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Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

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  • oldsman01oldsman01 Member Posts: 1,203
    Congratulations, enjoy the new ride. Is it a base Deville, DHS, or DTS?
  • oldsman01oldsman01 Member Posts: 1,203
    Has anyone else other Cadillac even started offering it yet? Cadillac has had it exclusively for nearly 3 years now so I wouldn't be too upset if I started seeing it on other marques. Competition is a good thing regardless of which brand you prefer.
  • logic1logic1 Member Posts: 2,433
    I hope it is a DTS. I always get a kick when I visit New York and see the high rollers in their Caddys. New Yorkers still appreciate that American verve when they drive. Congratulations.
  • baron87baron87 Member Posts: 93
    Yep, congrats, i'm glad to see the old DeVille still attracting buyers (in nothing short of swarms)...
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Well, my wife and I have pretty much agreed to buy the CTS over the Volvo S80. Price was very much a factor, since the CTS will save us about $4000 over a similarly configured S80 2.9.

    At this point, I still have to pick a dealership (greater Atlanta area). I also still have to drive a Luxury Sport model so I can compare it to the Luxury model I already drove. I'm a big fan of stability control in cars, but Stablitrak is only available with the Lux Sport package, and I need to see if the Lux Sport tuning is too harsh for day to day use. I need to chase down attractive financing. And finally, I'll probably need to order a vehicle rather than getting one off the dealer lot. Looking through the inventory of the dealerships here, virtually every CTS comes with a sunroof. I like sunroofs in theory, but for most cars my height (6'11") makes them unpractical.
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Cadillac (and GM) has prided itself for years as a leader in automotive technology. And there is certain reason to be proud of that. But in the hyper-competitive luxury car market, Cadillac is going to have to do better than just trying to keep up.

    For example, the Northstar V8 was a technological tour-de-force in 1993. There wasn't another V8 on the planet that was significantly mosre advanced in power delivery and overall usage of advanced technology.

    But Northstar was also held back by Cadillac's platforms of front wheel drive cars. It's difficult to properly deliver more than 300 HP to the front wheels without significant torque steer. Since there wasn't any reason to make the engine better, GM didn't, outside of nominal upgrades.

    Now in the last few years, several automakers have exceeded Northstar's capabilities by adding variable valve timing and squeezing more power out of their designs. Northstars are still at 300 HP (until the XLR comes out). There's nothing wrong with Northstar as an engine platform. But as Cadillac migrates the lion's share of its offering to rear-wheel drive, its going to have to show that its engine offering can still be as powerful as BMW, as sophisticated as Mercedes, and as smooth as Lexus.
  • cadman88cadman88 Member Posts: 75
    Yes I believe Acura will start offering either Night Vision or a version of it in 1-2 years.
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Its a base one, The woman don,t
    like the bucket seats or shift on floor!
    Its White Diamond not pearl. With the
    GM employee deal,Caddy bonus cert., Gm
    card earnings,rebate,, I only paid 29k
    minus trade !
    Heck they even gave me 6000 for my 96
    Deville with 90k miles ! I did the deal
    over the PHONE ! They drove the car to
    Alexandria Bay NY from Auburn NY with
    paper work and picked up my 96 trade !
    Told the sales man that we were jammed
    at our motel. He said no problem WE
    will come to you !...........geo
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    What Caddy bonus certificate? I'm going to use GM card point and the GM supplier discount, but I'm not familiar with your third cost savings measure. Could you elaborate?
  • 1997montez341997montez34 Member Posts: 202
    http://www.wieck.com/public/*2PV_041612


    If the V-series has a V-8, that may be our next car.

  • cadman88cadman88 Member Posts: 75
    Yes the V series CTS will have a V8, probably a version of the Vette's LS6 making 400hp, it's supposed to beat the M5 in every performance category, so expect it to be 50-60K.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Not unless they add at least 100 more hp. The next 540i is supposed to get 380+ hp and the M5 closer to 500. I think it's a TC or SC V10.
  • b4zb4z Member Posts: 3,372
    Caddy will be making a bundle on a vehicle that has an engine that is probably LESS expensive to make than the 3.2L V6.
    Add a few grand for tires and suspension and there is probably another 10-12K in aditional profit over the regular CTS.
    Reminds me of the huge price increase that Mercedes Benz charges for the 500 S class when the 430 S class has the same engine block. Just the pistons are different.
  • pmdriverpmdriver Member Posts: 11
    Hey guys, taking a quick glance and happy to see CTS owners swapping stories (this string has taken a much more useful turn). I truly hope everyone is enjoying their cars and love to hear the feedback (both good and bad).
  • cadman88cadman88 Member Posts: 75
    Sorry, I guess I exagerrated a little, I meant the current M5.
  • cigar_surfercigar_surfer Member Posts: 8
    Well, it has finally arrived. Took possesion of a Blue Onyx CTS on 8/13/02. Tan interior. Has lux sport, sunroof, heated seats, Xenon, split fold, nav system, and 5 speed stick. Waited about 7 weeks to get it on order thru GMO. Paid $33K and change for a $39K car! Not bad!

    Initial impression is: what a very nice automobile. Handling is very crisp and ride is controlled, not harsh, IMHO. It's what I would expect from a sports sedan. If you want float over the bumps luxury, look elsewhere, like to the DeVille. Now my last ride was a Probe GT Turbo, and the CTS ride is vastly superior while also about 200% better in handling. This suspension rocks!

    I love all the personalization features and the Nav system - what a great toy! And as a engineer computer geek, I was impressed with how you can beam your addresses from your Palm Pilot into the CTS! Cool!

    The sound system also is just a joy to crank up - it does not sound loud (distorted), just crystal clear.

    So far, no problems, and my dealer has treated me with the utmost respect and courtesy. Car was ready to go and spotless at exactly the promised time and I was out the door in less than an hour, including a test drive to verify that all was working perfectly (we used the GPS to nav to my house and back to the dealer).

    I have had one two lane highway passing exercise and it had plenty of guts to blow off the turkey with only a limited passing zone. I am trying to take it easy during break in. Engine power and smoothness is fine by me. I can barely tell its running at idle.
  • logic1logic1 Member Posts: 2,433
    I think you are the third Edmunds poster to chose the Blue Onyx. Believe it or not, I still have not seen a blue CTS. In Chicago so far I've seen black, white, red, and the other day I saw my first screaming orange. With a real young driver to boot. I hope you really enjoy your new car.
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Cigar: Congrats on the CTS !

    Sevenfeet; The $2000 Caddy loyalty bonus
    cert. came to me a few months ago along
    with a buick 3000 cert. in a GM Family
    Savings promotion. I am on a mailing
    list for GM employees family eligible for
    GM EMPLOYEE discounts. I get a bunch of
    promo, stuff all the time. I am not sure
    how it works for GM supplier discount.
    Heck I wanted a CTS but no Caddy dealer
    near Syracuse NY would do GMO/GMS on one.
    So I will be happy with my new Deville.
    I can wait for a V-8 CTS,,,,,,,,,,geo
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Can you comment some more on your navigation system? I'm trying to figure out whether or not it's worth the nearly $1500 premium over the lesser Bose in-dash 6 CD radio.

    Is the user interface easy to understand?

    Are the integrated radio controls easy to understand, or have they been made a nuisance?

    Does the system seem resonably accurate in its ability to give directions? Are the directions easy to follow?

    Does the CD-based navigation limit too much the scope of available maps (as opposed to a DVD system)?

    Do you miss not having the cassette (still used for old music, books on tape, and cassette adapaters for other electronic music players)?

    You said that you can beam contacts from your Palm? How well does that work?

    Is the price justified compared to paying $34.95 a month for the Onstar directions service?

    Any other features you can think of that wouldn't normally come to mind?

    Thanks!
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Ah, the Cadillac loyalty bonus. I've had certificates like that in the past but I haven't had one recently. I suspect I'm not on the current mailing lists since I've moved twice in the last year, and my previous Deville was totalled last year before I could get it registered or a service history in myt last city.
  • hydra2hydra2 Member Posts: 114
    Congratulations on your new ride. I'm sure you will love it. Were you able to figure out how to operate all of the controls without spending days reading the owner's manual. We all want to know how you compare the new ride to your '96, in terms of ride, handling and user friendliness of the cool gadgets like the tire pressure monitor, oil life monitor, memory seats, etc.

    Pardon me if I am confusing you with another poster, but I thought you were trying to buy this car for your wife, who I think I remember you saying wanted a Buick. If this is true, what car did she finally get? If this is her car, shared or otherwise, she is a lucky woman.

    Happy Driving.
  • whothemanwhotheman Member Posts: 169
    They WILL price the CTSv well BELOW $50k, or an M3. No one (but Cadillac) sees the CTS as a 5-series competitor. The only thing they share are 4 doors!
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Go look up the specs. The CTS is actually BIGGER than a 530i with the same or slightly better performance. The Lincoln LS is even bigger. The only thing they share with the 3 series is price. These are MUCH bigger cars.
  • whothemanwhotheman Member Posts: 169
    Every mag will compare it on price. Meaning 3-Series. And a 530i will outperform a CTS! Not even a question. It'll beat CTS on any road course you got!

    And every comparo puts the CTS well behind the 3-Series! And the Lexus GS even has trouble with the 5-Series, so the CTS is a far cry against the extra-juicy German horses!
  • fjk57702fjk57702 Member Posts: 539
    Actually the CTS has german horses too, since the engine is an Opel design.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    Acturally, the CTS engine is built in England.
  • whothemanwhotheman Member Posts: 169
    the 530i is beating any CTS by a half-second. And the 3-series has a full secong advantage. Torque to wight ratio is behind the competition, but not as far behind as the Lincoln LS.

    A lot of people still can't get around the styling to look at it as a realistic 5-series competitor.

    I don't think BMW is missing any sleep over the CTS.
  • necrosnecros Member Posts: 127
    I think it's been suggested, whotheman, that those wishing to do comparos are welcome to take them somewhere else. This is the third (that I know of) incarnation of this thread, and I personally would prefer that it stay around this time. If BMW aficianados weren't losing sleep, why do so many of them come into this thread and bother us? Please just go away.
  • fjk57702fjk57702 Member Posts: 539
    I did say designed.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    I didn't mean to start an argument. I was just pointing out that the content sticker on my CTS states that the engine comes from England. GM is a worldwide company and mixes and matches parts from all divisions. The engine is an Opel design, derived from the engine in the Catera, which of course is an Opel Omega derivative.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    You are absolutely correct.
  • cigar_surfercigar_surfer Member Posts: 8
    Can you comment some more on your navigation system? I'm trying to figure
    out whether or not it's worth the nearly $1500 premium over the lesser Bose
    in-dash 6 CD radio.

    Is the user interface easy to understand?

    I think it is. It does take a few monents to learn.

    Are the integrated radio controls easy to understand, or have they been made a
    nuisance?

    Radio controls are very easy, again, once you get used to it.

    Does the system seem resonably accurate in its ability to give directions?
    So far directions given are good, but I have not dopne any long trips. You can tell it to avoid certain regions, or favor interstates, or go for shortest distance vs fastest time.

    Are
    the directions easy to follow?

    Very easy to follow. It tells you when a turn is coming up and again just before you turn. It talks! "Right turn in 1/4 mile" etc.

    Does the CD-based navigation limit too much the scope of available maps (as
    opposed to a DVD system)?

    This is often cited as a big drawback. Yes, it has 10 CD Nav disks. 95% of the time, I will stay on one disk in the northeast coast area. Now a DVD holds about 4 GB of data vs 6.4 GB on 10 CDs, so I suspect the info is a little more detailed on this system. From what I have seen, only one road (development) built in the last 3 months is missing in my area. It has very detailed point of interest data - gas stations, rest stops, schools, churches, restaurants, hotels, etc.

    Do you miss not having the cassette (still used for old music, books on tape,
    and cassette adapters for other electronic music players)?

    Cassette?? What's that?

    You said that you can beam contacts from your Palm? How well does that
    work?

    Works like a charm!

    Is the price justified compared to paying $34.95 a month for the Onstar
    directions service?

    I think so, though it might be a tough call for some. I did get the package way under cost via GMO.

    Any other features you can think of that wouldn't normally come to mind?

    You also get voice recognition commands for stereo and nav with, a nice toy.
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Thanks for the information. I'll have to check it out for myself. The CD changing thing is still an issue, but I'll see if its a real problem.
  • sevenfeet0sevenfeet0 Member Posts: 486
    Although no new information about future V series cars has been posted other than the previous press release and artist's rendition of the CTSv, Cadillac has updated the CTS microsite on their web page to feature the V-series logo.


    http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/models/cts/index.html

  • richw5richw5 Member Posts: 152
    Sevenfeet0,

    I have to agree with Cigar_surfer, the navigation system is good. Mostly accurate and fun to use. However, I've had a problem setting a destination when traveling across geographic areas (change CD's). Maybe I need training.

    The nav system is always funny when I don't follow it's directions. First, it trys to recalculate a new path, if that fails, it keeps telling me to make a u-turn.

    Radio controls are good and I don't miss the cassette.

    Then there's the information system. Normally, I like to see the outside temperature. In addition, I like to see the average gas mileage or any of the other info system components. This requires a lot of extra button pushing and knob dialing. A real pain in the neck while driving or when resetting the info. On my other car, you just push one button to move from "info field" to "info field" and another button to reset the info. I hope they correct this on the '04 model.

    I would definitely buy it again.

    Necros -
    Thanks! That needed to be said. "whotheman" sounds more like "whothelittlekid". Most of the discussion on this thread has been positive or constructive criticism about cars we love to drive or would like to own.

    Besides, most BMW's are overpriced, uncomfortable "little cars" that ride hard and are expensive to maintain. Quick doesn't always mean "worth the money".

    Rich
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Is built in France ! So sez the fed. content
    sticker !
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Yea it was me ! The BOSS wanted leather interior!
    But a Park Ave was in Deville price area !
    A Lesabre custom was 17k out the door tho !
    Tempting ! I wanted a CTS badly but no dealer in
    Syracuse NY area would do GMO/GMS deal !
    My 96 Devile needed those 2500 front struts
    and had over 90k troublefree miles (except
    for a fuel pump last year). Been so busy
    with our bar and motels haven't had time to
    play with it much ! One thing I DO like is
    the with trac control off it starts off in 1st
    gear. The 96 started off in second with trac
    off. I LOVE suprising unsuspecting folks in
    their lesser mbs,bmw, lexus, etc with a smokey
    BURN OUT ! 275 horses V8 on tap ! Next time it
    will be a V8 CTS. Will post more reports on
    the Deville thread !............geo
    THERE IS NOTHING LIKE CADILLAC STYLE !
  • dindakdindak Member Posts: 6,632
    Congrats on the new Caddy. Too bad you couldn't get a CTS though.

    Why did you go for a DeVille over a Seville?
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    The BOSS didn"t like the buckets and floor
    shift ! Seville was more $$$$$$ with the
    same goodies. Was gonna buy a used 02 in
    Gan. Ontario for 25k amer. delivered to me
    in the 1000 islands. But I think the sale
    man was trying to fool me cuz it was a 01.
    This new one was 23k plus tax and tag with
    trade, rebate, bonus cert, GM card, GMS
    discount etc.................geo
  • wwhite2wwhite2 Member Posts: 535
    The V series emblem looks cool maybe cooler than that "M" emblem I hope this V CTS Rocks !!!!! Cant wait
  • fjk57702fjk57702 Member Posts: 539
    The CTS's 3.2 liter engine was offered on the 2001 omega's in europe while the 2001 Catera still had the 3.0 liter engine. Cadillac has done some tuning to the CTS's version to boost the power slightly.

    The point that I tried to make was that the CTS's engine is european. In fact the MT comparison shows that the automatic CTS holds its own with the "other" european car. Once the CTS gets the 3.6 with VVT, performance should improve a bit.
  • dindakdindak Member Posts: 6,632
    Humm? My parents bought their old Lumina at Gan Chev Olds a number of years ago and thought it was a pretty strait up place. I'm surprised they would do that. Would they have sold you a new CTS? I know many dealers here won't sell new cars to Americans anymore.
  • cadillac1cadillac1 Member Posts: 51
    SweetElderado posted this link on an XLR forum. The site has link where they interview Mark Laveign(sp). He says the CTSv will appear late next year with a "a minimum of 350hp, but probably significantly more."


    http://carpoint.msn.com/pebblebeach2002/CadillacPress.aspx

  • wwhite2wwhite2 Member Posts: 535
    M cars should be afraid,very afraid. Looks like the General is waking up the M in GM
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    NO...They couldn't sell us any NEW GM car.
    Only a used one. I hear on the smart shopper
    thread GM, Honda, and some others won't
    honor warranty work to Can. imported vehicles
    to the USA !....geo
  • cadman88cadman88 Member Posts: 75
    What happened to those great CTC, CTS convertible, pics you made, a while ago I said to make the doors longer on both of them, did ya forget?
  • dindakdindak Member Posts: 6,632
    I figured that would be the case. Too bad, it might have been a good deal for you.

    Enjoy the DeVille though, it's a nice car.
  • cadillac1cadillac1 Member Posts: 51
    Yeah I actually did forget. Just started an internship and will be starting another year of college on Monday so I am kinda busy.

    One question though, do you want me to lengthen the doors on the orange CTS coupe, or the red convertioble/hatchback? Or both?
  • necrosnecros Member Posts: 127
    No one may care but me, but FYI, the way to remove the shift knob on a MT CTS is to pry up the box around the boot, and then pull the knob off. Supposedly the manual says that "a large amount of physical force" may be needed. Hopefully I can muster the force. If so, I'll be able to put my new Momo Combat knob on tonight. :)
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