Sporty vs Luxurious

[Bruce Nunnally]

Say that as rumored, Cadillac moves the CTS upmarket over the coming years, and adds a smaller performance car below the CTS.

Further, that for 2011 the STS and DTS sort of merge into a RWD similar in size or larger than the current DTS. The ULtraV8 finally appears, and all models are available as hybrids.

Would you prefer to have a smaller, higher-performance sports sedan or the large, luxury with performance model?

On the one hand, I would like to have a car that corners even better than my CTS, but on the other hand anything smaller and there is not really room to take 4 adults out to a nice dinner.

[Marika]

Say that as rumored, Cadillac moves the CTS upmarket over the coming years, and adds a smaller performance car below the CTS.

Further, that for 2011 the STS and DTS sort of merge into a RWD similar in size or larger than the current DTS. The ULtraV8 finally appears, and all models are available as hybrids.

Would you prefer to have a smaller, higher-performance sports sedan or the large, luxury with performance model?

On the one hand, I would like to have a car that corners even better than my CTS, but on the other hand anything smaller and there is not really room to take 4 adults out to a nice dinner.

I think the CTS has grown on me. I like the size of my '92 Seville, so if they could make the CTS a bit larger and lower looking it would be great. If I had the $$$ to buy a new car I would buy a CTS. Smaller, I don't think I would like in a Cadillac. I drove a DTS and didn't like it, the ride is too cloud-like, I prefer performance, I guess. So give me a CTS or CTS type car with performance and I'd be happy. Confusing huh?

[Bruce Nunnally]

Not too confusing really. The 92 STS and the CTS both weigh around 3,700 lbs, which is heavy for a sporty car. The STS and DTS are both over 4K lbs. The CTS handles as well as my last Porsche did (different era's), but a smaller, lighter car with similar HP would certainly be more spritely. I don't mean at all to complain about the CTS' performance. It has been a good, fun car for me. But even if Cadillac comes along with a smaller, sportier, less expensive sedan I suspect the CTS size will be my minimum 4-seater for now. On the other hand, if I could manage a used XLR that would be fun.

[Ranger]

Large & luxurious for me. That's why I went with the DHS.

[Cadillac Jim]

Remember, I went into the Chevrolet-Cadillac dealer to buy a Corvette...

I must have handling in a car. I prefer a sports car, and am looking at 18" wheels for my next set of tires. I'm not at all interested in the luxury cruisers. If I were to buy a car right now, it would be a CTS with direct injection V6.

To answer your question, if the CTS becomes bigger and heavier, I would hope that there would be something smaller, but less expensive than the XLR.

I think it's a given that anything big enough to carry 4 or more people in comfort is going to have a hard time being a sports car. Nothing is impossible in this world but the issues of center of gravity, moments of inertia, weight transfer, etc. with the requirement to provide a spacious cabin for 4 translates to exotic chassis and suspension concepts. That's a lot of money where it can be felt behind the wheel but its not directly visible in the showroom.

Of course, today's CTS or even STS would out-handle the sports cars of the 50's that defined the concept.

[Bruce Nunnally]

I would love to read a detailed road test report with skid pad number and slalom that show the difference between say a base CTS suspension, a CTS Sport, and a CTS-V. Per some reports I have seen the CTS-V can pull .9gs on a 300ft skidpad, which is smoking. The base CTS at around 0.84g is sporty these days, although that was excellent in 1984 for a sports car; yes, the era matters a ton, as sporty cars these days out run, out corner sports cars of yesterday, and sports cars today are faster than race cars of yesterday.

[Poobah]

I like a big roomy full sized car with good performance and handling. The present Deville/DTS fills the bill as far as I'm concerned.

[BigCat83]

I prefer a coupe (between a fullsize luxo cruiser and a sports car), which is why I bought my Eldorado. Sadly, there are few coupe offerings in the market these days. I do, however, like Corvettes and XLRs and would own an XLR in an instant if I had the loot.