Feeling the itch, I went to drive an '08 CTS on Friday night.
It was a Black Raven on Ebony 3.6 DI model (304 hp) with AWD and what I call "carbon-fauxber" trim. It had the FE2 suspension (Sport Collection, I think Caddy calls it) and some other Premium doo-dads that I don't recall.
This was a car I really wanted to like. And on my first drive, I have to say it mostly delivers the goods. Here's my impressions.
Styling
I liked the car in pictures and was pleased to see it was just as nice looking in person. A lot of people don't like the grille, and when I saw the car up close in person, I was pretty ambivalent about it. On one hand, it suits the character of the car and is integrated nicely into the design. On the other hand, it looks a bit overdone, a bit
too bling. But the overall shape of the car is pleasing to my eyes and it has some nice details on it.
I like the light jewelry on the front and rear: vertical LED light bars that give the car a very technical look at night. The Salescritter seemed especially proud of this feature. I like it too, but didn't have the heart to tell him my not -so-new Z4 has the same thing and Audi's new 'low flying UFO' lights is far cooler than both.
'My' car had the upsized wheels, so it didn't suffer from the 'Mastiff-on-a-Dachshund's-legs' look the red one at the beginning of the thread has a problem with.
Interior
So, into the interior for the all important tests. Like a 3 year old that's OD'd on Chocolate Coated Sugar Bombs, I sat down and immediately started pressing every button and flipping every switch I could get a my hands on, wondering if GM has finally killed all the bean-counting elves that saddled their interiors with unforgivable cheapness for the last 30 years and buried the bodies in Rich Corinthian Leather stockings by the fire.
It appears they have. All the switchgear I could find has that soft touch feel that says 'we got the VAG guys drunk on Spaten last night and snuck into their warehouse'. Tap the center console with your index finger and you are rewarded with a nice 'tick tick' instead of a hollow tock. The dashboard is soft and squishy; not in a bad way like your buddy Hank's man-breasts, but in a good way like, uh well, a soft and squishy dashboard.
Things look quality and things
feel quality. Well done, GM.
Incidentally, the driver cannot see the passenger's temp setting on the center console due to the angle at which it is displayed... just as I suspected from the pictures. Oh well. There is a 'dual off' switch, so no worries.
The Drive
Fire up the motor and head out: its a bit of a non-event at first. The cabin is hushed, the motor purrs quietly and the stereo system is exactly the kind normal people find perfectly acceptable, but audiophiles are compelled to complain about (the louder it gets, the less impressive it sounds, but I think if you listen to music at a sane volume, it sounds fine).
Primary ride is exactly what you might expect of your father's Cadillac. Maybe even your father's father's. Until you encounter some pavement ripples and sense the car telegraph the information to your seat, as if it were to say 'yes, I have nerve-endings down there. You're good to go, tiger... I ain't gonna abandon ya'. Cool.
Unfortunately, the steering wheel was not quite as talkative. I didn't drive a standard RWD model so I couldn't say if it was specific to the AWD model or not. But at least it wasn't sworn to secrecy like Caddys of yore. On the positive side, it was precise and was geared directly, with no slop to speak of.
I used to scare Salescritters during test drives. All except for the Porsche guys who would just smile and egg me on. I didn't think it was fair to frighten the poor guy on my first drive, so I decided discretion was the better part of valor and kept the handling tests short and sweet. Besides, it was rush hour and the neighborhood I was in (North Plainfield) wasn't exactly the Eifel Mountains.
I took several 'jug handles' at roughly 8/10ths, did an emergency lane change and then did an autocross turn in a parking lot (180 degree turn at full compression). Not a comprehensive test of the vaunted 'Nurburgring calibrated' suspension, but good enough to get a solid impression and it was good.
Body control is generally very good. Turn in is crisp. Confidence could be higher --but then again, I have exceedingly high standards. But the best part was the way the car took a set in the turns: It squatted down and was ready to play. I knew where I was and roughly how much more the car had to give. I was hoping the steering would start talking after I loaded up the tires, but I didn't really sense any changes.
One impression was that it might need a little more dampener in the rear. Perhaps. One of the jug-handles was an abrupt drop downhill and then off camber and decreasing radius. A cool turn that asks several things of a suspension. At the top, the rear end felt a little light and for a split second I could feel a little hesitation. Otherwise, the car was very buttoned down and very capable.
**EDIT: The brakes were also excellent. Not because they showed eye-popping clamping power --any one can do that-- but because they were easy to modulate and absolutely full of feel. They don't quite match Porsche brakes, but they are truly standout units and trump the ZCP (Competition Package) brakes on my Z4 M for feedback, if not for out-right stopping power.
FE2 is still fairly soft and several ticks down in response compared to something like my Z, but that's no surprise, the ride is much better and the car is much larger and heavier. But overall, I think the ride/handling compromise is excellently judged.
The entire drive was done with all electronic aids fully engaged. Most likely, I will give the car another drive a few weeks later (with the wife in tow) and defeat every computer that will yield, and see how it goes.
As it stands, the CTS4 and G35x are at the top of my list. Because interior size is a primary consideration, unless I get a raging deal on an outgoing A4 Avant, the Audi is out. Same goes for a 328xi wagon.
So should the Germans be worried? Probably. The Japanese will probably want to put some sake in their bottles too.
M
), I'd easily be trying to find something anywhere close to keep me away from the 335i.
