2016 Cadillac CTS-V First Drive Review

Read my first drive reviews at www.autocar.co...., www.autofocus.c..., and www.ctvnews.ca/....
The CTS-V was the car that launched the idea of a high performance Cadillac and undoubtedly this third generation super sedan has some legendary shoes to fill.
If you can combine the athleticism of a supercar and modern automotive design, the 2016 Cadillac CTS-V embodies the contemporary super sedan and with 640 horsepower it’s engineered to look the part, as well. Let's take it for a spin.
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[@frankburns8871]

it's not a 4-door Corvetter and it's not a German wannabe. It's a fucking masterpiece.

[@MrZillas]

"German wannabe", haha. Quality in german cars is 10x better than this.

[@CoachSteve4u]

I am 6' 8" and so I always have a hard time fitting in sports cars - especially the Corvette. I went to the LA Auto show a few months back, and when I sat in this Cadillac CTS-V, I noticed that the headroom was quite good. But then, I found the electronic control for the seat to go down, pressed it, and low and behold! It kept going down further and further, to the point where for the first time in my life in adjusting a cars seat, I felt like I was too low! Now I know what short guys feel like when they get into any car after I leave it. Needless to say, I totally fell in love with this car. It's the most perfect dual purpose super car out on the road in my book...

[@ronag162]

I'm a diehard German car guy, BUT after spending a few days with Cadillac's latest and greatest I was super impressed with everything about the car!! Oops. Was that my "out loud" voice? Lol

[@BrianMakse]

Shh!

[@realchimera]

Ron Guidolin Me too. I plan to buy a $3000 Coach bag to match the price tag of this American car.

[@tw2210]

Very high standard review as always. Thanks Brian.

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks Tim!

[@brandanmichael6982]

The lead-follow shot @6:20 is perfect!

[@BrianMakse]

That’s the kind of car to car shots you get with two racing drivers doing the work. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@DJCamYank]

Great Review. Finally someone who doesn't follow the crowd denouncing CUE.

[@nickbusato7138]

+DJCamYank The honda system for example is 10000x worse yet you almost never hear about it.

[@Evan-McM]

Great video as usual Brian. How do you like it compared to an M5?

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks, Evan. I haven't driven an M5 in a long while, but my guess is that the CTS-V is faster and easier to live with day to day. I'm biased, too, being a design geek, and really dig Cadillac's exterior and interior design. The CTS-V is the sleeper between the two, for sure.

[@SenecaTheDreamer]

One of the more honest reviews. Well done. And a different take on it too. Cheers.

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks! And thanks for watching!

[@TopTenWar]

Been waiting for this review, I was not disappointing. Great review, great car, great camera angles as always, the shots on the track with the Caddy chasing the camera was very enjoyable and just flat out cool to see it take them corners.

[@TerribleWone]

***** Thanks mate. We have moved to this new high speed format since the ACR video (though you may have seen similar stuff in the 4c, Vanquish and Huracan reviews). Since we are blessed with a great ringer like Brian and a proper race track why not use it! I also believe you can tell there is a big difference in speed between normal car to car and this new proper chase cam. The car is on or near the limit in these clips, hitting more than 140 mph rather than 30mph of traditional car to car ( like all other videos even our ATS-V video).

[@TopTenWar]

James Busato I noticed the similarities in your last videos, keep up the good work, so far you are doing just as good as Motortrend who I consider the best when it comes to recording their vehicles (and thats with multiple camera men). Thats another thing too, the fact that you were actually going fast is what made me notice the cool chase cam a lot more. It's boring when the car is going slow but something about the car going fast just allows us the viewer to see more of how the car does around a corner and what not. Also, how the bloody hell you get 39 mpg in a Porsche off hwy? I heard of someone in a Corvette getting 35 mpg on hwy. You must be going down or just have some smooth leveled roads to achieve that.

[@nickbusato7138]

***** High praise to be mentioned in the same breath at Motortrend. Most of these films we make are on the budget of two tanks of gas and some starbucks. We always try and maximize what we have even when were are faced with a wicked fast 24 hour turn around like this one. I am with you on the whole high speed thing, slow car to car looks nice until you see the proper high speed stuff and then its night and day. You start to see some slip angle and proper roll in the chassis. In terms of the Porsche, it was mainly country driving. I was actively trying to see what kind of numbers I could get out of it. Highway speeds, is actually not the most efficient speed to have a car at. So long as there are not too many stops a country road at roughly 60kph will be better.

[@TopTenWar]

Nick Busato Understandable, low budget but you still put out as much as you can as best as you can, and that's one of the biggest advantages with watching you guys is I can see the hard work and I really hope it pays off for you guys in the future and I noticed it has here and there but not fast enough in my opinion. And that's the point, those high speed turns, you can see the caddy getting some roll on it's body. Well, this might depend on the car as my 2010 Cobalt achieves the best mpg when going somewhere between 55 to 70 mph which gets me at 47 mpg in it while my 2014 Camry gets the best mpg around 20 to 30 mph, then again it is a hybrid.

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks! I think Nick said it all.

[@ma7mgte]

You said in your Autocar review "the CTS-V can't match the handling precision of its German competition". How do you come to that conclusion? You didn't give any explanation. Thanks for the great video.

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks for watching. Thanks for reading. Most importantly, thanks for the thoughtful question. The M5 is a touch more precise. It's a subtle difference, but there's a difference, and we have only so much space to write about a first drive in Autocar, so I strive to get all of the major points across.

[@robfrmny21]

I've driven shifter cars that I swear would be the fastest thing I could post times with I then was left with a big fail . Then I'd drive a cart that I hated under steered every where and I put up fastest laps ever. Precision feel takes a back seat to lap times. Ps I was about half sec slower then fastest time at the track.

[@davidboniche4787]

Superb review Brian! This new CTS V is a game changer for Cadillac. I consider this CTS V as a "Super Sports Sedan". Cadillac should make a two door Coupe, a la Elmirage. I'm anxious to see how BMW, Mercedes, and Audi are going to counter! I also, like the improved CUE. People forget that it can be operated via voice recognition. The new Cadillac CT6 has an even improved model, with real buttons.

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks, David. I'm interested to see the CT6 in production spec.

[@timgarrison]

Cool video Brian. I'm an owner of a first gen V and have been waiting on this car to come out. I'll still undecided between the ATS-V and CTS-V. As well as other future options on the 2016 CTS-V(coupe and wagon)..BTW, I'm also a fan of the CUE.

[@nickbusato7138]

Tim Garrison I doubt they will do a wagon again any day soon sadly. I personally prefer the chassis dynamics of the smaller ATS-V but the interior on the CTS-V may be enough to make it my pick. I just hate the main dash on the ATS-V, its old GM where as the CTS-V is almost a celebration of the new Caddy.

[@DSNCB919]

I wish I could comfortably afford this. I can just now comfortably afford a used 08-10 cts v lol

[@StephenLee529]

One badass ride....! Wow...!

[@jlhyang]

So...the big question is this...if you could, would you buy this over the current German competitors?

[@iwasadeum]

Can't think of a single German competitor I'd rather have. Only competitor in my opinion would be the Charger Hellcat.

[@MotorPressReviews]

Great car to car shots! And burnout!!!! :)

[@BrianMakse]

Only for you!

[@knives26]

Brian Makse what car do u drive/own? Price on this car in cad? Great vid. Love those front end.

[@speedfiend925]

Brian Makse, How did you get by the Press embargo on this car? I saw at least one reviewer who stated they could not comment on the performance of the CTS-V until it launched but you obviously did at what appears to be the same press event. Good review as always. :)

[@TerribleWone]

victor bozzo That guy posted his video BEFORE the embargo lifted. Ours was posted about 12 hours after that embargo lifted. He does pre embargo videos with no review as it allows him to have a bunch of people find and watch his video before there are any others on the internet. The end result is he is higher in the search results despite having zero content to contribute about the car.

[@BrianMakse]

dbb1 4vr Ooh! We passed our own camera car on a totally clear road so that we could get a good shot. Dangerous! Did you catch the burnout? I guess not. More dangerous activity for you to irrationally criticize. Cheap sunglasses? Never, mate. Custom prescription, and they're spendy. You've violated our channel's "Don't Be A Dick" Rule, so please move on.

[@tvanb]

I think you are the only one that likes Cadillac's "Cue" hahaha

[@BrianMakse]

It's because I'm right, of course. The best systems keep the driver's attention on driving, which is exactly what CUE does, unless you're a Luddite.

[@jp2kgt]

Torrey B I don't man the Cue mostly because I haven't had any of the others. I guess I'm used to it.

[@BrianMakse]

jp2kgt CUE is great. Don't let the opinions of any auto journo wankers cloud your judgement. CUE does the single most important thing - keeps drivers' eyes on the road.

[@jp2kgt]

Brian Makse I probably will never get anything besides a CTS ever again. I love my V and can't image anything else. So CUE for life unless GM changes it.

[@V8Supercar1]

+Torrey B People who don't like the Cue system are the people that have not tried the new system which is currently only in this 2016 CTS-V

[@oRBTo]

Good music choice on the iPod!

[@BrianMakse]

Have I mentioned that we have an interview with Ian Thornley coming?

[@jaysnyderman3652]

I bought a new SRX last year it is wonderful this car the CTX V looks like way too much car for for me I have plenty of fun in my SRX haven't got in trouble yet but I don't see it possible to not get in trouble in the cts-v

[@momounes338]

Red is amazing color for this car..then come the white and the black

[@BrianMakse]

We were luck to be able to film the same colour car. I think this red is best.

[@jast80]

Good quality review and hell of a car too :)

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks!

[@nickbusato7138]

+Teemu Karnaattu Thanks mate. It was a frantic rush to get this filmed but it was worth it.

[@christopherjohnson841]

Great review!

[@BrianMakse]

Thanks!

[@daseteam]

Thanks Brian.

[@BrianMakse]

Glad you liked it!

[@06jj28]

How damage was the front carbon fiber caused to the front when you hit the cone @110mph

[@BrianMakse]

Doesn't matter. These were all pre-production cars. Plus, this was four and half years ago, and I don't remember ever looking.

[@JOSEC760]

man this car is beautiful. Ill take one in that color or diamond white

[@sammy1995]

I really am curious to see how well this car will sell in comparison to the second generation V. You just don't see a lot of these cars on the road because of the price, gas guzzling, and most people don't know what to do with a higher horsepower and torque car. If you live in the open country you can let this car rip. However, in the city with idiots driving around you risk accident if you start driving over 100 mph. I can't imagine gunning this up to 150 mph with ordinary people around.

[@nickbusato7138]

+sammy1995 One thing to note is that we are not advocating more power for the sake of more outright speed. For me its simply a matter of having more options to get out of a "o F**K" situation. Yes the power in this car may be excessive, but build it and they will come.

[@BrianMakse]

Did you see our other CTS-V video, the Performance Data Recorder lap, where I did take a pair of idiots (they were stupid enough to ride with me) for a lap around Road America? We did touch 149mph.

[@just_some_internet_guy]

Nice tracking driving!

[@gaf391]

Only four door that could compete speed wise is the SRT hellcat charger.

[@vigorosoPIMPJr]

I love the front and interior... I don't like the back. I wish it looked closer to the previous model.

[@eldo59]

Murder it all out in flat black and I'll take one!

[@WeKnowTheTruth2012]

eldo59 white and black body is my choice

[@Rajesh4FrictionMetal]

COMPLETELY INTENSE MACHINEHOOD

[@paulomoniz7326]

Does it have heat engine problems like the corvette?

[@BrianMakse]

Paulo Moniz I experienced zero heat issues with any of the CTS-Vs that I drove.

[@coureurdebois]

such a beast

[@ytwizzle]

Great vid

[@NasirKhan-rb2gs]

I have a 2017 and I love it

[@BrianMakse]

Great car. Revisiting it soon.

[@jjt1234]

Awesome Description

[@BrianMakse]

+jjt1234 This one worked out for you?

[@mrlbattle1]

I'll buy it as soon as it comes compatible with my Android phone

[@MrSupersaiyangoku]

To say the 2016 Cadillac CTS V is not a four door Corvette is absurd. Everything about the Cadillac comes from the corvette. It's engine, shocks, and electronic slip differential all come the Corvette. Calling it "dual purpose" means nothing. Because the donor car is also DUAL PURPOSE. Corvettes are cars that have to be everything the customers want. Great fuel economy. High performance. Loads of space. Luxury. And affordable. While being bulletproof reliable and attractive in design. So while as always I.loved your video. This car is indeed a Four door Corvette. Which is not a bad thing. Its almost as fast as a stingray around a track.

[@derekstevens257]

Great gas mileage and loads of space may be a stretch, but I agree with you.

[@MrSupersaiyangoku]

its no stretch. Corvettes have gotten 26 miles to the gallon in the c6 generation. its been reported the c7 gets 29. some have over 30. plus 18 cubic feet of cargo in coupe form.

[@derekstevens257]

Servant of JESUS CHRIST both those numbers are good for its segment but neither are outstanding

[@MrSupersaiyangoku]

It is if you consider the class of vehicle the Corvette is in. Its a car that is die hard performance car, that gets better gas mileage than some v6 engines.

[@TopTenWar]

Derek Stevens The Corvette gets better mpg than a base 911 running on 6 cylinders and less HP, hell same with the bmw m3/4. And comparing all other two seat sports cars out there, the Corvette has the best trunk space.

[@jacure123]

Looks good.

[@flyingmonkeys159]

I'm shopping. Gotta have it

[@BrianMakse]

flyingmonkeys159 Do it!

[@jackka82]

Great review of a great car. Except burnouts make me cringe. haha So much wasted rubber.

[@nickbusato7138]

***** I always give Brian a hard time over them.

[@BrianMakse]

Michelin kinda encourages it, but in this case it was one take. No need to burn a pair of tires excessively.

[@jackka82]

+Brian Makse I guess burnouts are great from the tire manufacturer's perspective. Haha. I never thought of it from their business point of view.

[@BrianMakse]

At these events, the Michelin folks tell me to use them up because they'll make more!

[@kd6844]

IF I were buying a 4 door, it would be tough to pass on this (in lieu of a Charger Hellcat)

[@admiralblue9324]

I REALLY WANT V. - SOUTH KOREA

[@AZfromRussia]

CTS-Vette , well said

[@kubanskiloewe]

nice car but isn´t the AUDI RS7 the fastest sedan now ?

[@BrianMakse]

No.

[@kubanskiloewe]

Brian Makse RS7 is faster in acceleration, imho.

[@BrianMakse]

+kubanskiloewe Have you tested them under identical conditions?

[@kubanskiloewe]

Brian Makse no, i never drove one of them, but i see youtube videos from RS7. damn fast !

[@BrianMakse]

+kubanskiloewe Well, on this channel and in all of the publications I contribute to, we're not in the business of making statements unless we have supporting evidence.

[@kennethmartin8124]

4:15, ur wrong the tesla p85d, porsche panamera turbo s, audi rs7, audi s8, mb e63 and cls63 amg s, dodge charger hellcat are all faster than the cts v, but the king of performance sedan is the audi rs7 its fast, looks sexy, has latest tech, nice interior, and good full economy not to menchain alot of trunk space

[@ibeloggik]

I was waiting for someone to mention a hellcat...lol

[@Dylan-xj8tb]

and then you put all of them on a track, and the cts-v dominates them all....so yes, it is faster than all of those

[@ibeloggik]

but hold on...RS7 good fuel economy????????? LOL

[@kennethmartin8124]

All those cars will kill the shitty overated Cadillac

[@nwigchert10]

i don't think this will ever be called a 4-door vette, but the pricetag will make you double check tho. Seriously 20k more than previous gen......

[@nickbusato7138]

Nicholas Wigchert Last gen was priced at the 3 series though was on the larger side. This new third generation CTS (V) is aimed directly at the 5 series. This was able to happen since GM introduced the ATS into the 3 series segment. In short the CTS has been moved up market now that there is an ATS.

[@nwigchert10]

THey shouldn't compete with BMW. The V series was a muscle car group. It was the 1 car that took on ALL BMWs. ALL Mercedes. It didnt have a competion pack(m5) there wasnt a slower version (c63[s]) Now they trying to compete directly, saying every aspect is better. Wrong. Dual clutch is better. Carbon ceramics will always be just a lil bit better, whether performance or visually better. (especially with unslotted rotors) The engine in the ATS-V is basically just a repackaged CTS V-sport engine. They litterally remade the cts v-sport for much cheaper and with more power. I'm so baffled by cadillac. Suprisingly the pricing is my MAIN problem. They charge you 20k more and REMOVE the car from the sports car/muscle car marketplace.

[@micahfields7662]

ima get one.

[@dirtycuntrag]

Why is he looking down if he has HUD on the car?

[@thewiirocks]

dirtycuntrag Two possibilities come to mind. The first is that he's not used to the HUD and ends up "naturally" looking down. The second is that he's got the HUD in a track mode where he sees the tachometer and G-load but not the speedometer.

[@BrianMakse]

Why is who looking down?

[@thewiirocks]

Brian Makse At around 7:10 you start counting off your speed build-up. You appear to look down at your dash as you do this. The original poster's point is that this shouldn't be necessary if you're using the HUD.

[@CrazyIrishCarl]

disappointed that Cadillac is not offering other colors for this car! GM has some real nice colors especially a Blue yet the colors only available for this CTS-V are dull, dark, and not exciting

[@nickbusato7138]

CrazyIrishCarl The red is awesome.

[@Functionbox]

+CrazyIrishCarl Agreed on the lack of color selections, but I'm betting more colors will be coming soon. I'm the owner of a one-year-only Stealth Metallic Blue edition and was wooed with the blue (!). I hope (and suspect) Cadillac will allow some of the color combinations allowed on lesser models. Indeed, they already have that Frost White version for the first year. Here's some snaps of my V2 in Stealth Blue: www.functionbox.org/CTSV/

[@nickbusato7138]

I think with caddy they are extending their customer experience at the dealerships. Part of that was to involve the optioning process to be more hands on. With that in mind, I would think we would see more color options in future. At the launch there was only like four colors.

[@petergriffin3241]

Z06, Zee Oh Six, Z.....O.....6 Not ZEDO6 You are not British.......

[@BrianMakse]

I'm not American.

[@petergriffin3241]

You are not British....... .... . ..... .... ........ ..Canadian ehh

[@flexinclouds]

Im saying, this guy is annoying af

[@kevintownsend3721]

What a car have a nice black on black one so disappointed in the wimps who don’t enjoy the 640 HP MY CAR smokes everything that tries to race me two thumbs up for Caddy not my dads car.

[@BrianMakse]

Where are you racing a CTS-V?

[@kevintownsend3721]

Motor sports experience near Boston Massachusetts

[@Blubberkinesis]

CTS would look a lot better with only the top portion of day time running lights.

[@michaellui74]

Still not a fan of GM 😕

[@BrianMakse]

Too bad. You're missing out.

[@RxSwolldier]

this car makes the chevy ss completely irrelevant

[@TerribleWone]

+RxSwolldier Need to factor in that pricing though... the SS is far less money. Never the less Americans are spoiled, we don't get the SS in Canada.

[@jixter_boy2452]

This car looks so mean from the front with the LEDs running down the sides. Shame on that ugly red though.

[@BrianMakse]

I like the red. Second choice is black, of course.

[@jixter_boy2452]

You should see this blue that the ATSV comes in... Its crazy.. Not sure if they offer it on the CTSV. But Id def go for black on this car too

[@BrianMakse]

We drove the ATS-V at the launch and I don't recall any blue cars. What's it called?

[@jixter_boy2452]

Im not sure what its called.. I actually saw a video of it here on youtube a while back.

[@TerribleWone]

+Mack Ryan Sorry mate, red was my choice. It always looks super good against the light. You may have noticed a trend towards red with the Camaro, Viper ACR, CTSV and ATSV. Most of the time when I have a choice I pick a metallic red or a metallic grey. The issue with using a darker colour is that you can loose some of the details in the body.

[@lfsracer79]

The front LEDs look ridiculous...

[@JOSEC760]

lfsracer79 you look ridiculous..

[@JOSEC760]

lfsracer79 sorry :(