CTS-V vs GTO vs SRT-8

[Bruce Nunnally]

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/sedan/112_...trio/index.html

Before we headed into the mountains with the CTS-v, test driver Walton came back from the track grinning like he'd just been given free access to the Playboy Channel. "Whoever designed that chassis really knows what the hell they're doing." It took us about, oh, one fast sweeper to agree. The Caddy's turn-in is scalpel-sharp, the front end bites hard, and, just as the car is beginning to push, a squeeze on the throttle brings the rear end out ever so gently and the nose back in line. Few sport sedans--or sports cars, for that matter--are so beautifully balanced and neutral.

There are irritations in the Caddy that make us want to smack GM upside its corporate head: a tilt wheel with limited detents instead of infinite adjust, pedals too far apart and too high for easy footwork, a parking-brake pedal (in a manual-transmission car?) instead of a hand lever. But the rest of the CTS-v is so brilliant we almost don't care. Look at the stats on the accompanying spec chart. Note the CTS-v's figure-eight performance. That's less than half a second behind the $190,000 Lamborghini Gallardo's time (and we've never been able to find the Lambo's back seat).

At $51,295, the 2005 Cadillac CTS-v tops this group in price, but it's still a bargain, a sexy, luxurious four-door that'll run with AMGs and M5s (and occasionally taunt a 911) for tens of thousands less. In this trio, it's also the car we'd ask out first for a date to the asphalt dance.

We can't wait to see the look on Miss Two-Lane Blacktop.

I saw GM High-Tech Performance had a favorable review of the CTS-V in this month's issue as well. Unfortunately, they ripped the rear axle out of theirs on the 0-60/0-100 tests, so that limited the appeal.

During my visit Friday with the local dealer I asked how Cadillac was handling CTS-V's that came back with axles snapped - warranty repair or abuse? It is apparently handled on a case by case basis. We joked, snap the axle at a stoplight, warranty. Snap the axle with the same move at the track, abuse.

[Randy_W]

I don't know what thier problem was but '05 GTO's here are running consistent 12.7-12.9 and the automatics are often faster than the sticks! I've seen '04's run quicker than they were!