May the best car win. So says General Motors’ Bob Lutz, and he’s willing to put his Pilotis where his mouth is… so to speak. On a conference call last month, Maximum Bob challenged any journalist to a duel with the Cadillac CTS-V, and, not surprisingly, the mantle was picked up right quick by the boys at Jalopnik.
Rules? Sorta. Any stock production four-door sedan is reportedly eligible to go up against the Big V, and the drivers will be lining up against the clock on October 29 at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, N.Y. While Jalop’s Wes Siler was originally slated to go up against Lutz in a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, that car has since been switched out in favor of the Jaguar XFR (earning the ire of TTAC in the process).
Here’s the best part: Anyone who happens to own a new comparable sport sedan, such as a BMW M3 or M5, perhaps a Mercedes-Benz AMG sedan or the Audi S4 (not to mention the Mitsubishi Evolution), is welcome to submit themselves for consideration to take part in the festivities in New York. We’re not sure how the participants will be selected or exactly what the racing will entail, but if you’re interested in throwing your hat into the ring,
Hopefully they do this in a year when BMW’s new V8TT is ready.
If I am not mistaken they already raced the M5 and CTS-V around this track.
Heinricy is confident his 6-speed manual V can run with the ultra-racy paddle-shifted M5. Looking at the stats, the V has a big advantage with 56 more horsepower, 168 lb.-ft. more torque and only a 150-lb. weight penalty. He puts the power to good use and stretches the legs of his V to 149.18 mph and runs a 2:45.55. Our Vbox GPS data shows that both drivers and cars are performing nearly identical laps. With the water patch drying and the sun warming the track surface, both drivers start running cool-down laps between fast laps. It’s the last session and it’s too close to call yet. Auberlen runs two hard laps and comes in first with a smile. His timing beacon says he did a 2:44.70 and the GPS data agrees. Heinricy is still out and Kevin Smith of Cadillac’s communications is perspiring. The V is flagged in, Smith’s stopwatch says it’s close. The V ran three fast laps, each one faster than the previous by a tenth of a second. The final one is a 2:44.23, just under a half-second faster than the BMW. Could the M5 go quicker? Maybe. But for now we’ll have to let the track get back to its construction.
Cadillac won by the skin of its teeth and all the participants walked away happy. Cadillac has made a CTS-V that can best the BMW M5 for likely the cost difference of a Chevy Malibu, while BMW knows its 3-year-old M5 is still close competition for the newest CTS-V. I’m sure BMW will be glad to raise the bar again with the next M5, but for now the V is king.
I guess Motor Trend Magazine “Best drivers cars” already tested Jag XF-R against CTS-V around Laguna Seca Raceway. Lap times: CTS-V 103.90 XF-R 105.40. Obiviously different track and different drivers but decent comparison.
Instead, they’re afraid the XFR can’t handle the strain. Specifically, the brakes. Without better brake cooling, Schorr tells us his folks are concerned the XFR just can’t put the necessary laps in without endangering the driver.
They built a performance car that can’t do 5 laps?
I think it means that the European high-performance sedans are excellent, even superb cars, but quite possibly not ready for racing laps right out of the show-room. The CTS-V is not only quicker, but will, in totally untweaked, stock form, run hot laps at any race track until it runs out of fuel. Transmission oil and diff oil temps are stable, engine oil temp doesn’t go up, brakes get a bit more pedal travel, but don’t fade. The street tires get a tad greasy, but handling and control remain excellent. “May the best car win”! (It wins automatically if the competitors won’t show up!)
Props to Bob and GM if that’s accurate, very difficult to get a brake setup from the factory that can perform on the street (without noise) and on the track (without death).
2009 Cadillac CTS-V will employ a unique Brembo brake system for the first time in
North America, with six-piston, aluminum, monobloc calipers and 14.6-in. (370mm) dual-cast
rotors in front and 4-piston, aluminum calipers and 14.4-in. (365mm) one-piece rotors in the
rear. Unlike traditional cast iron discs, dual-cast discs are made of two materials – cast iron
and aluminum – and offer many advantages, including a 15-20 per cent reduction in weight,
greater driving comfort, less corrosion, wear and resistance to fade, and better braking
performance.
This… I was think the RS6 could show up if Audi wanted to be a dick
A lot of cars use a similar setup, M5, M3 ZCP, etc… Just not with brembo calipers, but that doesn’t address the stock pad issue that will probably arise on all cars