2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport: Boosting Ahead of the Germans in Their Own Game! - Ignition Ep. 90 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:04 The CTS V Sport represents Cadillac's open assault

00:07 on the established German powerhouses,

00:10 specifically the BMW 550i and Mercedes-Benz E550.

00:17 And if its name is any indication,

00:19 the V Sport aims to best them on performance.

00:22 Now, that may seem strange because this Caddy

00:25 doesn't have a V8.

00:26 That's because the V Sport also represents downsizing.

00:30 It instead uses a twin-turbo V6 that

00:32 makes 420 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque.

00:35 And critically, the car is much lighter

00:38 than its intended competition.

00:39 So that power needs to carry fewer pounds.

00:43 That sounds like a good philosophy to us.

00:45 And this week, we'll find out how well it works.

00:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:54 The V Sport hits 60 in 4.4 seconds.

01:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:20 And the quarter mile in 12.8 seconds at 111.9 miles an hour.

01:27 60 to 0 braking took a staggering 98 feet,

01:30 which is one of the best stopping distances we've ever

01:32 recorded from a sedan.

01:35 The V Sport lapped our figure 8 in 24.7 seconds

01:39 and put down an average lateral G of 0.94.

01:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:49 CTS V Sport.

02:01 What a car.

02:02 [LAUGHS]

02:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:06 This is an absolute surprise how well this car handles.

02:13 I am completely blown away.

02:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:18 But first, let's talk about the engine.

02:21 We have a twin turbo 3.6 liter V6.

02:25 Makes 420 horsepower, 430 pound feet of torque.

02:29 And it delivers those numbers pretty much

02:32 throughout the entire rev band.

02:33 I'm really impressed at how strong this powertrain is,

02:37 seemingly regardless of the RPM you choose.

02:42 Sounds good, too.

02:43 They're pumping in a bit of audio through the stereo.

02:46 They say it's real induction, real exhaust noise,

02:50 but it is artificial.

02:51 Who cares, though, because it sounds good.

02:55 The thing that surprised me the most,

02:56 though, is just how well this car handles.

03:00 I honestly don't believe it needs stability control.

03:03 There's so much traction in the front axle and the rear axle,

03:07 so much precision.

03:09 I can't make it understeer unless I do something wrong.

03:12 I can drive it into the corner as hard as I want.

03:15 I can drive it out of the corner as hard as I want,

03:18 and it doesn't scare you.

03:19 It doesn't surprise you.

03:21 It just offers grip and control and finesse.

03:27 It's amazing what this car can do with a set of Pirelli P

03:32 Zeros, which often are regarded as not the finest sports car

03:37 tire you can get.

03:39 And this thing is just amazing.

03:41 Part of it we have to attribute to how light this car is

03:45 versus the comparable BMW 550, whatever E-Class you would line

03:50 up against this.

03:51 This car is significantly lighter than both of those.

03:54 And you can just tell from the experience behind the wheel

03:58 how much that matters.

04:00 That weight is more important than horsepower.

04:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:08 This car is so much fun and so nice to drive,

04:15 because even though it's down on horsepower,

04:17 maybe versus the BMW 550, it's carrying less weight.

04:23 So that makes it faster.

04:25 It makes it better handling.

04:26 It's nicer to corner.

04:28 It stops short.

04:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:33 We are in the track setting right now.

04:36 And that firms up the magnetic fluid-filled shocks.

04:39 It gives you more engine note, firms up the steering,

04:43 and it just makes this car behave like a sports car.

04:46 That's what this feels like.

04:47 It feels like a sports car.

04:49 It has sports car-like tendencies,

04:51 sports car-like qualities.

04:53 And it is, again, amazing.

04:56 We have to attribute the rear grip partially

04:59 to the active electronically controlled differential, which

05:02 shares its internals with this Corvette C7, which, again,

05:06 shows why this thing works so well.

05:09 Now, if there is a slight problem,

05:12 it's with the transmission.

05:14 Because the rest of the car is so good,

05:17 but the transmission isn't as aggressive on downshifts

05:21 as it could be.

05:23 Occasionally, I get a shift denied, shift denied,

05:25 shift denied when I want to go to second.

05:27 And so it means I have to give up

05:28 a little bit of concentration on the road, my braking

05:31 point, and the speed to know when

05:33 I can downshift to second.

05:35 Slight problem, slight problem on the road,

05:37 on a mountain road, on the highway.

05:39 Who cares?

05:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:45 OK, let's talk about things that aren't having fun.

05:48 It's hard to do in this car, but we have to talk about them.

05:51 The design.

05:52 I think this is Cadillac's best execution

05:54 of the art and science design language on the exterior.

05:58 It looks different, but in a good way.

06:03 It has a very luxurious look, a very striking look.

06:08 And the way those vertical beams appear

06:11 when you have the parking lights on look really nice.

06:13 Then we have the interior, which I'm not so much enamored with.

06:17 We have the Q infotainment system,

06:20 which seems to have become better since we last

06:22 drove it in the ATS.

06:24 But the Germans still do this stuff better.

06:28 It's a haptic feedback touchscreen interface.

06:31 And more often than not, the button

06:33 that you actually want to press doesn't respond.

06:36 You miss it.

06:37 A touchscreen requires you to look at the screen

06:39 in order to use it, instead of paying attention

06:41 to the road, which is what you should be doing anyway.

06:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:49 And what blows me away is we're still

06:51 waiting for the Cadillac CTS-V. And how is that

06:55 going to be different?

06:56 I think you take this package, and what can you improve?

07:00 Sure, you can make the tires stickier, bigger.

07:03 You can make it a stiffer, higher grip generating chassis.

07:08 You can give it more torque, certainly.

07:10 But the fundamentals of this platform are here,

07:14 and they work really, really, really well.

07:19 But man, the way this thing drives, I'm content right here.

07:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:27 Love that part.

07:28 I love that part so much.

07:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:33 This is the kind of Cadillac we've been waiting for,

07:47 and the kind of car other automakers

07:49 need to pay attention to.

07:51 Sharp looking and great driving, it's

07:53 a refreshing reminder of what a large luxury car can be.

07:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:59 Sure, Q remains frustrating, as do the HVAC controls.

08:11 But in terms of performance and fun,

08:13 the CTS-V Sport handily trounces any comparable sedan.

08:18 More importantly, the V Sport's driving dynamics

08:21 and commitment to lightness is something

08:23 the Germans could learn from.

08:24 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:27 I got to fart.

08:31 OK.

08:37 You just sealed yourself in the credits.

08:38 Good.

08:40 OK, you got a little lift on it, too.

08:42 CTS-V Sport.

08:44 [CLAPPING]

08:47 Does that help with editing?

08:49 If I just--

08:50 [CLAPPING]

08:51 Keep clapping.

08:52 Oh, you want to air it out?

08:53 Air it out.

08:54 A little bit of air out?

08:55 Yeah.

08:56 Got to warm up.

08:57 You can tell exactly what kind of hammer you had.

09:00 All right, 3, 2, 1.

09:03 [ENGINE REVVING]

2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport: Boosting Ahead of the Germans in Their Own Game! - Ignition Ep. 90

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