A Letter-by-Letter Review of the 2016 Cadillac CTS-V
CTS-V. Since 2004, those letters have identified the most potent, performance-focused version of Cadillac’s midsize sedan, America’s rear-wheel-drive rocket answer to Mercedes-Benz’s E-Class AMG and BMW’s M5 ‘bahn-burners.
Keeping a tight focus on the thrill of driving has required Cadillac to expand the CTS-V’s engine size and output over the years. The first-generation model’s 5.7-liter V8 grew into a 6.0-liter engine. Thanks to a 6.2-liter V8 and a supercharger, power shot up from 400 hp to a tire-smoking 556 for the second-generation car in sedan, coupe, and wagon forms.
For the 2016 model year, Cadillac introduced an all-new CTS-V. It’s not only the most powerful CTS-V yet; in its parent company’s 114-year history, it’s the most powerful Cadillac yet. Engineers stuff a 640-horsepower, 630-lb-ft version of the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 from the most powerful Corvette Chevrolet’s ever made, the C7 Z06, under its vented hood.
Despite all of the changes over the years, one thing about Cadillac’s sport sedan remains the same: the name. C, T, S, and V are still the letters that tell the world that Cadillacs can carve canyons, not just float down highways; look right at home on a track, not outside of an early bird special; raise pulses, not just keep them slow and steady. After spending time in a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V earlier this year, I thought of a few letters to describe it.
ABC (A Big Car)
The new CTS-V has more presence than the one its LT4 gives it on paper. You definitely see it, even if its raucous exhaust makes you hear it first. It’s a large car. With a total length of nearly 16.5 feet, it’s 4.5 inches longer than a BMW 528i and only nine inches shorter than a 740i. That span, the substantial rear overhang, and the CTS-V’s 114.6-inch wheelbase combine to make the CTS-V’s attractive 19-inch wheels look small and toylike.
I was aware of the CTS-V’s lengthy bodywork out on the twisty roads of north Austin, Texas and when I was pulling in between two parked cars in a lot. The carbon fiber front splitter jutted out in front of the CTS-V. Luckily, any worries I had about ramming it into a curb or parking block were forgotten when the CurbView Camera automatically engaged to show me how close the car’s front end was to such face-wreckers.
BW/TDK (Bruce Wayne/The Dark Knight)
As Bruce Wayne usually is, the CTS-V is dressed in a fine suit. Its strong, hard lines are swept back, as if wind were given angles and shapes. Instead of cufflinks, its brightwork takes the form of dramatic, vertically oriented lighting elements, front and rear.
The carbon fiber add-ons that my review vehicle wore – the front splitter, the hood vent, and the rear spoiler and diffuser – made the CTS-V more Batman than Bruce Wayne, though. The lightweight, purpose-built hardware made it look ready to fly into battle against its automotive nemeses. All my tester was missing was black paint.
AOU (All Of Us)
This is more of a realization made possible by the CTS-V than a description of it. Bear with me…
One afternoon, I whipped into a parking spot next to a white Volkswagen GTI. I almost immediately started to smile, not because of the presence of the little Teutonic two-door, but because of the wonderful contrast between it and the car I was in. A small, turbocharged four-cylinder German hatchback and a large, red, American sedan with a giant supercharged V8 sat next to each other in the same parking lot, flanked by Japanese crossovers and Korean compacts.
In that brief moment, I saw the car enthusiast world from a macro level. More than two types of vehicles and their loyal owners became visible to me. I saw mud-slinging trucks, rock-crawling SUVs, rev-happy coupes from the other side of the world, fuel-efficient grocery getters, classic Michigan metal, throat-clenchingly expensive Euroflash, and all of the people that love those kinds of vehicles. I smiled again at the knowledge that despite the differences in tastes that exist between motorheads, we all have a love of cars in common. Those differences can be learning opportunities. That love can unite the different neighborhoods of this community that stretches from the open highways of America to the road courses of a country in a different time zone and beyond.
GRRR… (The sound of frustration)
As much as I loved the red-blooded American CTS-V, I lamented the roads I had to take it on, which had very American speed limits. I wanted to blast up and down the Autobahn the way the hot hatch that I had parked next to could in its home country. Doing 35 in a 35 saved fuel, but wasted potential.
SAC (Still A Cadillac)
Due to unforeseen circumstances, my road time in the CTS-V was cut short, but I did get a few chances to open it up and experience the full force of all of its 640 horsepower. The stupid grin on my face was made even broader by the G forces. I felt those horses thunder through the responsive eight-speed automatic, whose first- and second-gear shifts were surprisingly rough and forceful, even at legal speeds. I also felt confidence in my head that the steering gave me through my fingertips.
Only two sounds seemed to make their ways to my ears: the hellhound growl that emanated from the quad pipes out back and the constant sound of the low-profile Michelins against the pavement. Thanks to the small, angular mirrors, wind noise was not a major presence in the leather- and sueded-microfiber-lined cabin. The CTS-V’s suspension caused me to take note of the pavement irregularities under it, but it wasn’t stiff and harsh enough to make me look up the closest chiropractor.
For years, Cadillac has been trying to change its image, to appeal to younger buyers, to be more edgy and less stodgy. The 2016 CTS-V was certainly nothing like the ponderous Cadillacs that refused to be hurried that I remember from my teens. However, it made a statement visually, stirred up a sense of pride in American automobiles in me, and took me everywhere in comfort, as all Cadillacs should do. My time in the CTS-V gave me a glimpse of what some Cadillacs can do.
*My 2016 Cadillac CTS-V review vehicle had an as-tested price of $95,890. That included a $995 destination charge, a $1,000 gas guzzler tax, and several options. Some of those were the $5,550 Carbon Fiber Package, the $2,300 Recaro high-performance seats, and the $1,300 Performance Data Recorder.
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