This isn’t your daddy’s station wagon
Two for the Road USA - by Bill Zervakos
Let me start out by saying that I simply don’t have enough superlatives for this car. I was impressed with the V6 Sport Wagon I drove last year but this car is in a dimension all its own. The numbers are mind numbing; 556 supercharged horses under the hood and a thundering 551 lb-ft of torque rocket the V-Wagon from 0-60 in a blistering 4 seconds. Yep, you read it right; a nearly 4400 pound station wagon out runs the likes of the Mustang Shelby GT500KR and it’s just a tick slower than the Saleen Dark Horse Extreme Mustang, and the Z06 Corvette. In other words, it’s a monster, but a monster that offers a lot of utility. I was surprised when I saw the test car came with the Tremec TR6060 6-spd. Manual transmission, I mean station wagons and six speed manual transmissions seem a bit oxymoronic to me, but then again, the V Sport Wagon is far from a typical station wagon.
The engine features an intercooled Eaton Twin Vortices Series™ (TVS™) supercharger. This unique supercharger design employs twin four-lobe rotors, twisted 160 degrees. Typical superchargers feature three lobes twisted 60 degrees. The fourth lobe and added twist, when combined with unique air inlet and outlet ports, create smoother, more efficient airflow into the engine. In addition to improved overall efficiency, this supercharger has superior noise and vibration characteristics compared to more ordinary designs.
The kind of power the 6.2 liter Supercharged engine puts out is managed by torque being channeled through the six-speed transmissions to a high-performance rear axle that features a limited-slip rear differential within a cast iron housing for greater thermal management, and asymmetrical half-shafts to smoothly manage the supercharged engine’s incredible torque. The unique design includes alternately sized half-shafts that also help dynamically balance the oscillation of torque from side to side, effectively eliminating “power hop.”
I know that’s a lot of technical jargon but in truth, it just hints at the technology in this vehicle. But let’s talk about the styling for a moment. The CTS-V Sport Wagon is beautifully sleek and sexy in an understated way. The Sport Wagon incorporates a unique grille that doubles front-end airflow to help enable its high-performance capabilities. It is also visually identified by an aggressive front fascia and raised center section of the aluminum hood that provides clearance for the supercharger. It rides on 19-inch forged aluminum wheels available in painted or polished finishes.
The interior of the CTS-V Sport Wagon is shared with the sedan, including streamlined instrumentation, LED lighting and hand-cut-and-sewn accents. It comes with performance seats featuring perforated microfiber inserts designed to hold the driver and front passenger in place during cornering. The Recaro performance driving seats in the test car are optional and believe me; they provide excellent support for lively drivingComplementing the performance seating is a thick steering wheel and a gauge package designed for easy, reference during performance driving. Large instruments have bold readouts, including a very interesting LED-lit “tracer” function in the tachometer that flashes as the engine nears the red line. The gauge layout includes a boost gauge and a lateral acceleration display. Obsidian Black accents grace the center stack, console, steering wheel and door panels. The production steering wheel and shifter are available in Alcantara, providing the luxurious character of suede. These accents are elegant to the touch and aid the driver during high-performance driving. Like every CTS, the V-Series includes a hand-stitched instrument panel, door trim and center console.
Leading-edge infotainment features extend to the V-Series. Standard features include an advanced navigation system with a deployable screen, Bose 5.1 digital surround audio, factory-installed Bluetooth phone integration and a 40-gigabyte hard drive that allows the customer to store a large library of music files. The system uploads files via a USB port or the in-dash DVD/CD drive and allows stored tracks to be searched and selected through the radio controls.But driving the CTS-V Sport Wagon is where it’s at. I’ve had the pleasure of driving a lot of performance cars from Corvettes to Vipers and about everything in between and I’m here to tell you, the V-Sport Wagon can run with the best of them and on top of all that, it offers comfort and room. With the power the V-Sport Wagon puts out, handling can be dicey if not managed properly and the Magnetic Ride Control and Brembo brakes along with the Michelin PS2 tires are up to the task, and the beauty of it is, you get extraordinary road-holding performance while maintaining the poise and comfort of a luxury car when in “regular” driving mode.
The technical enabler of this dual-mode driving character is Cadillac’s landmark Magnetic Ride Control. It is the world’s fastest-reacting suspension technology. It uses shocks controlled by magneto-rheological technology, rather than mechanical valves, to greatly accelerate response time and precision. What all that means in lay terms is that electronic sensors at all four wheels literally “read the road” every millisecond, making constant adjustments to damping to create virtually instantaneous and extremely precise control of body motions. It’s amazing technology that allows for varying degrees of damping control to optimize the ride and handling for different driving conditions with selectable driving modes possible.
Don Butler, vice president for Cadillac marketing says, “The CTS-V Sport Wagon is a natural extension of both the V-Series and the CTS lineup, offering an uncompromising performance car to enthusiasts who want the extra room of a wagon,” “The V-Series Sport Wagon is another hallmark of the dramatic presence and power of Cadillac vehicles.” I couldn’t agree more, I mean had this car been around when I had my boys at home, there’s no doubt it would have been in my garage.
