The Second-Gen Cadillac CTS Tore Down Barriers, and Is Now Surprisingly Underrated

I can honestly say that the 2008 CTS was easily the most impressive American-made four-door sedan that I had ever reviewed back when it came out. To this day I remember walking into what was basically an Opel dealership in order to get the keys to a deep blue CTS 3.6 V6 AWD model.

Stunning, I thought to myself as soon as I saw it. Those angles, that stance, the elegance of it. Just superb – and not just by 2007 standards, but today's as well. It hasn’t aged badly at all, is what I’m trying to say, although to be fair not every single angle is 100% brilliant.

Overall, though, everything from the vertical “light pipes” to the horizontal spline lines, dihedral-shaped hood and sculpted fenders was there to grab your attention. To me, the car looked just as modern, if not more so than an E60 BMW 5-Series, a first-generation Jaguar XF, W211 Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6 C6, Volvo S80 or an S190 third-gen Lexus GS.

I’ll admit, I was still skeptical even after loving the styling of the second-gen CTS. I thought there’s no way Cadillac could get anywhere near any of those rivals in terms of build quality. But then it happened. I opened the door, got behind the wheel and realized it was up there with the best of them.

Objectively speaking, maybe the E-Class and the A6 would have had noticeably better materials inside, but the CTS was never too far behind. Then there were the specs, where that particular test car came with full leather upholstery, heated seats, Bose 5.1 surround sound system, Bluetooth connectivity, HDD, sat-nav, power windows, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, bi-xenon adaptive headlights, ambient lighting, plus the carmaker’s StabiliTrak electronic chassis control system, and these are just to name a few.

I remember all this because I found the original document where I had written my review after spending a few days with the CTS.

This brings us to yet another impressive accomplishment regarding this car, namely its driving dynamics. It’s unbelievable to think that the second-generation CTS went into production just three years after Cadillac discontinued the fifth-generation Seville. It was as if they were from different planets, although technically they occupied the same segment (mid-size sedans).

What's relevant to our story though is how the CTS compared to its European rivals. I would say the E60 5 Series felt sharper and the Audi A6, Mercedes E-Class and Volvo S80 trio more comfortable. As for the Jaguar XF, the CTS was easily on par with it where it mattered most, and then vastly superior to the ever-popular Lexus GS.

It’s hard to rank them in an absolute way, because the Caddy was just so good overall. Sure, European buyers were crazy about turbo diesel engines back then, so the CTS couldn’t really compete in terms of fuel economy, but U.S. buyers didn’t face such issues.

As for straight-line performance, that 3.6-liter V6 engine had a little over 300 hp and could get you from zero to 60 mph in about 6.5 seconds, slower than the rear-wheel drive variant. Nowadays, if you buy an AWD sedan, chances are it will always accelerate faster than its RWD or FWD equivalent.

In the end, the reason why I said the second-gen CTS is underrated is because it was literally the first American four-door premium sedan to beat most of its European rivals at their own game. Think about that for a second. It would have been the equivalent of an MLS team going over to Europe and making the Champions League semi-finals alongside the likes of FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, which in 2009 were joined by Arsenal to form that “final four”, so to speak.

Of course, that’s never going to happen. Cadillac, on the other hand, has already punched Mercedes, BMW and Audi in the mouth and hasn’t looked back since, although as previously stated, for some reason the third-gen CTS and now the CT5 don’t really match up as well against the latest and greatest German sedans. I have my suspicions why, but that’s a story for another day.