and its lugubrious shifter and late, snappish clutch take-up. The joyless shifter shivers with engine vibes and slides numbly through its vague gates as if intended for an Atari console.

Despite the improvements, the CTS is still too big and brazenly American to shock and awe most international markets. Then again, there's always those long-suffering Cubans.

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