Inside Line: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V SportWagon

MikeMike

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
45,885
66
91
The $77,000 Masculinity Policy Has Arrived
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Editor | Published Dec 16, 2010

Nothing says "I've still got sack" like a 100-foot burnout in a supercharged, pushrod-powered American wagon loaded with a toddler, a stroller, a case of Huggies pull-ups and 2 gallons of organic reduced-fat milk. This, friends, is the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. It's a machine built for the unemasculated American male who still makes a nod to utility. And we want one. Badly.

Honestly, we're not certain who the customers are for Cadillac's wild crossbreed of speed and function. The investment banker family man with the need to carry the occasional ladder, maybe? Or, perhaps, the successful mortgage broker whose midlife crisis involves wholesome burnouts with two kids and a dog in the back?

We don't know. And, frankly, neither does Cadillac. Best of all, it doesn't really matter. Why? Because Cadillac only has to sell 37 CTS-V wagons — the third V-series car in the CTS line — to break even on the project.

And if that's not a testament to economies of scale, we don't know what is.

Wagoning the CTS-V
Talk to Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing, and you begin to get an idea why this is the case. "There's not a lot different on the wagon," Butler says. "Really, it was just a matter of making certain the wagon could live up to the standard of V-branded products."


We can verify that it does. Our mother-in-law nearly slapped us silly the first time we ran the big Caddy up on the torque converter, released the brake and pinned her freshly styled locks into the leather headrests. Wagons, at least in her day, never performed such feats.

But the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon is happy to oblige. After all, it's endowed with all the trickery of other Cadillac V cars — supercharging, two-mode magnetic ride control suspension, Brembo brakes and huge, sticky Michelins. Sure, there were small compromises to keep the budget down — like the fact that this car shares its rear fascia and exhaust outlets with the standard CTS Sport Wagon while other V products get proprietary rear bumpers and exhaust outlets. But the wagon's only real compromises come in the form of additional weight and reduced rigidity.

You Can't Tell
According to Ed Piatek, CTS-V Wagon program engineering manager, the wagon is 8 percent less rigid than the sedan in bending rigidity and 3.8 percent less rigid than the sedan in torsional rigidity. However, it speaks highly of the wagon's body structure that the development team didn't feel the need to add any additional bracing over that of the standard CTS Sport Wagon.

Thanks to a heavier body structure and glass, the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon is about 154 pounds heavier than the sedan, depending on equipment. This brought the total weight of our tester to 4,485 pounds.

We'll admit to not having back-to-back drives in both the sedan and wagon, but if you're not in this game for ultimate performance, then those differences matter little. This is a fast, fun machine that just happens to offer real utility in addition to its stunning speed.

And About That Speed...
Of course, under the wagon's hood resides the same 556-horsepower 6.2-liter supercharged V8 we're now accustomed to seeing in all über-quick Cadillacs. Our test car was fitted with the six-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel-mounted shift buttons. And if you want an exceptionally rare machine, the wagon is available with a six-speed manual transmission.

But like all CTS-Vs, this one plain stomps when it's asked to. It banged out a 12.7-second quarter-mile pass at 113.4 mph. That's 0.3 second and 1 mph off the pace of the last CTS-V Sedan we tested. Sixty miles per hour arrives in 4.7 seconds (4.4 seconds with a 1-foot rollout like at a drag strip). Again, a few clicks off the pace of the sedan (4.4 seconds), but not a deal-breaker — at least not for us.

It transforms from docile mommy mobile to ass-tearing thunder truck in one stomp of the pedal.

Braking, as produced by the CTS-V's six-piston front calipers and two-piece 15-inch front rotors required 111 feet to stop from 60 mph. The two-piece rotors were aftermarket parts fitted to our car for track use during its press launch. They cost $1,295 and will be available soon from the GM Performance Parts catalog. A rear differential cooler was also fitted. It hasn't been priced yet but is estimated to cost $1,995 and is available from Cadillac dealers.

In our handling tests the wagon danced through the slalom at 68.9 mph and held on around the skid pad at a 0.88g average. That's imperceptibly less speed between the cones than the CTS-V Sedan (69.2 mph) and only marginally less grip, too (0.89g).

A CTS-V All Its Own
Still, what the numbers won't tell you is the effect a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon has on those with whom it shares the road. And that, at least in our experience, is exactly no effect at all. With the exception of one interested panhandler in the Central Valley, we drove the wagon half the length of California and then some — more than 900 miles in total — without so much as a lifted eyebrow.

This is both good and bad. For us and anyone else who prefers to slide past unnoticed, it's very good. That said, there's a certain subtlety, a slight, unheroic attitude that can only come from a car with this much power and function. Like Clint Eastwood, it makes a statement by how little it says.


It's a theme that carries through to its driver. We found ourselves doddling — driving with little intent to reach our destination. Until, like a cat who must suddenly be in another room, we'd give it all the beans to shake traffic in one deliberate move.

And shake traffic this Caddy will. Like the hell spawn of GM, the wagon transforms from docile mommy mobile to ass-tearing thunder truck in one stomp of the pedal. And it will do it with a kid and a load of lawn fertilizer in the back.

It's this car's combination of stunning feedback, massive power and high limits coupled with the ability to, say, make a Home Depot run, that makes it truly unique and immeasurably more fun than others of its ilk.

It's for Real Inside
Flop down the wagon's rear seats and there's enough room for a medium-size person to sleep — 58 cubic feet in total. And the pass-through center armrest allows you to carry long items without even folding the seats. There's even a tie-down track system behind the rear seats to help you lock your heavy items to the floor in the event that hauling ass and hauling cargo should coincide. Sure, it's not a massive wagon, but there's far more utility here than in the sedan.

Otherwise, this is the same interior we've come to appreciate in other CTS-V styles. Our tester was fitted with the optional Recaro thrones that suit those of all statures. Snug yet highly adjustable, these seats incorporate every feature we could ever want in a place to put our behind while driving — heating, ventilation and 14-way adjustability.

There's also dual-zone climate control, a rearview camera and a 300-watt 10-speaker Bose audio system with 40 gigabytes of built-in hard drive memory. What else could you really need?

Empty Your Wallet Here
All variants of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V start at $62,990 including destination fees. But our tester, loaded with nearly every option — Recaro seats, Sapele wood trim, Thunder Grey paint, sunroof and the automatic transmission — rings up at a hefty $76,325 estimated price. Included in that figure are the two-piece rotors and rear differential cooler mentioned above.

No doubt, that's a lot of money for a wagon of any kind. Maybe this will help: Don't think of it as an $80,000 wagon. Rather, consider it a machine dedicated to your family's needs which just happens to double as a high-cost insurance policy for your masculinity.

The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.

http://www.insideline.com/cadillac/cts-v/2011/2011-cadillac-cts-v-full-test-and-video.html
 

DietDrThunder

Platinum Member
Apr 6, 2001
2,262
326
126
When I was young, the only way you ever rode in a Cadillac Station wagon (hearse) was when they were hauling your dead carcus from the funeral home to the cemetery. Now I guess you won't even make that trip because they won't be able to identify the body parts to bury after you crash this wagon at 160 mph. ;)
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
As a 40+ year old father of three small boys, I would love this car!
 
Mar 10, 2005
14,647
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Cadillac only has to sell 37 CTS-V wagons — the third V-series car in the CTS line — to break even on the project.

i'm not surprised by this in the least. still, nice to have wagons back and not just that POS magnum.
 

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
8,518
8
91
This could pwn about any SUV around; I would love to have this if I had to truck kids around. :)

*thumbs up*
 

evident

Lifer
Apr 5, 2005
12,092
705
126
way nicer looking than that hideous cts coupe! hopefully used prices on this thing will be low, i would probably need a wagon in a few years.
 

punjabiplaya

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,495
1
71
I love the pics of it doing burnouts and donuts with the christmas tree on top.
500x_01-cts-v-wagon-burnout.jpg
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Absolutely killer....
Best car made in North America??? (Bold statement)

I am thinking so. I would rock that shit in a heartbeat.

Fast wagons > all.
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
i'm not surprised by this in the least. still, nice to have wagons back and not just that POS magnum.

I was thinking that there really wasn't much special needed to develop the V wagon. Just add the V parts to the regular wagon and whatever special structural enhancements and you are done. I'm sure all of this could easily be done on the assembly line. From what I remember, the base CTS was designed to handle the V power from the ground up.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
16,829
3
0
Why do automotive journalists refer to themselves with the "royal we"?

Our mother-in-law nearly slapped us silly the first time we ran the big Caddy up on the torque converter, released the brake and pinned her freshly styled locks into the leather headrests.

"Our mother-in-law" Really? All of you journalists have the same MIL?
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
2,363
136
article said:
All variants of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V start at $62,990 including destination fees. But our tester, loaded with nearly every option — Recaro seats, Sapele wood trim, Thunder Grey paint, sunroof and the automatic transmission — rings up at a hefty $76,325 estimated price. Included in that figure are the two-piece rotors and rear differential cooler mentioned above.

That's all I had to read. It would be interesting to see if it sells, but that's about it for me.
 

cyclistca

Platinum Member
Dec 5, 2000
2,885
11
81
Looks better than both the CTS-V Sedan and Coupe. Will be an instant collectable since I expect they will not sell in large volumes. Too bad it's way out of my price range.
 

theeedude

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,197
126
I hate that they are perpetuating stereotype that wagons are for families. Families buy SUVs and minivans. Wagons are for single young active adults who want to drive something fun while they are hauling gear to do something else that is fun :)