February 2005
Cadillac CTS-V-Series: the most powerful production car
in Cadillac history
The first model in Cadillac’s V-Series
line of luxury performance vehicles, the CTS-V Series is based on the Cadillac
CTS, a dynamic luxury sedan with a bold and distinctive chiseled form. The
V-Series combines a 5.7 liter 298 kW (400 horsepower) V8 engine with an agile
rear-wheel drive chassis honed on the world’s most renowned racing
circuits, including the fearsome Nürburgring in Germany. It is designed and
engineered to the desires of luxury sedan driving enthusiasts, either on the
road or the track.
Overview
The Cadillac CTS-V
provides high-performance driving enthusiasts with a serious, credible
alternative to imports in the highly competitive, low-volume luxury performance
segment, including the BMW M-Series, Mercedes-Benz AMG Series and Audi
S-Series.
The V-Series has been designed to take Cadillac's performance
credentials to an entirely new level. A 5.7 liter, LS6 V8 engine mated to a
Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission gives 298 kW (400 horsepower, making
the CTS-V the most powerful production model Cadillac has ever offered. It will
accelerate from 0-96 km/h in 4.6 seconds and has a top speed of 262 km/h.
Sigma architecture
The CTS-V Series marks Cadillac’s
ambitious entry into the low-volume, high-performance luxury car niche. It is
based upon GM’s new rear-wheel-drive Sigma architecture which is also the
foundation for both the mainstream CTS sedan and SRX luxury utility vehicle. The
distinctive exterior of the luxury sport sedan is differentiated from its less
powerful siblings with larger front and rear fascias and rockers, seven-spoke
18-inch flangeless wheels, wire-mesh upper grille and lower front air intake and
badging that incorporates the V-series emblem.
The V-Series logo both
reminds of Cadillac’s rich heritage as a pioneer in V-engine technology
and conveys a dynamic automobile, engineered and refined to more than hold its
own with some of the industry’s most renowned high-performance luxury
sport vehicles.
The distinctive dual exhaust features investment cast
twin tailpipes, a process used in the manufacture of high-end golf clubs. The
interior incorporates suede seat inserts, accent stitching throughout; satin
chrome and aluminium accents and an instrument cluster with two Driver
Information Center (DIC) readouts controlled by steering wheel mounted
switches.
Engineered and produced by GM’s Performance
Division
The CTS-V Series is the first vehicle to be engineered and
produced by General Motors’s recently established Performance Division, an
in-house center designed to explore enthusiast-oriented versions of production
models. It has also enjoyed a successful debut racing season in the 2004 SCCA
Speed World Challenge, the highly competitive North American racing series for
production based cars. Team Cadillac has notched five podium finishes, including
four pole positions and three victories in ten races.