It’s taken Cadillac more than 100 years to build a production car as powerful as the 2016 CTS-V. We have one week to shake down the super sedan.
Our Red Obsession Tintcoat test vehicle arrived this morning equipped with the 640-horsepower/630-lb-ft supercharged 6.2-liter V8 and eight-speed automatic that’s standard on the third-generation V, as well as almost $11,000 in options. Those include the $5,500 Carbon Fiber Package and its CF front splitter, hood vent, spoiler, and rear diffuser, as well as the body-hugging $2,300 high-performance Recaro front seats and $1,300 Performance Data Recorder. When all is said and done, our review car stickers for $95,890.
We’ll be taking this red rocket up and down the city streets and backroads of Austin, Texas and even on a six- or seven-hour round trip from the Lone Star State’s capital to the coastal city of Corpus Christi and back.
If you have any questions about the 2016 CTS-V’s ride and handling or interior noise levels or how many wrinkles it takes out of your face when you romp on the gas, feel free to ask them in the dedicated forum thread below, at the bottom of this page via Facebook, or on Twitter.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
