AbgTutor dot Com: 2014 Cadillac CTS VSport takes on the Nurburgring

Thursday 19 September 2013

2014 Cadillac CTS VSport takes on the Nurburgring

In recent times, Cadillac has had its sights trained on German premium brands in terms of performance and driver appeal, which is logical since the GM luxury brand shares prospects with the likes of BMW and Audi. In a bid to match the imports, Cadillac is now training where the Germans train – we’re of course talking about the mother of all test circuits, Nurburgring.

In the video above, you’ll see the new 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport, a rival to the 5-Series and A6, lapping the famous track. Measuring 20.8 km and including some 154 turns, the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife (north loop) is widely considered the world’s most-demanding course for vehicle validation.

The CTS Vsport is powered by Cadillac’s first twin-turbo engine (420 hp from 3.6 litres) and eight-speed automatic transmission, not to be confused with the upcoming next-gen CTS-V performance flagship, which will take on the BMW M5. Think of Vsport as Caddy’s M Sport.

“The new CTS was an absolute riot to drive on the Ring. It’s more athletic and refined, and the Vsport proved extremely capable. If a car performs well on the Ring, it will perform well on any road in the world,” said vehicle dynamics performance engineer Kevin Zelenka.

So how did it do? The CTS Vsport recorded a lap time of 8:14.10, which is almost six seconds faster than what the first-gen CTS-V recorded 10 years ago, although it’s some way off the outgoing 556 hp CTS-V’s time of 7:59. Quite near the E60 M5‘s time though, just one second slower than the V10 hero.

Cadillac came away from the test happy, and says that the Nurburgring lap times enhances the nameplate’s reputation as a driver’s car, adding that Nurburgring validation certified that all CTS suspension packages are capable of handling the extreme conditions and unlimited speeds of Autobahn driving.

The third-gen CTS range, powered by either a 2.0 turbo four-cylinder or 3.6L NA V6, will start at $46,025 (RM145,415). The RWD-only twin-turbo V6 CTS Vsport starts at $59,995 (RM189,492) in the US.