CTSV Wagon Order
Looks awesome!
#33
12-05-2011, 11:52 PM
Picked up the car and put 800 miles on it going up to the Bay Area to see our friends.
The Black Diamond Tricoat is quite something. I think I have mentioned it before, it's like Cosmos Black on the E36 M3 but with a lot more silver flakes, and it is very well done that it doesn't look cheap like your usual metallic paint in GM cars.
The supercharger is very well done and the power delivery is very smooth, to the point where you don't really know what gear you are in, because there's literally power everywhere.
The clutch is teh awesome. Perhaps BMW needs to send a team to Detroit and learn, or was that, remind them, on how to make a clutch that is enjoyable. It is not super stiff, but is it very predictable, and it grabs hard at the same place every time. Unlike those POS modern BMW clutches.
The brakes are great, very linear with good feel, and with those expensive Michelin's, get the car to slow down with ease.
The diff in the car is also very good that with everything completely off, you still have to really lay into it to get the backend to come out. Of all the cars that has been in my fleet, the E39 M5 remains the one most eager to give you lurid oversteer with little encouragement (yes, even more so than the GT2).
The drive on the 5 was very relaxed, despite the left lane hogs best efforts. I really don't understand why they feel the need to speed up after you change lane to try to pass on the right to close the gap on you thinking you won't be able to make it. The wagon easily handles passing these people with ease, thanks to the 560HP and the 551lb/ft of torque.
The seats are great. Butt cooler is a first for me. I imagine they will be very nice in the summer. The cupholders work well, as any self respecting American car should. The NAV is great. It feels like a Garmin unit with very intuitive touch screen. The faux alcantara shifter and steering wheel doesn't get nasty after a long drive like the real alcantara on German cars. Whoever GM sourced this stuff from, EVERYONE should get it from. It's good stuff.
Having said all that, if Cadillac wants to have a no excuse product to compete with the Germans, it needs to fix the following:
1. Holy smokes that headliner is cheap. The worse is the rough joint at the top of the windshield. That is circa E36 stuff, but with cheaper material. Find out what BMW, Audi, and Benz's suppliers are and tell the accountants to get over it and use it on the next CTS-V.
2. Please find out who Audi's supplier is for the trunk covering and the mechanism in its wagons, tell the accountants to shut up, and spec it on the next CTS-V.
3. Rear side privacy shades has been around in German cars for almost 30 years, please put it in the CTS-V. It can't be that expensive to do.
4. The plastic for the black Obsidian trim is very nice. PLEASE USE THAT MATERIAL FOR ALL INTERIOR PLASTIC PARTS. That dome light covering plastic might be OK in the Chevy Cobalt, but it is not OK in this car.
As you can see, CTS-V has come a long way from the first gen, which can't even compare to the interior of the BMW E34 gen 5 series. But, with the nice black obsidian plastic, the nice leather/alcantara seats, the nice gauge clusters, and basically everything below where the cheap Chevy truck headliner starts, GM clearly is able to source and design nice interior bits. Now go tell the accountant to shut up and dress up the rest of the car, and it will be quite something.
Well done Cadillac.
The Black Diamond Tricoat is quite something. I think I have mentioned it before, it's like Cosmos Black on the E36 M3 but with a lot more silver flakes, and it is very well done that it doesn't look cheap like your usual metallic paint in GM cars.
The supercharger is very well done and the power delivery is very smooth, to the point where you don't really know what gear you are in, because there's literally power everywhere.
The clutch is teh awesome. Perhaps BMW needs to send a team to Detroit and learn, or was that, remind them, on how to make a clutch that is enjoyable. It is not super stiff, but is it very predictable, and it grabs hard at the same place every time. Unlike those POS modern BMW clutches.
The brakes are great, very linear with good feel, and with those expensive Michelin's, get the car to slow down with ease.
The diff in the car is also very good that with everything completely off, you still have to really lay into it to get the backend to come out. Of all the cars that has been in my fleet, the E39 M5 remains the one most eager to give you lurid oversteer with little encouragement (yes, even more so than the GT2).
The drive on the 5 was very relaxed, despite the left lane hogs best efforts. I really don't understand why they feel the need to speed up after you change lane to try to pass on the right to close the gap on you thinking you won't be able to make it. The wagon easily handles passing these people with ease, thanks to the 560HP and the 551lb/ft of torque.
The seats are great. Butt cooler is a first for me. I imagine they will be very nice in the summer. The cupholders work well, as any self respecting American car should. The NAV is great. It feels like a Garmin unit with very intuitive touch screen. The faux alcantara shifter and steering wheel doesn't get nasty after a long drive like the real alcantara on German cars. Whoever GM sourced this stuff from, EVERYONE should get it from. It's good stuff.
Having said all that, if Cadillac wants to have a no excuse product to compete with the Germans, it needs to fix the following:
1. Holy smokes that headliner is cheap. The worse is the rough joint at the top of the windshield. That is circa E36 stuff, but with cheaper material. Find out what BMW, Audi, and Benz's suppliers are and tell the accountants to get over it and use it on the next CTS-V.
2. Please find out who Audi's supplier is for the trunk covering and the mechanism in its wagons, tell the accountants to shut up, and spec it on the next CTS-V.
3. Rear side privacy shades has been around in German cars for almost 30 years, please put it in the CTS-V. It can't be that expensive to do.
4. The plastic for the black Obsidian trim is very nice. PLEASE USE THAT MATERIAL FOR ALL INTERIOR PLASTIC PARTS. That dome light covering plastic might be OK in the Chevy Cobalt, but it is not OK in this car.
As you can see, CTS-V has come a long way from the first gen, which can't even compare to the interior of the BMW E34 gen 5 series. But, with the nice black obsidian plastic, the nice leather/alcantara seats, the nice gauge clusters, and basically everything below where the cheap Chevy truck headliner starts, GM clearly is able to source and design nice interior bits. Now go tell the accountant to shut up and dress up the rest of the car, and it will be quite something.
Well done Cadillac.
#34
12-05-2011, 11:57 PM
Glad you like it man! It's definitely a SWEET machine! I absolutely LOVE it! I can vouch for the transmission and clutch being fantastic. Enjoy it and have a safe holiday!
#35
12-06-2011, 12:04 AM
Green with envy right now. I spoke with the guy you sent me to, got a preliminary order, send credit card authorization, then.... I've heard nothing since Thursday, and no response to several emails. I'm still hopeful.
#36
12-06-2011, 12:04 AM
Pretty cool. After having the Audi Avant and a Soccer Mom SUV at the same time, I don't see a need for a wagon in the household. But I might consider this one if I were in the market.....maybe. For me, Caddy to me still unfortunately stands for crap.
