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Comments
I just found this site and will make an effort to go back though prior posts so as not to waste people's time.
Like others, it appears, my dealer doesn't know much about this car. For example, I just had it in regarding the water leak in the rear licence plate assembly; dealer said they had never heard of it happening before and therefore just replaced the whole thing. Also have received conflicting advice from them about recommended fuel.
Two peeves about the Nav: (1)answering the disclaimer every single time I'm in the car, and (2) having the DVD (video) disabled once in gear. Any suggestions?
Glad to be here.
We tackled the mountain passes at high speeds. It was one of those "Yellow sign says 45, let's take it at 90" situations. The CTS acquitted itself admirably. I was talking to several Supra owners afterwards, and they all said they had been pushing it. The CTS had no trouble keeping up.
About the only time things didn't go so well was during high speed runs. I have the base model, and flirted with 124 mph fuel cutoff a few times. I couldn't compete with some of the 150+ mph runs that the other cars could. On the bright side, though, the car seemed to pull much better on the top end than I remember from the last time I played there. Maybe the engine is getting better as it breaks in? 21K miles now.
The only downside was that I had to put on the stock all-seasons the week before to deal with weather. If I could have left the summer Yokohamas on, I would have done much better.
Three cheers for the CTS!
You should have come down to the last weekend of October - we had the fall driver's school at Pueblo Motorsports Park (not to be confused with PPIR). It's a decidedly funky little track (the kind of place you expect to see Nicholas Cage strolling out of the sagebrush with a sawed-off shotgun) but *much* faster than 2nd Creek (I see 120+ before braking early for turn 1), which would make it a fun venue for the CTS. I could have given you a lunchtime barf-o-matic instructor ride.
As far as where this was exactly, no comment.
The most amusing scene of the day was when we came upon the driver of an ancient Winnebago (all while traveling at a normal speed) on a twisty road. Twenty-five high-powered cars going 20 mph in a 55, trailing in a long line behind a camper that refused to let anyone pass. I wish I had had a camera.
I've heard US285 can be interesting - the guy I bought my car from said the only time he regretted not getting the rear wing was when he'd drive down it to Santa Fe - there'd be no one else on the road and rear end would start getting light at 130 or so.
As for pads for the CTS, I know some of the race pad manufacturers can make almost anything given a template (like a used pad) - and it's not as expensive as you'd think. Call Porterfield or Performance Friction (I run Porterfield R4 for the track, and I've heard good stuff about PF 97's).
Thanks for the tip about th brakes. I didn't realize they could just be made. I've heard very good things about the R4s.
http://www.baer.com/Products/ProductsList.aspx
I posted a request around here a while ago to pmdriver to post the FMSI # for the pads so you could chase down some aftermarket pads, but I gather it got missed. Oh well.
The Porterfield R4S is a street/autocross pad, not an all-out track pad. The R4 is a serious track pad, and the R4E is a very-serious track pad.
Note that the R4 and R4E will squeal horribly and eat rotors in days if used cold - they have to be HOT to work (and not street-hot, but hundreds-of-degrees hot.)
Hawk Brake is another highly-regarded supplier; their Blue pad is a notch above the R4 in heat-resistance. I know a lot of folks who run these in Mustangs, but you need to be running quite hard to get these hot enough to work. A car with better balance and less HP probably doesn't need something this aggressive.
If I can find my way back to this website, I'll be sure to post it.
If you have a 3.2, use 91 octane or whatever the OM recommends. Using regular will cost more in the long run because fuel economy will be slightly lower, offsetting the lower initial fuel cost.
It boggles my mind why people will spend $40K for a car and don't want to pay an extra $3/week to run the correct grade of gasoline. (And my wife's one of them.)
Plus with 100K on the clutch it may not take much to do her in.
Many of the automanuals are pretty nice.
They give you the flexibility of a manual without the clutch.
Also if you live in an area with a lot of traffic, or is very hilly, manuals are not the way to go.
My stiff clutched Camaro is brutal on my knees after about 10-15 minutes of stop and go.
http://media.gm.com/division/2004_prodinfo/cadillac/pdf/04_Cadill- ac_CTS.pdf
http://media.gm.com/division/2004_prodinfo/cadillac/pdf/04_Cadill- ac_CTS.pdf
cjs2002: A weekend of driving a manual is much different than SEVERAL YEARS. At one point in my life I thought that it was great to drive a manual transmission car...now I'd rather have an auto (particularly since I do quite a bit of in-town stop and go driving). Be sure you try out a few extremely steep hills in bumper to bumper traffic...that should really help you make up your mind
If the 3.6 has the ability to advance the timing when premium is used then you should see a performance boost and possibly a mileage boost as well.
But hey - buy whatever makes you happy.
As for hills and manual transmissions, for the CTS it brings up once again the incorrect location of the parking brake...I guess Detroit is just too flat.
I go to school in an extremely hilly area, and I hardly ever use the parking brake because most parking spots are flat. Parrellel parking on the street is not a good idea because the rich yuppie kids from Lawn Gisland can't drive and they'll bang up your car.
That said, when I do need to use the parking brake, it's no more difficult to operate it than a conventional hand brake.
With a hand brake, it's possible to hold the car in position while using both feet (one on the clutch and the other on the gas) to achieve a smooth start. This is not possible with a foot operated parking brake, unless you're very well endowed, and trained.
My LS has a hand brake and a manual transmission, which shows that the people who designed it in the first place had the right idea. Since then. . .
Tire recall/ Fuel gauge problem update Went to pickup the car today. Tires were done and the wheels seemed to look undamaged( but it was getting dark). I dropped off the loaner ( it was finally a Cadillac -Devillle . Drove across the street to a gas station . It was empty because they had to drop the tanks to replace the sender . As I pumped gas I look down and saw a large puddle of gas under the car . It was really leaking out . Not to happy I drove the car back . I have the loaner back and they have to pull it apart again . Once again I was the victim of Flat rate work . These techs are so sloppy just to make an extra buck at our expense . I will be having a talk with the owner .
Good note - They had a crimson Red XLR . It is beautiful . I feel bad for the owner of this 76K car that lets these clowns work on them .
"Fuel
Gasoline Octane
Use premium unleaded gasoline with a posted octane of 91 or higher for best performance. You may also use middle grade or regular unleaded gasoline rated at 87 octane or higher, but your vehicle’s acceleration may be slightly reduced. If the octane is less than 87, you may
get a heavy knocking noise when you drive. If it is bad enough, it can damage your engine."
Other than there are no major issues.
I also had the dealer check the sail panel air bag covers and both sides were replaced. They were just slightly loose and didn't bother me, but the service consultant said that he would rather replace them now, than have me replace them when the warranty expires.
The last time I was in for service, they returned the car with some grease on the floor mats and the spare tire loose. After I complained, they promised me a free oil change and paid off yesterday.
Now we are set for a cold snowy "Chicago" winter, with new tires and fresh oil.
They had a beautiful red '04 CTS on the showroom floor along with a black SRX. I could picture either one sitting next to my wife's CTS in our driveway.
The first is that not only can you hold the vehicle in place when stopped on a hill (e.g. traffic light) with it (which you can do with a foot-type brake as well) but you can MODULATE the release of the brake for a smooth start, and if you're a beginner and you fluff the start, you can haul back on the brake and put the car back to a stop. With a pedal-on/hand-release brake, when you pull the handle, the brake is off, you better be ready to go and you better not screw it up. Not to mention that your typical lower-left-side-of-the-dash release lever isn't usually in the most comfortable place to reach while driving. And of course the push-on, push-off type brake is completely out for manual transmissions, you'd need three (or more) feet. I find those parking brakes annoying and counterintuitive anyway.
The second is that if you find yourself overhauling by 30MPH a cop merging onto the freeway, you can bleed off some speed without turning on your brake lights.
In response to cornellpremed's comments above, it would appear he has little or no experience operating manual-transmission cars, and certainly not in hilly terrain, or he might understand that the 'parking' brake has uses other than parking.
I haven't yet decided whether I personally consider the lack of a handbrake to be a deal-breaker on a particular car, but it will definitely keep the CTS from selling in Europe or other markets where manual transmissions are the rule and not the exception.
Interesting to note that automatic G35s have a pedal-type parking brake (located perfectly to tear skin off my left shin while driving, was it a US-market afterthought?) but the 6-speed cars have a hand lever.
Ford has adopted a hand-operated electromechanical brake release on the LS and S-Type now, I haven't driven one so I can't say how it works.
Another thing, if I apply the hand brake in my wife's Honda with my 'normal' force she can't move it far enough to release the catch pawl. Ever have to go out to the garage in the morning in your pajamas to release the handbrake so your wife can go off to a meeting?
I used to go to Patrick Cadillac in Schaumburg, but after waiting 3 hours for an oil change one day, I'll never go back. The folks at Town & Country (now Cadillac of Naperville) are much more courteous and professional.
My other car needs an oil change, so I'll make an appointment with own & Country for next Wednesday or Thursday. Besides, I need to test drive an SRX.
I learned to drive when only Oldsmobiles had automatic transmissions, and my dad had Buicks.
DOES ANY BODY SUFFER WITH EXCESSIVE BRAKE DUST IN THE FRONT-CAN WASH THE CAR AND THE NEXT DAY THE CAR IS GOOD BUT THE FRONT RIMS ARE DIRTY.
NAV. SYSTEM-HAS ANY BODY TINTED THEIR WINDOWS WITH THE NAG SYSTEM. THE DEALER AND THE BOOK SAYS NOT TO HOWEVER HAVE MET A FEW THAT HAS DONE IT WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. WOULD LIKE TO TINT MINE BUT DON'T WANT TO MESS UP MY NAV. AND ON STAR SYSTEM.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST-TOOK MY CAR IN FOR THE RECALL TIRES(17 INCH)-MADE AN APPOINTMENT BUT NOW TWO DAYS LATER THEY STILL HAVE MY CAR STATING THE TIRES HAVE NOT COME IN YET-WHY MAKE AN APPOINTMENT IF THE TIRES ARE NOT IN. MY ADVICE TO THE REST OF THE CTS CREW CHECK WITH THE DEALER TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN BEFORE TAKING YOUR CTS IN.THANK GOD THEY GAVE ME A LONER CAR.
THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE!
Remembering times like that makes me think it doesn't make that much difference WHERE your emergency brake is located as long as it works...or what type of gas you burn (at that time I think I still used leaded)...
"-HAS ANY BODY TINTED THEIR WINDOWS WITH THE NAG SYSTEM."
saintjr- just because I was yelling doesn't mean you need to
They were also available for the '40 model year.
It maybe me but the new tires(recall) seem to ride harder than the orginal ones, Then again I had a Deville as a loaner.
I am thinking tinting would help the NAV . Sunlight quite often washes out my screen
Tinting would probably help the nav. Mine gets washed out if the sun is low and shining directly in through my rear window. Too bad Cadillac doesn't supply a power shade like BMW has. If you tint, make sure the tint is non-metalic or it could interfere with the antennas.