Category Archives: Cadillac Performance Mods

Cadillac Performance modifications

Gettting ready to Test: Racelogic Performancebox

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Tonight I ordered a Performancebox from Racelogic USA.  This is a GPS Performance meter and data logger.  It should let me do very exact calculations to help with my upcoming suspension testing, and be useful along with my AP-22 for acceleration testing.

PerformanceBox

PerformanceBox

The PerformanceBox is suited to:

  • Straight-line performance: 0-60, 0-100, 60-130, 60-0, 0-100-0, ¼-mile etc.
  • Horsepower calculation: calculate both wheel and flywheel HP.
  • Lap Timing: using GPS, there is no need for an external lap timing beacon. Accurate to 1/10th of a second.
  • Speed and Compass display: use it as a super-accurate speedometer, updating 10 times per second, to calibrate or verify your vehicle’s speedometer.

No matter how you use the PerformanceBox, it logs your speed, position, G-forces, and distance to its memory card ten times every second for detailed analysis in the included software.

View your performance and lap data on the PerformanceBox’s built-in display, and log all your data to the SD memory card. Saved data files can easily be stored and compared, to see the difference between cars, drivers, parts, or setups.

Datasheet

CTS upgrade to CTS-V suspension

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Okay, after some initial confusion, a set of 2005 Cadillac CTS-V front and rear sway bars and bushings should soon be on the way to await installation on my 2005 CTS.

Cadillac CTS-V Front and Rear Swaybars

Cadillac CTS-V Front and Rear Swaybars

To review, my CTS has the 3.6L engine, but the base FE1 suspension.  The CTS comes with 3 suspension variants, FE1, FE2 Lux, or FE3 Sport.  The CTS-V comes with the FE4 V-series suspension.  The difference between the various suspensions are variations and combinations of springs, shocks, and sway bars.  The sway bars perhaps have the greatest influence on handling.  So for my first step I am going to swap to the CTS-V sway bars and then test.

So, I need to be working now on developing a good way to test the base FE1 suspension.  I am thinking a video test to show how the car looks from outside while cornering, to show lean angle, and a G-meter test to show absolute G’s attainable with each setup.  Stay tuned, or reply with advice!

CTS Suspension upgrade components

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Initially for upgrading the suspension in my 2005 Cadillac CTS I wanted to go with the suspension from the CTS-V.  This stikes me as a setup that is already tested and validated by Cadillac on the chassis, and is an all-Cadillac solution.  After studying the various solutions available from Hotchkis and Eibach, I was leaning toward one of those, and looking at prices and shipping cost (suspension parts tend to be heavy).

Luckily I was able to win an Ebay auction for a few useful items — basically the complete FE4 suspension off of a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V:

Cadillac CTS-V Front and Rear Swaybars

Cadillac CTS-V Front and Rear Swaybars

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Cadillac CTS-V springs

Cadillac CTS-V springs

The auction also appears to include CTS-V shocks, although these likely will need fresh examples:

Cadillac CTS-V FE4 Shocks

Cadillac CTS-V FE4 Shocks

Hopefully everything is as described.  At a total of $61 with free shipping it makes a nice purchase.

Next I need to nail down the testing methodology to be used to test at each step, then test my current FE1 base soft ride CTS suspension a couple of times to show consistency of results.

I think our first suspension mod step will be to swap to the CTS-V sway bars alone, then test.  Based on my reading, sway bars can have the greatest single impact on handling.  Swapping the sway bars should only take a couple of hours in the driveway, but we’ll see.

UPDATE — Hmm; not so fast.  Apparently the seller is claiming that the auction was only for ‘free shipping’, not for the components themselves!!?  So, this may turn out to be a ‘dry hole’ after all.   If this does not work out, I’m back to deciding whether to go with a new Eibach or Hotchkis kit designed for the base CTS or to look for another CTS-V take-off set.  The Eibach kit from AutoAnything with Free Shipping looks like a nice choice.

UPDATE 2 — Okay, I think we may be settling on a price for the CTS-V sway bars and bushings from a 2005 CTS-V, which were the parts that I wanted to try first.  So, back to figuring out the best test setup to use.