First drive: CTS cuts the American mustard!

CADILLAC’S intended successful return to Australia will rest squarely on the shoulders of this $70,000 to $80,000 rear-wheel drive sedan.

Dubbed the CTS, it is the second-generation version of the mid-sized luxury car that will straddle the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series in size as well as price when it arrives in the fourth quarter of this year.

General Motors Premium Channel personnel are not yet saying what the CTS is targeting, but the aforementioned BMWs, as well as the Mercedes-Benz C-class and E-class, Audi A4 and A6, Lexus IS and GS, Alfa Romeo 159, Volvo S80 and Volkswagen’s upcoming Passat CC are all likely prey.

Expect it – and the Cadillac marque – to debut at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney in October, with local sales slated to start soon after that.

The CTS’ BMW-rivalling credentials include rear-wheel drive, a 51/49 front/rear weight distribution, an extremely rigid body, a multi-link rear suspension set-up and advanced direct-injection engine technology.

Under the bonnet is a Canadian-built version of the 3564cc 3.6-litre DOHC 24-valve Alloytec V6 with variable valve timing that Holden manufactures in Australia.

But the Cadillac uses a Bosch direct high-pressure (120 bar) fuel-injection device with isolated injector technology – a world series-production first – to help achieve a 15 per cent hike in power, eight per cent rise in torque, and a 25 per cent cut in hydrocarbons emissions.

The figures are: 227kW of power at 6300rpm and 370Nm of torque at 5200rpm. Canadian fuel consumption figures suggest that the CTS consumes 11.8L/100km of standard unleaded in the city and 7.5L/100km on the highway run. UK carbon dioxide emission figures put the Cadillac at about 275g/km.

We will also see the VM Motori-devised 2.9-litre V6 turbo-diesel (pictured) slotted in, in the not too-distant future. GM says it will produce 250kW and 550Nm in standard guise.

Channelling drive to the rear wheels is GM’s Hydra-Matic 6L50 six-speed automatic transmission with a Tiptronic-style sequential shift function – the Aisin AY6 six-speed manual will not be offered – that is related to the unit Holden offers in VE Commodores and WM Statesman/Caprice fitted with the 6.0-litre Gen IV V8.

For its role in the CTS, Cadillac refined the 6L50 by implementing a steep first gear and tall overdrive for swift acceleration and more relaxed cruising purposes respectively.

The CTS rides on a development of GM’s rear-drive Sigma Architecture, which has been evolved in recent years to encompass many Zeta Platform (VE/WM) components.

Like all Sigma-based vehicles (large STS and SRX crossover SUV), the CTS is manufactured at the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant in Michigan, USA.

According to the vehicle’s chief engineer, Elizabeth Pilibosian, the Sigma application in CTS II is 90 per cent new compared to the 2001 CTS original.

The latest version shares its floorpan and A-pillars with the STS, although the wheelbase – at 2880mm – is the same as the previous model.

A little smaller overall than the VE Commodore, other CTS measurements include a length of 4866mm, a height of 1472mm and a 1842mm width. The front/rear track is 1570mm/1575mm and the kerb weight is 1757kg.

The front suspension is a short-long-arm (SLA) arrangement with monotube shock absorbers and a 24mm hollow anti-roll bar, while the rear is an independent multi-link design also employing monotube shock absorbers, as well as a 20mm hollow anti-roll bar.

Australian CTS buyers will be offered the firmer FE2 suspension package as standard, along with a sports FE3 option, rolling on P235/50ZR18 Y-rated Michelin tyres enveloping 18-inch alloy wheels. In some (predominantly US) markets a soft-riding FE1 suspension tune is available, but not for us. We’re also missing out on the all-wheel drive versions.

Keeping the performance in check in US-market CTS’ are 346x32mm front-vented and 340x26mm rear-vented disc brakes, although Australian-bound vehicles will have a larger brakes package as standard.

Backing this up are four-channel ABS brake system with brake assist, a traction and 'StabiliTrak' electronic stability and traction control set-up and a limited-slip differential.

Keener drivers will be able to switch the electronic driving aids from a ‘Normal’ to a ‘Competitive’ (higher threshold) and even totally ‘Off’ position.

The CTS’ steering is a hydraulic variable-assist rack-and-pinion system.

Mrs Pilibosian revealed that the 1996—2003 BMW E39 5 Series was the CTS’ overall benchmark when development for the second-generation model commenced in 2004. For specific ride and handling attributes, the E46 3 Series and Mercedes’ W203 C-class were also looked at, while Audi’s renowned fit and finish prowess was also used to measure up to.

One of her major goals was to increase occupant space and front-seat travel, even though the new CTS’ wheelbase is no bigger. Moving the firewall/dashboard unit forward, adding a telescoping steering column and using thinner rear seats helped.

Torsional and structural rigidity were further objectives – particularly to accommodate the impact of the popular sunroof option – along with creating a palpably higher-quality interior.

Testing was carried out in the USA, Canada, Mexico, China, India and Japan but not Australia, with almost 1000 prototypes allocated for testing globally. Currently the CTS will be sent to 27 export destinations.

Six or seven designs were seriously considered, with the three finalists efforts (from Opel in Germany, and GM studios in California and Detroit) combined.

Australian CTS vehicles will be built from June 2008 production, and will include clear tail-light lenses, as well as an electronic parking brake, paddle-shift gearbox availability and some minor trim revisions.

More information about specifications and prices will be forthcoming closer to the CTS’ Australian release, but Cadillac has already confirmed that High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights with an articulated headlight mechanism will be fitted.

Other CTS items will include interior ambient LED lighting, a Bose 5.1 sound system, and a 40Gb hard drive for multi-media functions.

Some of the more obvious omissions are satellite navigation (although a set-up is in development for Australia) and rear-side airbags, although a full-length curtain unit is present as part of a six-airbag arrangement.

The CTS sedan will be joined by a striking two-door coupe (revealed in Detroit this month as the CTS Coupe Concept) as well as a still-secret wagon. Both are due in Australia sometime in 2009.

Unfortunately the CTS-V high-performance sports sedan will not make it here, due to the fact that it is not being manufactured in right-hand drive guise.

Mrs Pilibosian confirmed that there is simply not enough space under the bonnet for the CTS-V’s V8 engine to fit as a right-hand drive.

GM Premium is remaining coy about sales and volume expectations for the CTS, but general manager Parveen Batish says that there will be a high value equation associated with the product.

New Holden managing director and CEO Mark Reuss agreed: “I do think the Cadillac market in Australia can be very successful.

“Because the original DNA of that car is in the original CTS.” According to Cadillac managing director Jim Taylor, the marque is going global to survive: “Luxury car buyers expect to have their brand represented globally because they travel too,” he said.

Some of the CTS items that Mrs Pilibosian is most proud of include the far-tighter shutlines achieved in the interior, the fact that the engineers delivered exactly what the stylists envisaged (“that doesn’t happen very often”) and the cast zinc “fender” (mudguard) vent: “This car deserves diamonds!” she exclaimed.

Drive impressions:

APPLE, Pixar and Bose. All are modern American icons that confound expectations and deliver the goods for design, image and functionality in a way that make other similar US brands like IBM, Disney and RCA seem outdated.

As outdated as the towering fins on a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado perhaps, or any Cadillac for that matter? General Motors’ century-old flagship brand too has been moving with the times, as the frankly extremely impressive CTS sedan proves.

But will anybody outside of the USA even care? We were shocked to hear that some Australians consider Cadillac as alive today as Elvis Presley is.

“Does it even still exist?” was the general consensus.

Hmm. What a challenge. Making John Wayne, Joe Di Maggio or Chubby Checker modern again? Is it even possible? In this case at least, banish all prejudices, or you may be closing your self off to something good.

In its new, second-generation guise, the CTS certainly is that.

For starters, like all glorious Cadillacs, it possesses sharp, distinctive and proudly American styling. If you’re sick of your luxury cars all morphing into the same, homogenous design language then the CTS’ US twang might be music to your err... eyes. This has presence.

Step inside and we cannot think of a better-looking, nicer-feeling interior in a modern GM vehicle - or an American car for that matter. Better than Holden, better than Opel, and even better than Saab, the CTS’ cabin presentation would not shame an Audi.

We especially like the stitched leather dash and door cappings. The large crisp dials radiate quality. The metallic trim and harmonious colours seem expensive. And the lack of rattles reminded us of better Japanese brands.

But can we rely the Americans to build the CTS like they do in Asia? Some of the vehicles we drove bore inconsistencies, with a bit of wind noise here and a coarse mechanical vibration there.

We drove both CTS suspension tunes. The standard, European-style handling-orientated FE2 set-up feels like a tighter, tauter VE Commodore, which is no bad thing at all.

A slightly too-slow steering reaction aside, the CTS is a sweet, highly competent and composed handler, with a linearity to the way it carves up turns that we simply were not expecting.

We are not sure whether it eclipses the latest Mercedes C-class or Lexus IS for agility and response though – let alone a BMW – but for most drivers the Cadillac will feel more Tonya Harding circa 1994 than Laurel and Hardy circa 1944.

It also rides with a nice, loping suppleness on the varied yet at-times challenging mountain roads of Southern California where we drove the CTS.

Meanwhile, the FE3 ‘performance’ tune sports suspension ups the ante considerably with a tighter body control, sharper turn-in and flatter and more responsive cornering – with very little discernible deterioration in ride comfort or quality.

But this is just half of the CTS’ driving pleasure.

We enjoyed the speed and responsiveness of the hitherto somewhat maligned Alloytec V6 – no doubt all the extra technology and the increase in power and torque that results helps here – as well as the way the engine worked in harmony with the six-speed auto gearbox.

Yes, there is no way that the CTS’ V6 betters the better German and Japanese rivals for engine smoothness and/or elasticity, but it certainly cuts the mustard as an overall mechanical package. Hot dog! By now, you will no-doubt be in as much shock and awe as we were when we first sampled this Cadillac’s many and varied delights.

Given that it is built properly and consistently, priced well and serviced and supported like a luxury car should, then the CTS deserves to succeed.

On admittedly beautiful American roads, it won us over with its strength of character, design, dynamic capabilities and all-round comfort.

The experience left us with huge anticipation for the Australian drive, and – like an iMac, Toy Story cinematic experience and SoundDock – the new CTS is challenging our preconceptions of what America can achieve.

In fact, to paraphrase one very prominent US politician who does seem to belong to the Harley Earl era of excessive fins and chrome on Cadillacs, this CTS thing is just plain Un-American! Bring it on!