Pair of Cadillac Vs

Although my STS-V wasn’t as clean and nice as I prefer, I was happy to see my remote parking slot attracted another V.
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This nice CTS-V Coupe seemed to repel the bright sunlight for my quick iphone pics.
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I didn’t get a chance to kibitz with the lucky owner, but hopefully will another day.

Love the CTS-V wheels, with Vs embedded in the pattern.  Cadillac changed from the 6-lug wheels of the 1st Gen CTS-V and STS-V to 5-lug wheels for the 2nd Gen CTS-V.

Here is one of the shots with a bit of color equalization:

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Is Your Cadillac More Fun than You Know?

Jim was on the way home to New Jersey and mentioned that he had not learned yet how to pair his phone via Bluetooth to his Cadillac. I researched this topic and sent him a video showing how, a text summary, and a pdf of the owner’s manual. He was able to get his phone setup at the next stop; the CTS-V uses voice recognition to walk the Driver through the process.

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We both learned something from this — about how cool his new Cadillac was, and about features I also have in my Cadillac that I simply don’t use or appreciate.

Voice Recognition

“Navigation Chinese Food” — with this phrase my nav system shows a unique icon on my nav system where Chinese cuisine restaurants are. While here on vacation this is a handy way to find an upcoming lunch spot.

There are pages of commands in the nav manual that the system can recognize. A fun one is “windows down” which lowers all 4 windows simultaneously.

Hands free dialing can be as easy as ” phone call Jim”, which is also available while the car is in motion.

The voice recognition worked well with some challenges. I am certain the more I use it the easier it will get (as it trains me on enunciation!).

Intelli-beam headlights

The STS-V has auto-sensing and dimming bright HID headlights. I keep the system deactivated in the suburbs because there are no long empty highways; thus I forget my Cadillac even has this cool feature. On a roadtrip this system is invaluable for getting the most light forward to see Deer and other hazards ahead.

I was very glad to remember to activate it on the way through the deer fields of South Carolina.

Navigation Exit Info

To be honest, until this trip I have never understood the nav system upcoming exit info. I got that the nav system shows the next 3 upcoming exits.

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i didn’t note that the exit info shows the exit number, icons for what is found at that exit, and is touch screen activated for more info. The icons are unique — in some gas choices they actually show by brand of station. This is handy as the V uses Premium and I prefer first tier gas stations.

In other cases the icons indicate a restaurant, store, etc.

The exits are touch sensitive — if I touch the exit info the icon display is for that exit, and I can opt to go to a map display of the exit area showing by icon where the various services are. One can click on the service icon to get location name which often gives the final detail needed.

This can make roadtrip quick stops much easier so you can get your party back into the Cadillac and on the road.

Fun Features

What fun features does your Cadillac have that you could be enjoying more?

2014 Cadillac CTS 420 HP TTV6 even Quicker than Predicted?

0-60 mph in 4.6 sec is the spec Cadillac quoted for the TTV6 in the 2014 CTS.

See: Cadillac 3.6L Twin-Turbo V6 Official Info Released!

2014 3.6L V-6 VVT DI Twin Turbo (LF3) for Cadillac CTS

2014 3.6L V-6 VVT DI Twin Turbo (LF3) for Cadillac CTS

We don’t know all the facts on the new 2014 Cadillac CTS until the full announcement on Tuesday.  We do know that it is the next gen CTS and on the Alpha platform.  In other words, it is a longer, larger, up-line model on the same chassis as the new Cadillac ATS.

The ATS famously weighs ~3,400 lbs.  The current CTS weighs 3,860 lbs.  It is logical to expect the new CTS will weigh more than an ATS, because it is larger, and less than a CTS, because it is on the new lighter platform.  So that puts it around 3,600-3,700 lbs?

I put the stats we do know — the engine info, transmission info, and current weight of the CTS at 3,860 into Cartest2000.

Cartest2000 2014 Cadillac CTS TTV6 notional specs

Cartest2000 2014 Cadillac CTS TTV6 notional specs

I then asked for a comparison side by side with a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V supercar — with 556 hp supercharged 6.2L and weighing 4,292 lbs.

Car 1 2014 CTS TTV6 Car 2 2011 CTS-V Coupe

Car 1 2014 CTS TTV6
Car 2 2011 CTS-V Coupe

Cadillac says the 2nd gen CTS-V (2009-current) will hit 0-60 in 3.9 Sec, and the 2014 CTS TTV6 in 4.6 sec. We also know that the CTS-V tests very well — which suggests that the new CTS TTV6 will put up some very good numbers indeed.

Based on the predictions from Cartest I would say the new 2014 CTS TTV6 is going to be a screamer — unless it gains a ton of weight over the current CTS.  Tuesday we’ll see the new look, but I’ll be listening for the new weight!