Cadillac CTS-V Lays Down 1,000+ RWHP for Science
Street-driven CTS-V does Caddy right by running low 9s with a full interior and manual tranny.
For most of the world, Cadillac symbolizes luxury. Depending on what generation you grew up in, it can also represent massive land barges with fins reminiscent of the ones affixed to a certain fictional whale. But that Caddy crest can also signify performance. More specifically, performance potential. Because as we already know, the CTS-V packs an LS from the factory floor.
These four door Corvettes are a pretty popular basis for builds here at LS1Tech, too. And hands down, one of the most impressive we’ve seen lately is owned by member gtistile. He was recently kind enough to post a video of his 2004 CTS-V, accompanied by some numbers and a little background info.
“Finally strapped the car down after having the setup running and racing for nearly a year now. Decided this would be a good opportunity on a rainy day to look for opportunities to improve. That I did. #s weren’t too shabby either. Ended up laying down 1088whp and 1051wtq on high boost and found some things I can benefit from in the process. I’m looking forward to what’s to come”
Judging by the follow up comments, we weren’t the only ones taken aback by the tarmac tormenting Caddy. “Wicked! I had never seen this car before… was I under a rock??,” commented fellow CTS junkie 1BADCTS. “I don’t know about anyone else, but that prompted maniacal laughter and a “Jeeeezzuus Christ!!!” here,” added AAIIIC. That pretty much sums it up for us, too.
Even more impressively, the result of this run didn’t come from a professional tune. The OP followed up by noting that “It was street/track tuned, then just thrown on the dyno to see what she was making for fun.” And even though it weights nearly 4,200 pounds with driver, this CTS-V has still run a best 9.25 second e.t. at 154.46 miles per hour in the quarter.
We wanted to know more, however, and thankfully found it with less than a little digging. Turns out, the car used to be supercharged. And in that configuration, ran a still impressive 9.98 @ 145.86 mph. Today, it uses a 325 ci LC9 with a Borg-Warner S400 turbo and E85 to get down the track. There’s also a Creative Steel 8.8″ rear end and T-56 tranny to round out the package.
“I wasn’t expecting the car to do well at high speed but it pleasantly surprised me! Turned out to be WAY more fun than I could have hoped, I’m hooked.”
For quite some time, gtistile has been documenting his build here in the forums. And after the turbo swap, he still managed a 10.4 @ 139 mph right out of the gate. But it wasn’t long before he’d hit 9.57 @ 145.3 mph. And then, a new V1 record with his 9.25 second pass. And in case you were wondering, he’s also hit 173.7 mph in the 1/2 mile. Not to shabby for a heavy, comfy street car. One that clearly has even more in it.
“Took the car out to the 1/2 mile in Va this past weekend. Some of you know the car is a street car with a heavy 1/4 mile influence but I figure it’d be fun to take it out. I didn’t put a ton of effort in to prepping the car other than running a wider front wheel and radials all the way around for stability. I wasn’t expecting the car to do well at high speed but it pleasantly surprised me! Turned out to be WAY more fun than I could have hoped, I’m hooked.
Only ended up making 3 passes, and was just getting comfortable when we had to wrap it up and leave for the day. 173.7mph pass was done on 22psi boost, my street boost/tune. I’m absolutely dying to get out there again and run full tilt at 30-32psi.”
Clearly, this isn’t the end for gtistile and his awesome Caddy. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, you’ll want to keep up with his progress and future mods here. And of course, this is only one of many incredible builds our members show off on a daily basis here in the forums. So if you need some inspiration or ideas for your ride, be sure and check them out by becoming a member today!
