ss109
06-13-2005, 10:54 PM
Today I stopped by the Cadillac dealership to look at the new CTS-V. They had eight of them, a couple blues, three reds, and three silvers. Oh, and a black used one. Being that I am in the market for a new car, I thought I would give it a shot.
I thought I would look at the used black one. '05 model with 1500 miles on it. Just one problem, we couldn't get it to start. We thought it was probably the battery, so the salesman got one of those portable jumpers. No click. Well this car is off to a good start in my book...
We move over to one of the new silver ones. Starts without any trouble attached to the battery jumper. Brake rotors were solid rust, so I guess this one hadn't been moved in a while. I did like the looks of the silver mesh on the silver body - and this one had black leather interior with white stitching. Looked great in my book. Brakes looked impressive with large discs and multiple piston calipers.
We moved it out of the spot so I could open the door. Akward shaped interior door handle. A twisted metal type. And I'm not sure I was comfortable with the twenty-some buttons located on the drivers door. Looks like a mess if I was in a hurry. After getting situated, we took off. Well, after I found the e-brake. I wonder if GM could place that any closer to the clutch. HORRIBLE idea, GM. I can see somebody's foot slipping off the plastic clutch pedal onto the e-brake. I think they could've spent a few more dollars on this aspect and placed a vertical lever.
Clutch engagement point was kinda sketchy. Almost as if it compensated for bad drivers. When sitting still with the selector in first, you can slowly let out on the clutch until the rpms begin dropping, and the they will shoot up to the normal idle again, and then begin dropping. Very wide release point. Gear selection was precise, but not notchy. Seemed like an awfully long throw, even more so than other GM offerings, such as the GTO.
Brakes are very touchy - but made the car stop. I was impressed by the braking power of the car - it rivaled the 993 brakes on my 2900lb M3. However, I did feel that faded quite quickly, especially on the street. Throughout my fourty-five minute drive, I noticed the brakes getting softer and softer and my stopping distances increasing. The brake pedal is also a good couple inches closer to the driver than the gas, making the possibility of heel-toeing almost non-existant.
I felt the dash layout was decent. Not as driver oriented as a european car, but decent. However, when shifting into first, third, or fifth gears, my hand would hit the climate control buttons changing the vent selection or speed. Not very much space between the gear selector and the lower dash. Radio, GPS, etc was very intuitive and I was comfortable with it in about five minutes. The dash did have a crazy diamond shape texture on the whole thing that looks like a horrible trap for dirt and dust.
The power delivery was very smooth, although not as much as I expected. There wasn't a lot of me getting pushed back in my seat - if you know what I mean. First gear seamed longer than it should've been, and third gear was lousy. Sixth gear had more pep than I expected.
I'm not sure where this car fits in the current line-up. Yes, it's faster than the CTS, but would get whipped by a $30k GTO or a $52k Vette. I guess it's a luxury sedan in the middle of those two with an identity crisis. I don't believe I will be buying one, but definatly an interesting drive.
-LAB
I thought I would look at the used black one. '05 model with 1500 miles on it. Just one problem, we couldn't get it to start. We thought it was probably the battery, so the salesman got one of those portable jumpers. No click. Well this car is off to a good start in my book...
We move over to one of the new silver ones. Starts without any trouble attached to the battery jumper. Brake rotors were solid rust, so I guess this one hadn't been moved in a while. I did like the looks of the silver mesh on the silver body - and this one had black leather interior with white stitching. Looked great in my book. Brakes looked impressive with large discs and multiple piston calipers.
We moved it out of the spot so I could open the door. Akward shaped interior door handle. A twisted metal type. And I'm not sure I was comfortable with the twenty-some buttons located on the drivers door. Looks like a mess if I was in a hurry. After getting situated, we took off. Well, after I found the e-brake. I wonder if GM could place that any closer to the clutch. HORRIBLE idea, GM. I can see somebody's foot slipping off the plastic clutch pedal onto the e-brake. I think they could've spent a few more dollars on this aspect and placed a vertical lever.
Clutch engagement point was kinda sketchy. Almost as if it compensated for bad drivers. When sitting still with the selector in first, you can slowly let out on the clutch until the rpms begin dropping, and the they will shoot up to the normal idle again, and then begin dropping. Very wide release point. Gear selection was precise, but not notchy. Seemed like an awfully long throw, even more so than other GM offerings, such as the GTO.
Brakes are very touchy - but made the car stop. I was impressed by the braking power of the car - it rivaled the 993 brakes on my 2900lb M3. However, I did feel that faded quite quickly, especially on the street. Throughout my fourty-five minute drive, I noticed the brakes getting softer and softer and my stopping distances increasing. The brake pedal is also a good couple inches closer to the driver than the gas, making the possibility of heel-toeing almost non-existant.
I felt the dash layout was decent. Not as driver oriented as a european car, but decent. However, when shifting into first, third, or fifth gears, my hand would hit the climate control buttons changing the vent selection or speed. Not very much space between the gear selector and the lower dash. Radio, GPS, etc was very intuitive and I was comfortable with it in about five minutes. The dash did have a crazy diamond shape texture on the whole thing that looks like a horrible trap for dirt and dust.
The power delivery was very smooth, although not as much as I expected. There wasn't a lot of me getting pushed back in my seat - if you know what I mean. First gear seamed longer than it should've been, and third gear was lousy. Sixth gear had more pep than I expected.
I'm not sure where this car fits in the current line-up. Yes, it's faster than the CTS, but would get whipped by a $30k GTO or a $52k Vette. I guess it's a luxury sedan in the middle of those two with an identity crisis. I don't believe I will be buying one, but definatly an interesting drive.
-LAB