SPECIFICATIONS
Model:
Cadillac CTS 2.8.
Price:
From £24 850, (about R290 000 at 05/04/05), on sale in Europe in May.
Engine:
2792cc, V6, 24 valves, 160kW at 7000rpm, 262Nm at 3300rpm.
Transmission:
Six-speed manual (five-speed automatic option), rear-wheel drive.
Performance:
224km/h, 0-100km/h in eight seconds, 12.6 litres/100km estimated average.
Everybody's trying to be different. The executive sedan segment is ruled by certain well-known German brands but that doesn't mean others can't attempt a little insurrection.
Following the rules is no good - you become just like them. Far better to strike out, be revolutionary, get noticed, and hope buyers will rally to your cause.
So here's Cadillac, reinvented, reconfigured and ready for the European market in which it has so far merely dabbled. And you won't confuse the new Cadillac CTS with anything else.
You could even see it here in South Africa if GM SA gets its act together and makes a decision on their discussions.
To prove the seriousness of Cadillac's European intentions, the forthcoming BLS saloon, a smaller car with very similar styling (one basic design, several sizes, much like Mercedes-Benz), will be built in Saab's factory in Sweden.
One version will even have a Fiat diesel engine.
None of this sounds like the legendary Cadillacs with their tailfins and marshmallow suspension but there is a plan: Cadillac has been designated as General Motors' worldwide premium brand, just as Chevrolet is its global value brand.
The Yank Tanks of the old days are gone; these are cars that anybody, anywhere would be proud to own. That's the thinking, anyway.
Clearly, though, the new Caddies could never be anything but American. No other country styles cars like this. The difference is that the cars now fit on European roads and they bring something positive to the mix.
The CTS is first of the breed and there can't be another car with more edges and angles on sale in Europe today.
The differences start at the nose with vertically stacked light units behind oddly blank covers, on either side of an unashamedly brash grille; the squared-off tail has a similar look.
The two ends are linked by shoulders and edges and swage lines and all sorts of machined-metal imagery; same inside, with ridges along the window sills and no gentle hillocks.
Fun to drive
So is it all style, image and American hype with a Euro gloss?
No siree - like its BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar rivals, it has rear-wheel drive for that authentic fun-to-drive feeling.
This has by no means been a given for a Cadillac, as that previous ill-fated STS had front-wheel drive (despite its hefty V8) and the 1960s Eldorado also fed its vast eight-litre engine's output through the front wheels.
The basis for the CTS is GM's new Sigma platform, under a shell of rather greater rigidity than has been the American habit. Under its bluff snout sits one of three engines: two V6s, of 2.8 or 3.6-litres capacity and 160 or 192kW - or a 300kW, 5.7-litre V8.
Yes, it is indeed the latest version of the world's most-replicated engine, the "small-block" Chevy - in the same state of tune, more or less, as it is in the Corvette.
The V8 is found in the CTS-V model, which is aimed at the previous V8-engined BMW M5 or the Jaguar S-type R. It's a proper hot-rod with a six-speed manual gearbox, but it only comes in left-hand drive and costs half as much again as the top-spec CTS 3.6.
That's a little less than £45 000 (about R526 000), not including the optional Nürburgring suspension pack. We'll sample this one later but first we'll try the CTS models that people will actually buy - especially as the range starts at £24 850 (R290 000) for an E-spec (Elegance) 2.8 that undercuts most rivals by enough to make it worth noticing.
The inside story
Sit inside. This is America keeping its litigation culture at home: there's no warning on the door mirrors about objects being closer than they appear and not too many idiot beeps. We're treated as grown-ups, which helps the bond.
Cadillac says the CTS fascia design was inspired by American computers but I'm writing this on a PowerBook and I can't see the resemblance. I recognise the multilayer air-vent grids, though, and their little joysticks. They're like a Saab's.
There's some fake wood on the dash, augmented by real wood on the steering wheel's upper sector. The SL (Sport Luxury) level (optional for the 2.8, obligatory for the 3.6) adds xenon headlights and leather trim.
The dash and door trims won't have you running your fingers along them just for the sensuality, though. We're at about Mondeo Ghia level here, in touchy-feely terms.
Get moving
Salvation, then, may (or may not) come in the driving: first, the 3.6, sampled (like the 2.8) in five-speed automatic form.
The bigger V6 is not as powerful as expected and surprisingly vibratious when aroused. The transmission can shift abruptly, too, the result of placing sportiness over slushiness to appeal (Cadillac thinks) to we Europeans.
It feels admirably taut and solid, though, with a firm-but-smooth ride and accurate steering with adequate weighting, if little in the way of credible road-feel. So far, so remarkably European, but nothing to make the car a must-have.
Now the 2.8: this engine, like the 3.6, is all aluminium with variable valve timing for inlet and exhaust cams. It's much revvier, being smaller, and doesn't reach its peak power until a dizzy 7000rpm.
But it's smoother and despite its power deficit it feels only a little slower; it's the more pleasing of the two V6s.
Both cars, however, prove highly capable if exercised on roads with fast, challenging bends. They turn like BMWs, they flow, they let you slingshot out of corners.
I'm not advocating endless powerslides - the Stabilitrak keeps control of that - but there is satisfaction to be had.
Corvette power
All of which sounds promising for the CTS-V with its lower, firmer suspension, greater area of rubber and all that power.
The promise is met, too, especially with that optional Nürburgring pack: the only problem is to reconcile what you hear (a Corvette, fundamentally) and feel with that rather unexpected Cadillac badge.
This roadgoing Cadillac, the most powerful yet, gets to 100km/h in 4.6sec and does 260km/h - which makes you wonder exactly where Cadillac's image is heading.
The Tremec six-speed gearbox helps make the most of the power and on the slippery surfaces of the hill roads near Athens, where the CTS-V and I met, it was highly entertaining.
It powerslid with controllable ease, yet gripped hard and steered with authority when the surface allowed. Here is a properly potent saloon with a strong hint of AMG-tuned Merc or BMW M5. And it's a Cadillac. It's all so confusing.
Cadillac doesn't expect to sell many CTS-Vs in Britain, and the scarcity of dealers (or "Experience Centres") will inhibit sales of the regular CTS for a while, too.
But if you get the chance, try one. Once you've recovered from the way it looks, you'll find it a subversively un-American activity. - The Independent, London
- GM SA told motoring.co.za that the CTS is "under consideration" for release in South Africa but that no decision had been made as yet.
THE RIVALS
AUDI A6 2.4 SE, £24 425 (R285 500)
The smaller of Audi's V6 engines - the other is a powerful 3.2 - is no fireball, but the new A6 is a beautifully made, roomy and handsome object. Pleasing to drive, too, in a laid-back way.
BMW 525i SE, £27 925(R326 500)
The usual class standard-setter is on less certain grounds these days with its odd styling, but the smooth-running 525i is a satisfying drive. This SE is more comfortable than the Sport version.
JAGUAR S-TYPE 2.5V6, £26 320 (R308 000)
The recent facelift moved the S-type from visual dog's breakfast to something with a hint of class, and it rivals a BMW for driver satisfaction. Entry-level V6 needs to be worked hard, though.