2016 Cadillac CTS-V
No matter where your car company hails from, if you build a sport sedan, you’ll ultimately get compared to the companies that have done it the best, for the longest time: The Germans! BMW, Mercedes, and VW/Audi. Whether that’s fair or not, is a topic for another day. Because right now, we’ve got a home grown contender to put through its paces, the Cadillac CTS-V!
American carmakers have been trying to catch up, and one-up the German sport sedan concept for over half a century. Numerous times critics, including us, thought they got close. But, it took the 21st century Cadillac brand to really close the gap, with the 2016 CTS-V aiming to fill it for good.
The CTS-V is the original V “for Velocity” of course, but just about everything that makes it go fast now, comes from the Chevrolet Corvette; making this essentially a four-door Corvette with a nicer interior.
That kinship start naturally enough under the hood with the Z06’s glorious 6.2-liter chunk of supercharged aluminum with pushrods, producing 640-horsepower and 630 lb-ft. of torque. The M5 and E63 AMG don’t even come close.
This thing is clearly not some mild-mannered pretender. Just hearing it rumble at startup will put fear into you; floor it and its “oh my gosh” awesome power!
It is still built on the ATS platform, but significant structural bracing had to take place; and like some of us around here, has stiffer joints all around. Oh yeah, it’s race car rigid.
Just as in some front-wheel-drive transaxles that feature unequal half-shafts to prevent torque steer; a similar arrangement in the CTS-V’s rear, works to quell axle hopping on hard acceleration. The results are, according to the factory, a blistering 3.7-seconds to 60.
There are Brembo brakes obviously; and topping it off, GM stuffed as much rubber into the wheel wells as possible; 265/35/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sports in front, 295/30/19s in back.
We’ve said it many times before about V-Series cars; you really need to get them on a race track for full affect. Tooling to the winery on the weekend or even slicing up your local back roads in this CTS-V does not reveal the true story of how competent it is.
So we jumped at the change to try it out a Road America! Yep, this Caddy is one awesome track machine. Between Performance Traction Management and the power distributing electronic limited-slip differential, you have no trouble getting all 640 horses to the pavement with little concern about being out of control.
More power than the Germans, and better use of it than hotrods like Hellcats and Shelby’s. And that very linear power delivery also works well with the 8-speed automatic transmission that comes with all CTS-Vs.
There’s plenty of mid-range muscle coming out of turns; with minimal weight transfer thanks to Magnetic Ride Control, even with a hefty 4,145-lbs. to manage. Brakes are all day long durable.
Driven hard it seems to move around on you a little, but it seems to catch itself and never get out of shape. You know there’s electronic intervention happening, but you still feel in total control.
There’s a more aggressive look to go along with all of that performance. Virtually every body panel is unique and purposefully designed to maximize downforce, minimize lift, or enhance cooling.
The air-extracting hood is made of carbon fiber as are the front splitter, rear diffuser, and spoiler if you opt for the carbon fiber package.
As for the interior, thankfully it does not appear like it was done on a shoestring budget; just an enhanced performance feel thanks to sueded materials, performance seats, Head Up display, and of course the Corvettes’ Performance Data Recorder.
And perhaps most important of all, it doesn’t feel any less Cadillac when you’re driving sanely.
Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 14-City, 21-Highway, and 17-Combined. So there is a gas guzzler tax.
Base price is $85,990. And if that’s too much, don’t forget that this big V has a little brother ATS-V which packs almost as much performance for $61,460.
Now, we know that many sport sedan aficionados will never be convinced that a four-door designed anywhere but Germany is worth a second look. But, if you have an open mind, then you’ll see where we’re coming from when we say that hands down, the 2016 Cadillac CTS-V beats all comers in the traditional European sport sedan category in every way! And we’re just ecstatic to be along for the ride.
Specifications
- Engine: 6.2 liter
- Horsepower: 640
- Torque: 630 lb-ft.
- 0-60 mph: 3.7 seconds
- EPA: 14 mpg city / 21 mpg highway
2025 Infiniti QX80
Infiniti’s Flagship SUV Sets A Course For Extravagance
This full-size Infiniti QX80 started out as the QX56, a hastily rebadged version of Nissan’s truck-based Armada full-size utility. That was in the early 2000s when the luxury SUV craze was exploding. It wasn’t as much as a game-changer, as it was “try to keep upper”. Now, this new QX80, Infiniti is promising to “Reimagine the luxury SUV”. Let’s see if Infiniti has turned their imaginations into reality.
Well, if over the top is what Infiniti was shooting for in the all-new 2025 QX80, mission accomplished. There’s an overall feeling of extravagance here that we haven’t experienced from Infiniti in quite some time.
It’s not just the open pore ash wood trim with aluminum inlays, 24-speaker audio, and plush quilted leather seating; there’s also nicely integrated ambient lighting, a massive glass roof, plenty of tech, lots of active driving assistance, and even chilled center console storage. Forward of that is a dual touchscreen setup; the top 14.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment sits next to the digital gauge display in a single housing; while just below, there’s a 9-inch one for climate controls.
You are reminded this is still a body-on-frame utility the moment you have to climb up into the cockpit, but there’s also the commanding view of the road that comes with that. Captain’s chairs are standard for the second row, but a three-place bench is optional with all trims except for top Autograph which comes exclusively with these climate-controlled massaging chairs, along with a touchscreen control panel. The third-row experience is great, too, with heated leather seating, and adult size room for three.
Now, there is a whole new experience coming from under the hood. The last gen’s V8 has been replaced with a new twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 rated at 450 horsepower, 50 over the V8. More notably, torque is up by more than 100 lb-ft to 516. Transmission is a nine-speed automatic, two more gears than last year, with rear-wheel drive standard, four-wheel drive an option. Max tow rating is 8,500-lbs.
And at the test track, it did pull strongly off the line, getting up to speed in a hurry with the 0-60 sprint taking just 6.3 seconds. There is roughly 3 tons of weight to push through the quarter-mile, but that twin-turbo does it well, finishing in 14.7 seconds at 95 mph. Gear changes are incredibly smooth, while not hindering acceleration in any way.
It's an impressive looking utility from any angle.
In panic braking runs, there was some fade and a considerable amount of nosedive, but our average stopping distance of 115 feet is not bad for a vehicle as big and heavy as the QX80. Last gen, the QX80 moved from the Titan truck platform to the global Patrol SUV chassis, which shifted the vibe from budget Escalade to Lexus LX fighter. The attending improvement in ride and handling was the real bonus, and that largely continues for this gen with air suspension and Dynamic Digital Dampers on all but base QX80s. While we could certainly feel all that weight through our cone course, body roll was well-controlled and without significant oversteer or understeer.
It’s an impressive looking utility from any angle, starting right up front with the big “bamboo forest” grille. The overall shape is boxy, but all body panels are smooth; and for better or worse, Infiniti joins the flush door handle fad. Look for its “Artistry In Motion” design theme to work its way down through the rest of the Infiniti lineup. All QX80s ride on 22-inch wheels except for base Pure trim which makes do with 20s.
A full power play includes standard motion-activated rear liftgate and power operation of both second and third row seats, expanding cargo capacity from 22 cu-ft behind the third row to 59 behind the second, and a max of 101.0 cu-ft with both rows folded.
Government Fuel Economy Ratings with four-wheel-drive are not great: 16 city, 19 highway and 17 combined. We averaged 18.6 mpg of premium. That’s a much worse than average Energy Impact Score, using 17.5 barrels of oil annually, with 8.6 tons of CO2 emissions.
Driving such a PUREly LUXEurious SENSORY overload, you’ll probably be expecting people to want your AUTOGRAPH, which we’re guessing is how Infiniti came up with their grade structure; pricing starts with Pure at $84,445 and climbs to $112,590 for Autograph.
The 2025 Infiniti QX80 is a massive SUV that delivers massive amounts of power and luxury. They aimed for the moon here and have clearly blasted themselves into a much more competitive orbit in the big buck, big hauler, sport-utility galaxy.
Specifications
As Tested
- Engine: 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6
- Transmission: 9-speed automatic
- Horsepower: 450
- Torque: 516 lb-ft.
- EPA: 16 City | 19 Highway | 17 Combined
- 0-60 mph: 6.3 seconds
- 1/4 Mile: 14.7 seconds at 95 mph
- Braking, 60-0 (avg.): 115 feet
- MW Fuel Economy: 18.6 mpg (Premium)
