Road Test
Cadillac CTS 3.6 V6 Sports Luxury
Test date 03 September 2008
Price as tested £30,000
For Fantastically well equipped, neutral handling balance, striking looks
AgainstUnresponsive engine/gearbox, high running costs, dubious trim materials
Cadillac is as American as Coca Cola or McDonald’s. Unlike those other two cultural icons of Americana, however, Cadillac has never been embraced by the world outside the United States. British buyers in particular have never taken Cadillac seriously as a luxury brand.
It sold right-hand-drive cars between 1998 and 2001, but the 300bhp, front-wheel-drive Seville STS was a wayward beast and only a handful trickled out of showrooms. Cadillac tried again in 2005 with the previous CTS. It was a more convincing effort, but still trailed European rivals.
This time around, though, there’s a new European importer and an all-new version of the BMW 5-series-rivalling CTS saloon to spearhead the rebirth of the brand.
Eventually there will be estate and coupé body styles as well as an all-new (and in this marketplace essential) V6 turbodiesel, but for now we must make do with the 2.8-litre and 3.6-litre petrol V6s. It’s the more powerful 307bhp 3.6 that we test here.
There are two big questions that need to be answered: can an American luxury car work in Europe, and can Cadillac finally make a truly convincing American alternative to the best European and Japanese executive saloon competition?
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