2006 Cadillac CTS-V Test Drive

RIP! There goes another V!

There are some cars that I just shouldn't ever own. Right near the top of the list is the 2006 Cadillac CTS-V. It's not the sedan's fault, believe me. The 2006 Cadillac CTS-V lists at $50,675 ($51,395 as tested with $720 destination charge), comes with a 4 year/50,000 mile warranty and is rated to get 16 mpg city/25 mpg highway. The CTS-V also rips! There's just no other way to put it. And I'm like a teenager when it comes to abundant horsepower. I can't be trusted to drive like a sane adult.

First Glance: Scary (and I mean that in a good way)

Based on the brand's steadily increasing sales, Cadillac has hit a nerve with the buying public. Ever since the Cadillac Sixteen and Cien concept vehicles rolled into the car shows a few years ago, Cadillac has been on a design and sales tear. With knife edges and origami bends, the concept vehicles set the stage for the current lineup at Caddy: The Escalade, SRX, XLR, DTS, STS and CTS, all of which share significant design cues. The Cadillac V-series includes the XLR-V, STS-V and the CTS-V -- factory performance- and appearance-enhanced versions of the stock vehicles. American hot rods, really.

The CTS-V is the entry level Caddy hot rod, if you can call a $50,000 car "entry level." It look very much like the larger STS-V at a glance, with similar lines and proportions. To the already sharp-looking CTS package the V adds a wire mesh grill insert, lower front and rear fascia, rocker moldings, a small rear spoiler and tasteful "V" badging on the trunk and on each side of the car (so people in the know will realize what you're driving). The CTS is already a pretty aggressive-looking car, and when you add the body part it starts looking downright scary, in a good way. This is a car with swagger, even standing still.

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In the Driver's Seat: Welcome to the men's room (and I mean that in a good way)

Slide in behind the CTS-V's thick, leather-wrapped steering wheel and you're engulfed in a masculine, muscular environment. There's no frou-frou in the CTS-V's cockpit, just tastefully-executed functional details. The solid feel of every component is a reminder of Cadillac's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, back when cars were Cars and men were Men, or so my dad tells me. The attention to detail shows in material selection, knobs and switches and ergonomics. Even the air conditioning vents are cleverly designed, with Saab-like directional controls that work like a dream. Hopefully some of this thoughtful construction will trickle down to a few of the lesser General Motors brands, where they really need help.

The driver's seat is firm and supportive, with good side bolstering to keep you behind the wheel during hard cornering. No-nonsense power adjustments and a tilt/telescope adjusting steering wheel make finding the performance driving position easy. Heated seats are a nice luxury feature.

The back seats are another story: a little tight for adults, especially if the driver needs leg room. The low slung roofline impinges on rear headroom. If you need to carry passengers on a regular basis, you might want to consider the larger STS.

On the Road: It rips (and I mean that in... oh, you know)

Did I mention that the CTS-V rips? Well, it does. There's no replacement for displacement. The CTS-V packs a 6.0 liter V8 under the hood, cranking out 400 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. Cadillac claims that the CTS-V can scoot to 60 in under 5 seconds, and I have no reason to doubt it. It's the kind of power and acceleration that really throws you back in your seat, and tempts you with the possibility of wild power slides and triple-digit speeds -- not that I ever succumbed to temptation, mind you, but it was a constant struggle to keep within legal limits. Great brakes and stiff sport suspension help keep the tires on the road through the curves, but the CTS-V is most fun in a straight line.

There's only one transmission choice with this hot rod, a six-speed manual with a monster clutch. After a day in LA's stop and go freeway traffic, my left calf was burning from exertion. The shifter is finicky -- it takes touch and concentration to shift from first to second on the run. You have to pull the stick to the left while pulling back, and it's easy to wind up in fourth instead of second. It's the kind of quirk that you could adjust to in time -- after a week with the CTS-V, I was only missing about 10% of my shifts.

Journey's End: Sport-luxury, American style (and I mean that in a good way)

Cadillac has taken an interesting tack with the CTS-V. At a time when the sport-luxury ideal seems to be German, namely BMW, Cadillac has struck back with a quintessentially American car -- big motor, lots of horsepower and torque, aggressive styling and masculine luxury. The CTS-V couldn't be more different from the BMW M3, and that may be the secret to its appeal. If the M3 is a scalpel, the CTS-V is a machete. Both effective tools, just different in intent and effect. Choose your weapon wisely, based on your style of driving and your environment.

The Europeans, especially the Germans, are very good at this whole sport-luxury thing. Mercedes' C55 AMG and Audi's S4 are impressive achievements, well worth a drive. Don't overlook the Japanese -- Infiniti's M35 and Acura's RL add tech packages that will make your head spin, along with superb handling and performance. Chrysler's 300 SRT8 and Dodge's Charger Daytona bring a Hemi to the party, never a bad gift, even if they're light on the luxury end of the equation.

Before you choose a CTS-V, you should probably check with your dentist about tooth whitening. You're going to be wearing a big wide smile every time you punch that accelerator, and you owe it to your fans to look good.