Bye-bye M-640HP CTS-V

[F1Venom]

Looks awesome. They'll have a lot of road presence, for sure.

[FogCityM3]

At the LA auto show, there was zero question about it, the GT350 was the rock-star, generating all the buzz and excitement with reporters and photographers falling over themselves, going nuts when the flat plane crank engine was revved. Compare that to the first revving of the F80, which sounded so pathetically non-menacing and the clip also did generate a lot of publicity, but in a not so positive fashion. Silly thing to focus on ultimately, but the PR battle is being won by the Americans, who don't have to worry as much about fleet average fuel economy and are highly focused on releasing halo cars to brand build and are finally backing up claims with A-rated product. In the case of the GT350, the engineers basically said the car was at the edge of legal emissions compliance, which is how far the envelope has been pushed, in comparison to the safe, careful, risk averse decisions of the Euro manufacturers (and many of them don't have a choice).

[swanson]

Originally Posted by F1Venom

Looks awesome. They'll have a lot of road presence, for sure.

I think its very sharp looking. Aggressive, without being too much. Interesting, without looking boring.

[Rupes]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

While these cars are awesome on looks and power (in most respect) the overall quality is sub par. Every single GM car/truck I have owned has had shitty interior quality. Button paint always comes off everything. And for the most part, almost all the interiors look cheap.

And all that delco electronics crap needs to go. The vetts tech stuff looks cool though. I admit that. But Im not sold on anything american yet.

Sounds like you haven't owned an American car in the last few years. I haven't either, but have been in a few recently to know that this isn't the GM / Ford of old. Not saying I would buy one, but I'd at least rethink that mentality going forward. They seem to be surging forward while BMW is moving in a different (worse) direction.

[mjposner]

No one crosses shops a new M3/M4 with a Mustang GT350. Not in the same league or class, sorry. New buyers are looking at S5, E Class, maybe CTS-V.

This board (based on a poll) is 75% used buyers, and possibly would switch to a Ford, but these are not BMW customers.

We had a 2007 Caddy SRX for 6 years, one warranty issue, no interior problems, though they installed the wheels backwards at the factory (rears to front front to rears).

[Slops]

It looks awesome for sure!

[Candide13]

Originally Posted by mjposner

We had a 2007 Caddy SRX for 6 years, one warranty issue, no interior problems, though they installed the wheels backwards at the factory (rears to front front to rears).

Priceless!!

[san~man]

That white one in the video looks great with the cf package

[jkrig]

To add to the fun, reports are that a manual is coming....so theres that, curious to know if it will also get PTM.....shares alot with the Z06 so I would think so...

[jra85]

I'm definitely impressed with how Ford and GM cars have progressed over the last 8 or so years. I think the recession and resulting bailouts/loans helped give them a kick in the ass to start producing more attractive product too. I personally am intrigued by the Camaro Z/28

[Brian0473]

Tell you what, 'Merica is winning the HP wars and it does seem like they are finally figuring out interior design and materials (probably in that order). Once they start dropping DCT's in these cars they will be very hard to ignore.

[Reckamech]

Originally Posted by wisesoul

I have no doubt it will have the upper hand against the M5, E63 and RS7 in many instrumented tests. Good job GM, I'll have to make do with my lowly M5 for now
Let's just hope they didnt put the same conservative tune on this engine that is plaguing Z06 owners with power loss issues. Now that would really be a shame

The "power losses" were due to the CPU in the car shutting down because owners were not following the proper break in periods.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/12/...evy-follow-up/

[Rupes]

I'd really consider a Caddy for my next car but I really dislike those taillights. Still a bit too much of grandpas old DeVille for me. I have the same problem with the Chrysler 300 and pretty much any car with vertical taillights.

[Rat3d ///M]

I keep LOL'ing at all of these "fill in the blank just came out with a new car that is better than the M3" threads. If you are that unhappy with your M3, trade it in and let someone who will appreciate it drive the damn thing.

HP and Torque aren't everything. Sure, you can probably find 10 cars right now that are a) cheaper and b) faster than the M3. These aren't the fastest cars in the world. I knew that coming into this. But I don't regret my purchase for one minute, and though my opinion may be biased (the M3 has been my dream car in the "affordable" and "reasonable" category for as long as I have had my license) I have no intentions of ever selling it.

Bottom line, the M3 has several things these "cheaper" and "faster" cars don't. Reputation. Reliability. History. Character. Prestige. Not to mention respect. You can't replace those things with any amount of HP.

So go buy a Hellcat because they have 707HP and cost less than a new M3. If all you are after is "OMGZORZ I ken go zo fassst in a strait line!!1" then that's your prerogative. For me? In the same price range, there is not one other car I would rather have than the M3, regardless if it has 700 hp or 7000 hp.

[V8FunNaturally]

"Winning HP war " is the only thing american muscle car brands have been focused on for the last 40 years and too proud and arrogant about their product to ever look closely and understand the euro car refinement and design balance factor both in performance and interior. When chevy says they've got their stingray interior to the same level as euro luxuries they really believe it ! But it's like an american chef with 20 years of deep frying, bacon and potatoes who takes an accelerated 3 months class on european cooking and then thinks he can match generations of professional tradition of european cooking. He can't taste and tell the difference, (pig will eat truffles like mushrooms) but those who have owned the real thing can. And so those american companies staff are too arrogant to drive and own euro cars to discover and learn the difference. It would be blasphemy to them.

[Savage_M3]

At the end of the day, the Cadillac offerings are going to be the closest to being a real M3/M5 competitor outside of Germany.

[Flying Ace]

Yep, Germany's fault

[Wilsel]

It's almost 4200lbs. Too much to be a dual purpose vehicle IMO. Would be a fun DD, but I couldn't enjoy taking it to the track more than once.

[playground]

Originally Posted by F1Venom

These cars DO need AWD. I mean come on, these cars are meant to be daily driven and unless you're blessed with tropical weather, good luck driving a cts v in the snow.

No they don't. Some people just need to brush up on their driving skills, or they shouldn't be driving cars that they can't handle.

[onatuesday]

Originally Posted by playground

No they don't. Some people just need to brush up on their driving skills, or they shouldn't be driving cars that they can't handle.

They don't need AWD but they would have better traction/acceleration with it. Probably less fun in dry climates sure but not everyone wants to do powerslides all day, though I do

[F1Venom]

The fastest accelerating cars all have AWD (GTR, Porsche Turbo, and Bugatti) because traction is absolutely necessary in digs. Now, the CTS-V is highly unlikely to be a track car so the weight savings with it being RWD vs AWD aren't going to matter too much since it won't be tackling corners.

[Vigilante375]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Sort of made his point for him there.

Might have but I didn't say AWD. The Miata creator had a different mind set and didn't care for AWD.

Originally Posted by Blipit_

Here is the thing, when comparing factory times it isn't. He is cherry picking a time from Motor Trend test. Factory 0-60 for S8 is 3.9. The CTS is going to test quicker than 3.7 as well.

People will always rave and rave about magazine times, its our nature to argue about what others have done since we have no experience doing certain things. In real life, AWD will be better at some thing and RWD will be better at some things.

Originally Posted by F1Venom

These cars DO need AWD. I mean come on, these cars are meant to be daily driven and unless you're blessed with tropical weather, good luck driving a cts v in the snow.

So anyone who drives any car in the snow or rain needs an AWD vehicle? Well I guess I'm good since I have a 4WD vehicle. But AWD GT-Rs and R8s have AWD, they do good in the snow right?

Originally Posted by Reckamech

The "power losses" were due to the CPU in the car shutting down because owners were not following the proper break in periods.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/12/...evy-follow-up/

Yea and even after people have done the "500" miles the car still acts like it was before. There is something more going on and GM has programmed the ECU (not CPU) to be nannied for factory warranty purposes.