2004-2007 Cadillac CTS-V General DiscussionDiscuss everything about the first generation Cadillac CTS-V that does NOT fall into either the Performance or Appearance Modification category.
I promised some reviews of the parts I got installed to help anyone who is thinking about trying some new mods on their car make an informed decision and know what you are getting into with these particular parts.
OC Autosports Drilled and Slotted Rotors:
These rotors look to have great build quality. The company shipped them very quickly and packaged them such that they would not sustain damage during the shipping process. I even received an email from somebody at the company (maybe the owner?) asking if the rotors arrived safely, how I liked them, and if I would provide some feedback on how they perform. Very good customer service. And they were very cheap, less than $400 for the set.
As for the performance, they (in conjunction with the Hawk HP+ pads) stop this car on a dime. I have never felt braking like this before. My stock brakes only had about 30,000 miles on them and they still felt pretty good, but this new setup makes a huge difference. The initial bite of the pads on these rotors feels very much improved. In the process of finishing the bedding in procedure for them, I did about 4 stops from 70-80 MPH down to zero and I could lock up the brakes and engage the ABS easily with these badboys, which I had trouble doing with my old stock brakes. I have not had these on a road course (and I probably won't) because of the drill holes, but on the street they have performed admirably and they look amazing in the process. I would highly recommend these rotors to someone in need of a brake job on their V and who knows that they are not the best choice for track duty, you would just have to switch back to the stock blanks for any track time. Great rotors!!!
Toyo Proxes R888s:
Let me start off by saying that I am aware that it is slightly crazy to run R-compound tires on the street with such a heavy car. I fully understand that I will most likely only get 6000-8000 miles out of these tires. I only put on about 2000-3000 miles on the car per year, so this means that I will get about 3-4 years out of these tires, I can handle that. The sizes are 235/35zr19 and 295/30zr19 and both the front and rear fenders have been rolled to accommodate the wider tires with the car being lowered.
The performance is crazy good. The turn-in is instantaneous, there is absolutely no sidewall rollover (they are almost as stiff as a runflat), and they grip in the corners like nobody's business. I have a hard time breaking these tires loose on high G corners where I used to be able to break my T1-Rs loose pretty easily. I have not maxed out the G meter with these tires yet as I have only been running them for about one month, but I am confident that I could easily pull off a 1.00-1.05 on the street.
Now for the downside. They do need to be heated up before getting too "spirited with them". The first day I had them it was like 50 degrees out and I got in the car and jumped onto to Hwy. 36 going from Broomfield, CO right down the road to Flatiron Crossing and I gunned it onto the Hwy. and I remember the tires feeling pretty squirrely all the way up to 90 MPH. I have now realized that from now on they need to be driven a little bit in the lower temps. before getting on it, or if the temp. is over 80 degrees, they are usually OK from the get-go. Also, they are much louder than my T1-Rs, due to the tread design, not a big deal.
I drove in light rain all the way home from Colorado to Wyoming and I never once had a problem or felt any hydroplaning. Now if it would have been raining really hard and there would have been puddled water on the Interstate, it might have been a different story. Overall I feel that the tires are very stable and fun to use. The upsides much outweigh the downsides for me. These tires definitely are not for everybody, but I just wanted to try something different with my V. On the other had, I don't think you could find a better tire if you take your car to the road course, these tires are the official tire of the Speed World Challenge for a reason.
561 Motorwerks Wheelhop Kit (same as KARS III Kit):
Well, what can I say about this kit? The whole kit was entirely too small (every dimension was too small by approximately 1/2"-3/4"). My speed shop had to cut up the bar and splice in material to make it fit. That was a bummer. What should have been a $400 install, ended up being a $1000 install due to all of the extra labor involved with making the kit fit.
But, does it do the job? Well...sort of. This was the first thing I tested after I picked up my car from my speed shop. Like I said above, the ambient temp. was 50 degress and the tires were very cold. I drove about a quarter mile down to the end of a cul-de-sac by the shop and turned around. I reved the car up to 1500 rpm and dropped the clutch. It wheelhoped just a much as before, but the intensity of the hopping seemed to be less. I was pissed. I just spent $1650 on a kit that doesn't even work...fear not...I tried again later that night. After driving on the interstate from Broomfield, CO to Fort Collins, CO (about 45 minutes of driving at 80+ MPH) the tires were better heated up and I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel we were staying at and got ready for another try. I reved the car to 1500 rpm again and dropped the clutch...A perfect hop-free burnout ensued...I was happy again.
The kit seems to work most of the time, but if the temps. are low enough or the tires are really cold, I will still get a lot of wheelhop. I can do 2nd gear rolling burnouts with zero wheelhop every time, but from a dig (1500-2000 rpm clutch drop) I can get a hop-free launch about 80% of the time. I would say the kit works (mostly) as advertised, but there are other downsides.
The diff whine and transmission noise has GREATLY been increased in the cabin. After a month with the kit on I have finally started to get used to the increased volume of the whine, but initially I considered ripping the kit right off because it was such a shock to have so much more noise in the cabin. My increased noise is probably also a function of the much stiffer sidewall R-compound tires and the increased road noise from said tires, but I think most of it is from the Wheelhop Kit. (Disclaimer: My speed shop installed the red poly bushings inside the differential brace and the bottom plate, which is wrong, they are supposed to go on the outside, so once I change that, the cabin noise may decrease.) For anyone looking to eliminate wheelhop on these cars, I would probably go for the new Axles over this mod, just my opinion.
I love the whole car pretty much. The wheels are my favorite on the V, but the color of the Red is too off from the other little hints of red on it (emblems, lights etc) and the width of red is a bit wide for my tastes. But nice nonetheless.
The tires width and appearance look amazing!
__________________ 2005 Black on Black - Maggie MP112 (2.8 Pulley) - 90mm TB - Dyno tuned 430RWHP - B&M Shifter/UUC Bushings - 15% Tint - Red Z06 FRC's - Muffler Delete - Blacked out lights - SRP Pedals PENDING installs: 2.6" blower pulley, Hawk HPS.FUTURE MODS: FI Cam, Headers, 160 T-Stat.
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Attribute the braking improvement to the Hawk pads...
Nice pics, though, porthole free! I liek!
Thanks TBJS. I also agree on the Hawks making the biggest difference. By the way, I forgot to mention that I do get some squeaking at low speeds with these pads, but again, like everything else, the performance increases outweight the downsides. The brake dust does not seem to be any worse than the stock Ferodos.
i gotta admit your car looks badasss from the rear. perfect wheel and tire size for the car.
p.s. put some armorall on your new tires cuz they look like whitewalls
looks fantastic!!!!!! nice write up also! love the wheels! love the tires... but curious because i have the HPS pads now and i do a ton of driving... how will the hp+ hold up? i'm not worried about the dust...
Yep. I have been told by a friend of mine that works in a tire shop that putting that dressing on your tire actually pulls the moisture out of the rubber and will eventually cause the rubber to break down faster than if you did not use the tire shine in the first place.
Yep. I have been told by a friend of mine that works in a tire shop that putting that dressing on your tire actually pulls the moisture out of the rubber and will eventually cause the rubber to break down faster than if you did not use the tire shine in the first place.
I'm pretty sure by the time all that happens, you're due for new tires anyway. Tire dressing makes the rims/tires and car as a whole look infinitely better, and if you use the right stuff there's no sling. Now on the TRACK I won't use the tire dressing (obviously) but driving around town? really!?
