# I drove the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon 6MT the other day at Laguna Seca...



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

My review went up earlier this week on Autoblog:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/22/first-drive-2011-cadillac-cts-v-wagon/

I would have posted this sooner, but I just got back in town (visited my brother in DC this week).

- Mike


----------



## sunilsf (Sep 22, 2003)

Excellent review and sounds like an amazing car... uhm, wagon! Nice to see someone offering high performance wagons with a manual transmission.... this CTS-V Wagon, seems to be the ultimate sleeper.

I read an article a while ago where a guy took an E46 wagon and converted to an E46 M3 wagon... I was drooling over that, but I suspect he spent more than $70K getting that done and this sounds so much better coming straight from the factory.


----------



## swajames (Jan 16, 2005)

I never understood why wagons just don't sell here. For me it's the perfect blend of drivability and utility - as much capacity as many SUVs combined with the superior ride and handling qualities of a car rather than a truck. I simply can't fathom BMW, for example, choosing to drop the F11 from the US in favor of the truly abysmal 5 GT. BMW blames slow sales of the wagon, which was, of course, a product of the very limited configurations that they chose to offer here. Surely a case of predetermining the outcome. Anyway - more power to GM for not only releasing a wagon but for releasing such a capable one. If BMW sold the M5 touring over here I'd have bought one in a heartbeat. MB has the E63 wagon, but trying to get my local dealer to order one was close to impossible...


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

Americans have labeled wagons with a stigma ***8212; they are for moms and those with a family. This can generally all be traced back to the 1950s - 1980s when station wagons were popular (before minivans). Who in their forties today didn't grow up with a fake wood-paneled wagon in the family?

Europeans have embraced the wagon. It is time for us on this side of the Pond to do the same.

- Mike


----------



## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Emission said:


> Americans have labels wagons with a stigma - they are for moms and those with a family. This can generally all be traced back to the 1950s - 1980s when station wagons were popular (before minivans). Who in their forties today didn't grow up with a fake wood-paneled wagon in the family?
> 
> Europeans have embraced the wagon. It is time for us on this side of the Pond to do the same.
> 
> - Mike


36. My mom always had sports cars.  She has the same attitude about our wagons as most other boomers - very negative.

Weird how a tall station wagon (SUV) is cool but a low station wagon is bad.


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

blueguydotcom said:


> 36. My mom always had sports cars.  She has the same attitude about our wagons as most other boomers - very negative.
> 
> Weird how a tall station wagon (SUV) is cool but a low station wagon is bad.


Americans = Bigger is better :tsk:

An M3 Touring... :thumbup:

- Mike


----------



## eazy (Aug 20, 2002)

in order for the wagons to sell well in the usa you have to jack up the ground clearance a la Subaru outback. to me I think minivans are getting to big.


----------



## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

Emission said:


> Americans = Bigger is better :tsk:
> 
> An *C63* Touring... :thumbup:
> 
> - Mike


Fixxed yer p0st.

Great write up Mike. Methinks you have a future in the interweb thingy...:thumbup:


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

Frank Rizzo said:


> Fixxed yer p0st.
> 
> Great write up Mike. Methinks you have a future in the interweb thingy...:thumbup:


I actually like the C63 a ton. It's hard to argue against that engine. :yikes:

- Mike


----------



## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

minivans and suv's sit higher. wagons remind us of our childhood (wood siding, loooooonnnnngggggg cross-country road trips, etc.). we're both much happier with our ody than we would have been with a comparably-priced wagon.


----------



## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

A nice report. I for one believe Cadillac is getting back into the game, deserves mention and indeed a look. :thumbup:


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

mdsbuc said:


> A nice report. I for one believe Cadillac is getting back into the game, deserves mention and indeed a look. :thumbup:


I would never have agreed, until I drove a CTS-V Sedan on the track last year (after driving the E60 M5 minutes earlier). I came away saying the CTS-V was better. :eeps:

Cadillac still isn't for everyone (I'd still get a BMW over a Caddy), but they have made great leaps forward compared to how they were years ago.

- Mike


----------



## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

Emission said:


> I would never have agreed, until I drove a CTS-V Sedan on the track last year (after driving the E60 M5 minutes earlier). I came away saying the CTS-V was better. :eeps:
> 
> Cadillac still isn't for everyone (I'd still get a BMW over a Caddy), but they have made great leaps forward compared to how they were years ago.
> 
> - Mike


Right. So often Cadillac gets left out of the discussion. Five to ten years ago this was totally warranted. Reports like yours and others in the the car mags forced me to take a look. I hadn't owned an American automobile (some trucks, yes) in decades. I totally surprised myself when I ended up buying the CTS to replace my E60.

Unlike you, I'm no automotive expert. I'm just an average consumer. I loved my E60, but when I test drove a couple of F10s I found that the responsiveness and "feel" I had become accustomed to was missing. The CTS equipped with FE3 Sport pkg., Summer performance tires, and the Recaro seats gave me the closest feel to the old E60 than any of the cars I test drove including the F10s. With nearly 10,000 miles on the CTS now, I'm still impressed with the car in a lot of ways. I would love to drive a CTS-V. Pure envy from this end!


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

mdsbuc said:


> Right. So often Cadillac gets left out of the discussion. Five to ten years ago this was totally warranted. Reports like yours and others in the the car mags forced me to take a look. I hadn't owned an American automobile (some trucks, yes) in decades. I totally surprised myself when I ended up buying the CTS to replace my E60.
> 
> Unlike you, I'm no automotive expert. I'm just an average consumer. I loved my E60, but when I test drove a couple of F10s I found that the responsiveness and "feel" I had become accustomed to was missing. The CTS equipped with FE3 Sport pkg., Summer performance tires, and the Recaro seats gave me the closest feel to the old E60 than any of the cars I test drove including the F10s. With nearly 10,000 miles on the CTS now, I'm still impressed with the car in a lot of ways. I would love to drive a CTS-V. Pure envy from this end!


Yeah, the F10 is a mini-7 Series. Not good for traditional 5 Series fanatics. 

- Mike


----------



## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

I wanted to like the CTS-V sooooo bad....but the local dealer was such a group of incompetent morons it really threw me off. The first trip there on a Friday evening I could not find anyone to help. The only sales guy was working a deal on a Buick.

I returned on SUnday....buc, you'll have flavor - they have 5 FE3 cars on the lot! Amazing. But.... Every one was an early '10 build that was a dealer trade from a dealer that was decomissioned. 3 of them had dead batteries and would not start, all of the had major lot rash from sitting in the sun for so long (the window stickers are faded and have peeled off). The cars were filthy and the windows had so much gunk on them I thought there was a fog in the car.

I asked if they had any CTS's with Recaros and I was told that they were not available on the CTS. I explained that they were... so we went into the showroom to check the "configurator" I looked inside the V on the floor and showed the salesguy that it had Recaros. He stammered and told me they were a V option only. He immeidatley turned me over to the Manager who explained that Recaros were no longer an option because no one wanted them.

I could go on, but in short I could not look forward to having any kind of service done by these individuals. YMMV.
.


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

Frank Rizzo said:


> I wanted to like the CTS-V sooooo bad....but the local dealer was such a group of incompetent morons it really threw me off. The first trip there on a Friday evening I could not find anyone to help. The only sales guy was working a deal on a Buick.
> 
> I returned on SUnday....buc, you'll have flavor - they have 5 FE3 cars on the lot! Amazing. But.... Every one was an early '10 build that was a dealer trade from a dealer that was decomissioned. 3 of them had dead batteries and would not start, all of the had major lot rash from sitting in the sun for so long (the window stickers are faded and have peeled off). The cars were filthy and the windows had so much gunk on them I thought there was a fog in the car.
> 
> ...


It is true that Cadillac is not yet ready to "accomodate" conquest owners coming over from European makes. Your story is as accurate as my last visit to a Caddy dealer (met by an old guy who didn't know how to get me out of my BMW).

- Mike


----------



## cwinter (Feb 3, 2009)

I just wish it would look better... 

The front looks too edgy and the rear like a hearse. I suppose 550 lbs-ft of torque may make you forget and the fact that they even offer it with an MT deserves a :thumbup:


----------



## mtbscott (Jul 16, 2003)

I saw one of the CTS-V coupes in person for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Edgy looking? Yes, but in a good way I think. Not the size or priced car I'm driving these days, but if it was, the Caddy would definitely be in the hunt.


----------



## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

OK yeah I need that

Manual in black please


----------



## Alpine300ZHP (Jan 31, 2007)

Emission said:


> It is true that Cadillac is not yet ready to "accomodate" conquest owners coming over from European makes. Your story is as accurate as my last visit to a Caddy dealer (met by an old guy who didn't know how to get me out of my BMW).
> 
> - Mike


Hmm...depends on where you go. When went to my local Caddy dealer the GM was a young guy who knew his stuff and my salesperson loved BMW. Both of them were able to answer my questions and blatantly stated that their goal was to steal customers from BMW and were able to accurately show some key differences between the x5 and the SRX as well as the CTS/3 series. Maybe it is because my local Caddy dealer is within 10 minutes of two big BMW and Mercedes dealers? My point is that some Caddy dealers really are ready for the european conquest buyers and some are not. However, my recent visit to a Jeep dealer showed that they clearly are NOT ready to get european conquest buyers and I was able to get more Jeep info here on the fest than in the showroom :tsk:


----------



## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

Alpine300ZHP said:


> Hmm...depends on where you go. When went to my local Caddy dealer the GM was a young guy who knew his stuff and my salesperson loved BMW. Both of them were able to answer my questions and blatantly stated that their goal was to steal customers from BMW and were able to accurately show some key differences between the x5 and the SRX as well as the CTS/3 series. Maybe it is because my local Caddy dealer is within 10 minutes of two big BMW and Mercedes dealers? My point is that some Caddy dealers really are ready for the european conquest buyers and some are not.


True. My Cadillac dealer also sells Rolls Royce, Bentley, and Lotus. They know their stuff, and they know how to treat the discriminating customer.


----------

