Cadillac CTS-V hits the UK

When you think of Cadillac you tend to think of geriatric Americans coasting round God’s waiting room in Florida. Slow, old, wrinkled and not very well bolted together (and that’s just the drivers), nothing to inspire the car lover, and certainly nothing to suggest it would be a good idea to try and sell a big Cadillac saloon in the UK. Who would want to buy a slow, old fashioned Cadillac in the UK? Well, they’re not all old and slow, and you may want to give this at least a second thought.

Cadillac CTS-V arrives in the UK in February

Cadillac has announced the arrival of its BMW M5 rivalling CTS-V in the UK with a list price of £56,495 (with an extra £2.5k for an auto ‘box), which is about £9k less than the BMW M5 saloon, and available from February 2009.

Now this all sounds fine and dandy, but unlike an M5 this big tank won’t handle, will it? Oh yes it will. Cadillac has miraculously found out that there is a way to make their cars go round corners properly. Not only have they found out, they’ve also implemented it in the CTS-V.

Magnetic Ride Control is a big part of this. Throw in some dynamic rear brake proportioning and a huge set of Brembo brakes, and you have a car that has set the fastest lap record at The Nurburgring for a saloon car. But it can still ‘Waft’ if you select the Comfort option on the setup. Impressive stuff.

All this handling is all very well, but it has to ‘go’ in the first place. Well, believe it or not, the CTS-V goes like almost no other saloon car ever made. The 6.2 litre supercharged engine delivers 556bhp (49 more than the M5), giving the CTS-V a top speed of 191mph (175mph in the auto) and a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds. And it has the most wonderful engine note. Sort of a cross between a big AMG V8 and Barry White. Wonderful.

But we all know that however good the Yanks manage to make a car, you step inside to some woefully eighties mish-mash of cheap materials and crappy ergonomics. Not this time you don’t. Seats by Recaro. Hand stitched leather. The whole interior designed by the firm who did the Veyron. It’s a really nice place to be.

If only you could get finance on a car at the moment, the Cadillac CTS-V would be flying off the forecourts!