Find the best price deals on the 2012 Cadillac CTS-V wagon both locally and nationally.
The Cadillac CTS-V Wagon is one of the best “sleeper” cars in the world. For those who don’t know what qualifies a car to be a sleeper, it means that the car looks like a typical car on the outside, but has ultra-high performance under the hood. The CTS-V Wagon is either a trim level or a variant of the standard CTS Wagon, depending on who is telling it. We prefer to review this as a variant, because it is so radically different than the standard CTS.
When people think of Cadillac, they think of a nice, big, luxury car that has all of the bells and whistles, a gorgeous interior, and the most cushy ride of any US car. While Cadillacs usually have powerful engines, they aren’t really designed for high-performance driving. They are usually built to drive slowly and savor every second of the ride. The standard CTS Wagon is exactly like that. So is almost every car in the Cadillac line. Except for the CTS-V. The CTS-V also comes as a sedan or a coupe, but the wagon is the car that has gotten the best customer feedback from satisfied drivers.
Most of those satisfied drivers like putting their foot to the floor at a traffic light, and watching in the rearview mirror while other drivers look on in shock as a station wagon pulls away from them like they aren’t even there. While we would never condone unsafe driving here, let it suffice to say that the CTS-V is one of the most fun and amusing cars you will ever drive.
The CTS-V is a high-performance luxury wagon that seats five. It has a 6.2 liter, supercharged V8 engine that produces an off-the-charts 556 horsepower and 551 foot-pounds of torque. It has 19-inch painted alloy wheels, 285/35R19 high performance tires, rear-wheel drive, and a 6-speed manual transmission. It somehow manages to get 14 mpg in the city and 19 mpg on the highway while going from zero to sixty in 4.7 seconds.
The CTS-V Wagon may be high performance, but it is still pure Cadillac on the inside. It comes with a leather-wrapped, tilt-telescope steering wheel that houses both audio and cruise controls. The seats are listed as “bucket front seats,” but that is doing them a great disservice. Both the driver and passenger seats get multi-level heating, height adjustment, lumbar support, and a total of 8-way adjustment. The rear seats are 60/40 split-folding, with a pass-through armrest. The upholstery is made of leather and alcantara.
It also comes with keyless entry, keyless ignition, full power accessories, power steering, 12-volt outlets in the front, rear, and storage areas, a universal remote transmitter for garage doors, 2-zone climate control divided between the driver and front passenger, simulated carbon fiber trim on the doors, dash, and console, leather trim on the shift knob, memorized settings for two drivers including steering wheel, and a trip computer.
You will also enjoy a chrome grille, a rear wiper, a rear defogger, rear limited slip differential, front and rear stabilizer bars, short and long arm front suspension, multi-link rear suspension, and 4-wheel independent suspension, automatic and adaptive xenon headlights, and foglights.
The audio system is a Bose surround sound with 9 conventional speakers, a subwoofer, 300 watts of power, AM/FM/satellite radio, a CD/MP3 player, 3 months of XM satellite radio with “NavTraffic,” an audio jack, and a USB/iPod input. There is also a hard drive-based navigation system with realtime traffic.
The CTS-V is extremely safe. It has premium high-performance, ventliated antilock brakes, side front airbags, side curtain airbags, stability control, traction control, active front head restraints, rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, and the patented GM OnStar emergency communications system. In testing from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the CTS-V got perfect scores of “good” in front, side, and rear impact tests.
The interior is what you would expect from a Cadillac: the design is a bit old school, but the materials are exquisite, and the seats are posh. The leather and simulated carbon fiber trim lend an air of prosperity. There is plenty of room in both the front and rear seats. The combined headroom and legroom measures out to 81.2 inches in the front and 73.2 inches in the rear, allowing the tallest of passengers in the front and reasonably tall passengers in the back seat. The rear storage contains 25.0 cubic feet, and maximum cargo space is 58.0 cubic feet if you fold down the rear seat.
The only caveat here is that you might want to opt for the Recaro sport seats if you plan on spending a lot of time with your right foot on or near the floor. The front seats are great for most driving, but the Recaros work better for those who fully utilize the speed and handling of the CTS-V on a regular basis.
As for the handling and ride, you can probably guess where this is going. The engine can accelerate well enough to press you and your passengers to the back of the seats, and the CTS-V cruises effortlessly at high speeds. Since it weighs close to 4000 pounds, it is more effective being driven in a straight line, but the suspension can still handle quite a bit in the corners. The steering is very responsive and accurate, as you might expect from a smaller performance car but not one that weighs as much as the CTS-V.
The ride is still Cadillac smooth. This is a trick that is usually reserved for European cars, but the CTS-V does a great job of combining sporty performance with a cushy ride. This car is virtually silent going down the road at even standard highway speeds, too. It is possible to drive this car and never let your passengers know it is anything but a regular Cadillac station wagon.
All in all, this is one of the greatest US cars one could own. It doesn’t sell a lot of units, but it has what is very close to a cult following in the US.
The verdict: very highly recommended.
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