Yes. The chap leaning out the back of this car is Cadillac’s official
photographer, and we’re snapping him because we've caught the Daddy
Caddy – Cadillac’s new CTS-V – being photographed for official press
and sales literature, ahead of its arrival at the 2008 Detroit Motor
Show next month.
This explains why the CTS-V is completely stripped of camouflage and
in full production trim. So much for top-secret photo locations.
Check out these pictures for the full details of the American answer
to the M5.
When the CTS-V looms large and fast in your rear-view mirror, there
will be no mistaking it for anything other than a brutish modern
muscle car. Check out the massive power bulge on its bonnet, the
mesh-backed grille flanked by piercing bi-xenon headlamps, the
liberal application of chrome, the low-slung front air intake (yet
more mesh) and the flared wheelarches housing 19-inch alloys. And
when it bolts past you, it will be spitting out a thunderous V8
soundtrack from two vast exhaust pipes.
Its cabin will also get the all-boxes-ticked treatment, with
electrically adjustable leather front bucket seats, premium Bose
stereo with 40GB hard-drive, 3D sat-nav, LED interior lighting and
advanced climate control system.
The all-wheel-drive CTS-V will be powered by the mighty 7.0-litre
all-alloy LS7 powerplant borrowed from the brilliant Corvette Z06.
It’s one hell of an engine - the dry-sumped V8 is hand-finished,
features titanium con-rods, a forged steel crankshaft and develops
512bhp at 6300rpm and 470lb ft at 4800rpm. That makes it easily GM’s
most powerful passenger car engine and largest-displacement
small-block to date.
So despite a kerb weight the wrong side of 1800kg, the hot Cadillac
should claw its way to 60mph in five seconds or less, rocketing on to
an estimated 175mph top speed.
It’s hooked up to a six-cog Tremec box that drives all four wheels
through GM’s new 4x4 set-up that's been recalibrated for a strong
rear-end bias. And it was obviously a tight fit squeezing the
hand-assembled smallblock into the Caddy’s engine – just look at the
size of that power bulge needed to house the engine and still meet
stringent pedestrian impact regulation.
It’s beginning to sound like a dog-eared cliché, but the CTS-V spent
most of its development time hammering around the Nürburgring, a
17-mile long circuit with 73 corners. If it can't go around corners
after a thousand test laps of this unforgiving circuit, it never
will.
The multi-link rear and wishbone front suspension has been uprated
with firmer springs and dampers and thicker anti-roll bars, while the
variable-assist steering has been tweaked for more off-centre feel.
The big Cadillac is expected to use the Z06’s formidable braking
set-up - four-piston Brembo brakes gripping 355mm vented discs up
front and 365mm vented rotors at the rear. And Cadillac’s engineers
believe the CTS-V’s intelligent all-wheel drive will give it a useful
real-world advantage, allowing drivers to use more power more of the
time, irrespective of weather conditions. Try booting an M5 in the
wet, and you’ll see their point.
Not a lot, relatively speaking. Caddy's V-division will produce no
more than 7000 CTS flagship models a year, and although European
sales have been confirmed, its arrival in the UK has yet to be given
the green light.
Given the low production runs for Europe and America, the cost of
tooling up for a handful of right-hand-drive sales in the UK and
other rhd markets like Australia and Japan means Cadillac UK is
likely to have a left-hook performance flagship come early 2009.
Still, with a proposed £45,000 price, it should have the looks,
performance and exclusivity to tempt a few (brave) drivers away from
the default M5/RS6/E63 choice.
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