Yes. The chap leaning out the back of this car is Cadillac?s officia photographer, and we?re snapping him because we've caught the Dadd Caddy ? Cadillac?s new CTS-V ? being photographed for official pres and sales literature, ahead of its arrival at the 2008 Detroit Moto Show next month
This explains why the CTS-V is completely stripped of camouflage an
in full production trim. So much for top-secret photo locations Check out these pictures for the full details of the American answe to the M5
When the CTS-V looms large and fast in your rear-view mirror, ther
will be no mistaking it for anything other than a brutish moder muscle car. Check out the massive power bulge on its bonnet, th mesh-backed grille flanked by piercing bi-xenon headlamps, th liberal application of chrome, the low-slung front air intake (ye more mesh) and the flared wheelarches housing 19-inch alloys. An when it bolts past you, it will be spitting out a thunderous V soundtrack from two vast exhaust pipes
Its cabin will also get the all-boxes-ticked treatment, wit
electrically adjustable leather front bucket seats, premium Bos stereo with 40GB hard-drive, 3D sat-nav, LED interior lighting an advanced climate control system
The all-wheel-drive CTS-V will be powered by the mighty 7.0-litr
all-alloy LS7 powerplant borrowed from the brilliant Corvette Z06 It?s one hell of an engine - the dry-sumped V8 is hand-finished features titanium con-rods, a forged steel crankshaft and develop
512bhp at 6300rpm and 470lb ft at 4800rpm. That makes it easily GM? most powerful passenger car engine and largest-displacemen small-block to dateSo despite a kerb weight the wrong side of 1800kg, the hot Cadilla
should claw its way to 60mph in five seconds or less, rocketing on t an estimated 175mph top speed
It?s hooked up to a six-cog Tremec box that drives all four wheel
through GM?s new 4x4 set-up that's been recalibrated for a stron rear-end bias. And it was obviously a tight fit squeezing th hand-assembled smallblock into the Caddy?s engine ? just look at th size of that power bulge needed to house the engine and still mee stringent pedestrian impact regulation
It?s beginning to sound like a dog-eared cliché, but the CTS-V spen
most of its development time hammering around the Nürburgring,
17-mile long circuit with 73 corners. If it can't go around corner after a thousand test laps of this unforgiving circuit, it neve willThe multi-link rear and wishbone front suspension has been uprate
with firmer springs and dampers and thicker anti-roll bars, while th variable-assist steering has been tweaked for more off-centre feel
The big Cadillac is expected to use the Z06?s formidable brakin
set-up - four-piston Brembo brakes gripping 355mm vented discs u front and 365mm vented rotors at the rear. And Cadillac?s engineer believe the CTS-V?s intelligent all-wheel drive will give it a usefu real-world advantage, allowing drivers to use more power more of th time, irrespective of weather conditions. Try booting an M5 in th wet, and you?ll see their point
Not a lot, relatively speaking. Caddy's V-division will produce n
more than 7000 CTS flagship models a year, and although Europea sales have been confirmed, its arrival in the UK has yet to be give the green light
Given the low production runs for Europe and America, the cost o
tooling up for a handful of right-hand-drive sales in the UK an other rhd markets like Australia and Japan means Cadillac UK i likely to have a left-hook performance flagship come early 2009
Still, with a proposed £45,000 price, it should have the looks
performance and exclusivity to tempt a few (brave) drivers away fro the default M5/RS6/E63 choice
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