New Guy-test Drive

[lewisforjesus]

I've made 2 post so far, but have been reading on the forums since 1st part of April. I just want to say I really enjoy all of the input(well most of it). Southern is a character. I think I look forward to his posts most. I plan to order an 09 CTS this fall. I'll be trying to keep up with you folks. Look forward to hearing from ya'll. P.S. I'll place a detailed post about a test drive my wife and I took(reason for the name of the thread). Thanks Lewis

[TSS]

[mkaresh]

Lewis, stop being a tease and post those impressions. I clicked on the thread expecting them, and got vaporware

[lewisforjesus]

OK, here it comes. But know this, "I'm a slow typer. P.S. I got a good laugh from the last post. Lewis

[lewisforjesus]

BTW, this will take while because I want to be very detailed. Lewis

[lewisforjesus]

This will involve 2 test drives. (1)My wife and I had gone to the OKC car show the 1st weekend of March. After looking that day, I was down to the Lexus IS250, Infinity G35, and 2008 CTS. Really leaning toward the Lexus because of it's size, but thought the CTS was the best looking. The next weekend we went to test drive. The CTS 1st(We were both sooooooo impressed)the car didn't feel big,but planted. Still what can you get out of 15 minutes ? Next the Lexus. A nice ride, but kind of mushy and boring. Neither one of us liked the interior as well as the CTS(nor the exterior as far as that goes). Then the G35. Was a fun drive,very perky and handled well, but a very harsh ride. It had some features I liked, but just didn't have that good combination of luxury and sport the CTS had. CTS still better looks in and out. Oh, after the ride in the Lexus, my wife said she liked the CTS. I grinned and told her that's the way I was leaning. After the G35, she commented she liked the ride in the back seat better than the others(she chose to ride back there). So, we made our way back the Cadillac dealership and spent another 2 hours talking to the salesman and taking pictures. Oh, we drove AWD in all 3. The salesman had a DVD-A 5.1 surround sound dvd to put in the sound system. I was impressed(Eagles- Hotel California). Anyway, we went home that day(I could have stayed longer) knowing what car we wanted. Now the wait. Still I like to research things out very well, so I started reading everything I could about the CTS. This is how I stumbled across this forum. I haven't left since. I also knew that just because the CTS is the best looking car inside and out, I wanted to make sure it would perform to my liking.

Since we were going to be making a trip to the Denver area(Brighton) in about a month, I decided that would be a good time to rent a CTS(all kinds of driving). I started 3 weeks ahead of time to reserve one. I came to find out there was only one in all of OKC to rent. I checked everywhere I could think. I found out the week before I was going to get it.

Pick-up day: I had to drive 81 miles to the Enterprise store @ Bob Moore Cadillac/Saab in north OKC. When asked for my credit card and drivers license, I reached to my back pocket, no wallet. I left it at home, 81 miles away. So, home I went, got my wife to get off work early so I could get back to Enterprise before noon. Got the car checked to us(now I'm grinning). We swapped our luggage, I checked the car out well, looked under the hood, all looks well. Topped off with gas and off we went.

I knew we wanted to go over Raton Pass in New Mexico, so through western Oklahoma,Texas Panhandle, and a short stretch through the NE corner of New Mexico. We spent the night in Clayton,NM. Next morning I washed the car and used detailer spray. Hit I-25 in Raton, set the cruise @ 75 toward the pass. several people passing me prior to the pass, but after we started climbing the pass the CTS never balked and we flew 75MPH right past everybody(it may have slowed to 74 a couple of times, but the cruise adjusted very quickly to 75). Oh, I forgot to mention, this is a base model all the way(Crystal Red Tintcoat). We had taken a mountain pass west of Pueblo, Colorado in 2002 off of HWY 50. HWY 50 west to 67N. I knew this road had some dirt road(good forest road),and wanted to put the CTS through its paces on dirt and gravel along with twisty pavement.

Now it gets fun. 67 RD turns into a dirt/gravel road in about 2 miles north of HWY 50. There is about 18 miles of it. On 67 RD in that 2 miles of narrow paved road, I had to pass a vehicle by looking through the curves(we are X motorcycle riders). What a blast. I need to back up a little. In these 1st 2 days before we got to our fun mountain pass, we were primarily on 2 lane highways, so I had the opportunity to pass several times. I just left it in drive and floored it. It would down shift 2 gears(very spontaneously) and away we would go. Again I'm impressed. I hit a 100mph a handfull of times and just over 120mph at least once. 120 felt very secure(the car was planted like it was being held to the ground). Through all of this, it was so quiet and smooth. I like the road feel(felt good to drive a rear wheel drive car again). My wife couldn't see the speedometer. When I told her how fast I had it, she was amazed. Now back to the mountain. Dinner break.

The dirt was fun from the beginning. I learned the car as we went. I turned the TC(traction control) on and the handling improved. With each curve I gained more confidence. Please realize this road was very narrow, so as I would get the rear into a slide, I couldn't just steer into it and hold the slide until it straightened out. I had to back off of the throttle and let it come into control. I then thought to try the sport mode(never had this before). Well now, the fun became funner(more fun). I was laying through the curves faster with more control. When the car would begin to slide, I could back off of the throttle way less than before and not have to use the brakes before I went into the next curve. With sport mode, when backing off the throttle just a little, the car would downshift one gear and the rear would immediately straighten. I was having fun because I was really able to push the car and myself to our limits(I learned how to control slide in high school). BTW, I'm 51 years young. I contained myself enough to stop a few times for my wife to get some pictures. Not another vehicle on the road for the whole 18 miles of dirt road. The only people we seen were guys on the river trout fishing(I was having more fun than they). If I figure out how to post pics, I'll add a few of our route(I may need some assistance). The dirt ended and I took a deep breath and smiled generously & thankfully(my wife did a little praying. Well, I heard the name of JESUS a couple of times, so I'm giving her the benefit of a doubt).

We hit the pavement to Victor. A short break, we have tornado sirens going off. OK. We took the Lazy S Ranch Rd to 83 Rd through Stratton. @ Hoosier Pass went east on a few more miles of dirt road to north on Lazy S Ranch Rd. (again) which turns into 67 Rd again to west HWY 24 to north on HWY 285 to Denver. That's our route. Now to the driving on the twisty mountain pavement.

This was just as much fun as the dirt(actually faster and more tense, but really fun). I decided to check out manual mode. This worked really well for the twisty pavement. Total control of the RPM's. This allowed me to keep the throttle pressed. In a straight-a-way I wound the RPM's up and shifted up, back off the throttle and shift down at the same time, back into the throttle and around the curve. Depending on the tightness of the curve determined if I downshifted 1 or 2 gears. Lots of 2nd & 3rd gear driving @ 4k-6k on the tach. I really got the feel of the car(and it felt great). It does return the favor. The engine sounds wonderful with revs on it. My wife is a trooper. I don't think anybody else would have let me have my fun to the extreme she did. I think many would have had wet pants. She's a great navigator too. On the twisty pavement, she was watching the detailed Colorado map we bought on the way to the mountain. I knew I liked a manual trans for cutting up, but that Manual-matic is the boss(IMO). It is very spontaneous up and down. Allows you to keep your left foot planted on the floorboard and really hang on in the curves. That transmission is down right fun. The engine very responsive to the throttle. It performed better than expected and lived upto my hopes. I was sold before we got to Denver. I rented for a week. After we got back home I had the opportunity to clean it up good and put a better shine on than this rental car has ever had. BTW, the dirt roads dusted everything up, but not a sign anywhere in the interior. Not even a smell of dust during the ride. After church on Wednesday night, guess who was looking the car over with awe ? The young couples. You had to be there. The lady at Enterprise thanked me graciously for cleaning and waxing the car. I told her "if it was mine, that's what I would have done.

Only one negative, and I fixed that myself. When I got the car the engine had a little ticking noise(I just assumed this was inherent of this engine). When we got to Denver(Brighton) the ticking noise was louder. I knew that wasn't normal. So I checked the oil. Exactly one quart low. I bought a quart of the proper type(I had read some of the owners manual prior to the rental day). Guess what ? The ticking noise was completely gone. Lesson learned, "OIL LEVEL IS CRITICAL".

We had to take another trip to Denver this weekend for mothers Day. Needless to say"I missed the CTS with a passion". Oh, my wife and I had both said (prior to this rental) we wouldn't want a red one. By day 2, we had changed our minds(both of us). Not saying that's the color we'll get(want to see the new colors this fall), but it is on our list. We have decided we want the Ebony interior. The wait is already painful.

We were both very comfortable. We liked the seats(will be even better with the adjustable lumbar support). The climate control is awesome.

Please feel free to ask questions.

Hope this post will benefit someone, and hope many of you enjoy. Lewis

[mkaresh]

Thanks for posting this, Lewis.

Are you planning to order the base engine and base suspension, as in the rental?

One cautionary note: the traction control and stability control are on by default. If you hit the button, you turned one or both off, not on. But with the stability control it's likely that a tap on the button only turns off the traction control and retards the stability control, and that an extended push is needed to actually turn it off.

Can anyone confirm what that button does?

[lewisforjesus]

Thanks for the caution. I still need to read the rest of the owners manual. But, I have plenty of time for that.

BTW, I left a couple of details out(I reallized after I went to bed,CTS always on my mind. Maybe should make a song). We drove the car over 1900 miles and averaged 23.4mpg with all of the different types of driving(that seems reasonable to me).

We intend to get the Direct Injection engine with FE2 suspension & AWD. AWD so we can go where we want when we want(Colorado in the winter).
We will be getting a fully loaded CTS without the sunroof.

Look forward to more responses and questions. Lewis

P.S. Anyone with some help on how to post some photos ? Thanks in advance.

[TSS]

Great idea to rent for a long trip to solidify your decision. Any idea what the speed limiter is? You said you hit "over 120". I would have figured for a base model without FE3 or performance tires, it would have cut-off earlier.

[lewisforjesus]

No idea on the speed limiter. It rose to 122 and no signs of tapering off. The car felt great. The steering was very solid and steady.

[mkaresh]

The base tires are H-rated, so probably around 128.

Speedometers often read high at such speeds, as well.

[TSS]

Originally Posted by mkaresh

The base tires are H-rated, so probably around 128.

I learn something new everyday! My past few sedans (01 SLS; 99 LHS) have had cut-offs much earlier. The SLS could surely handle the speed and the Northstar certainly is capable, but I know the tires are not rated for that (the STS tires were). I am surprised the BASE CTS has H tires. Maybe I am just getting old and am behind the times....

[mkaresh]

You never know when someone might want to take their rental to 120...

[TSS]

Originally Posted by mkaresh

You never know when someone might want to take their rental to 120...

A bit off topic. I drove 145 on a safe, closed highway in ideal weather conditions a few years back (with the assistance of some local Police friends). Nonetheless, it scared me. I was still accelerating strongly at 145 and then I started thinking about tire blow-outs, a deer running out, etc. I got it all out of my system, and rarely have driven over 80 since except in rare highway passing situations. Therefore, I have not "met" the speed limiter in a very long time. I guess it begs the question then as to why I removed it from my Lade when I re-programmed the PCM. Probably the same reason why I still have a pair of size 34 jeans. Wishful thinking......

[lewisforjesus]

Hey, I left no stone unturned during my test drive. It caused me to be final in my decision for a 2nd gen. CTS. It's a drivers car with luxury. I hope everyone is enjoying their CTS as much as I'm going to(and as much as I enjoyed the rental). Lewis