When GM released the official horsepower rating for the Corvette ZR1, many expected the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V, which is also powered by the supercharged 6.2L small-block V8 but with a smaller Eaton compressor, to have a horsepower rating higher than Cadillac original stated.
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Having earned critical acclaim, industry awards and brisk sales, Cadillac CTS has moved into the vanguard of contemporary design. In doing so, Cadillac designers faced the question of what to do next. Their answer celebrates that design legacy with the exhilarating Cadillac CT Coupe Concept, which premiered at the 2008 North American International Auto Show.
The CT Coupe takes Cadillac’s acclaimed Art and Science design language and adds more of both. More expressive, more technical and very personal, the CT Coupe extends the dramatic design of its sedan predecessor with all-new sculpted bodywork aft of the front fenders.
The CT Coupe Concept is a dramatic design statement,said Ed Welburn, VP, GM Global Design.
We did not create it as the result of sifting through reams of market data, nor is its shape trimmed to suit the input collected at a consumer clinic – it is emotion on four wheels and the very essence of what defines Cadillac today.The CT Coupe Concept has a classic 2+2 interior layout, highlighted by black leather and Alcantara microfiber trim that is complemented by yellow ochre-colored seat inserts and leather stitching. It is designed to accommodate a range of engines for the global luxury market, including Cadillac’s popular 3.6L Direct Injection V-6, as well as a new 2.9L turbo-diesel currently in development.
This Coupe Concept is a natural extension of our design language, and of the CTS itself,said Jim Taylor, Cadillac general manager.
Very simply, the dramatic design of the sedan begged the question of what it would look like in the unbridled form of a Coupe.Generated from the spark of the CTS design team’s imagination, the CT Coupe casts a profile unlike anything else on the road. Its fast-rake styling – it has the same wheelbase as the CTS, but an overall height that is approximately four inches (101 mm) shorter – blends with hand-sculpted bodywork that bulges around the wheels, giving the vehicle a ready-to-pounce stance that is dramatic, powerful and sleek.
Just about every decade, Cadillac designs a breakthrough car that becomes synonymous with the brand’s character of the period, such as the 1938 60 Special, the 1959 lineup, the 1975 Seville and the 2003 Sixteen Concept,said Clay Dean, global director of design, for Cadillac.
The CT Coupe Concept is the next great design, carrying the baton from the Evoq Concept that ushered in the Art and Science era in 1999.Read More...
That car has been launched in America, but won't land at European dealers until summer 2008. It will be joined the following year by a diesel - crucial for any chance of European sales - and this 'Bahn-storming CTS-V. This is the V-spec car that will turn the steadily improving CTS from a dull-but-worthy exec into a rip-snorting BMW M5 rival.
Such-and-such a manufacturer aiming to topple the established super-saloon hegemony. Numerous car makers have taken aim at the BMW M, Audi RS and Mercedes AMG cars over the years, and Caddy is the latest.
That's why the 2009 CTS-V gets the latest LS7 version of the Corvette's V8. Capacity is put at around 7.0 litres, and outputs are around 500bhp and 470lb ft of torque. Drive is sent to all four wheels to stop the dashboard illuminations that would result from a solely rear-wheel drive set-up.
In the Corvette Z06, that means a top speed nudging the magical 200mph and 0-62mph in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it 3.9 seconds.
Throwing the horespower artillery at a car might make it quick, but doesn't necessarily guarantee it'll be good to drive. Cadillac knows that and has seemingly been lodged at the Nurburgring for as long as we care to remember.
The standard CTS we've just driven is much better than the old car, and the engineers are now honing the high-performance V-spec car to make sure it goes around corners as well as it blasts down the straights.
The large-capacity V8 should provide instant pick-up, and it seems that the rumoured forced-induction engine has been ditched. Seems much more in keeping with the lazy, US-style performance that a car like this shouldn't be blown, to our minds.
Cadillac launched its V-spec cars back in 2004 with the stated intent of taking on Europe's finest. As well as a string of sledgehammer engines, Cadillac tweaks the styling front and rear, dipping into the world's surplus of wire mesh for the aggressive grilles, adding bigger alloys and playing with the suspension settings for a lower, ground-hugging look. Good for posing, better for corner-carving.
There's a much lower front spoiler, too, while the disguise here can't quite mask what looks like a power bulge. Engineers at Opel are helping out with the dynamics (the rear suspension is said to be dramatically different to the regular CTS's), while Brembo is developing the braking system required to stop all that heft from ballistic speeds.
Cadillac V-division is talking of a modest 7000 units a year, making the fastest CTS a pretty rare beast. Pretty much like most Cadillacs over this side of the Pond - the company has only shifted some 400 in the UK over the past two years, but Cadillac has a slew of new, better cars in the pipeline.
Prices aren't fixed yet, but if the CTS-V does come to the UK, it'll have to dirt cheap to attract buyers. Otherwise why wouldn't you stick with the M5/RS6/E63 status quo? We'd bank on a price between £40k-£45k, undercutting the opposition by up to £20k.
