Is there a faster sedan than the all-new E63 S? No, not for accelerating off the line, which means people naturally assume it's the best performance 4-door in the world. Then comes Motor Trend with a review of the Cadillac CTS-V and turns that notion upside down.
Let's start by talking about Cadillac. As Johnny Lieberman and Jethro Bovingdon mention, the company was stuck making stuffy, boring cars for old men. And so they copied BMW and even started a performance branch.
We bet that the CTS-V was benchmarked against all sorts of German performance sedans, including at the Nurburgring track. However, they wanted to leave something of that old Cadillac feel, so the exhaust is mute and overshadowed by the supercharger whine made by the V8 it stole from the Z06. That's one thing this American hero car takes flack for in the review.
But it's funny because Jethro knows absolutely nothing about the CTS-V before going into this review, yet is blown away by its handling. With the help of its platform and by not using AWD, Caddilac's car is about 500 lbs lighter than the AMG.
Sure, with 640 horsepower, the CTS-V sounds like the typical American straight-line hero. But it's actually better at cornering and braking, proving that once you get up to speed, AMG's solution of adding more traction is not the only way to deal with overpowered V8 engines.
Neither car seems to have the perfect automatic gearbox. And while that might seem like too much to ask, Porsche's new Panamera disagrees. You could buy a Jetta with the interior options fitted to the E63, so they skip analyzing that part and call it a dead heat before heading to the track. There, in the hands of Randy Pobst, the CTS-V manages to inspire confidence and sets a fractionally faster lap time.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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