I'm looking into a 03-up CTS now i see there is a 3.2 and 3.6 motor,please explain thre motors and what motor they are based off of.
Can you only the get the 3.2 in a stick? can you get the 3.6 in a stick?
Are the CTS's good cars?

Just a break down please.

What I know is in 2003 the CTS only came in 2.8 and 3.2 motors. 2004 and up it comes in 2.8 and 3.6. No more 3.2 motors.

03 was only the 3.2L engine (I don't think they made the 2.8L one... did they?), then 04 and up you get the 2.8L and 3.6L engines....

3.2L vs. 3.6L - if you can go for the 3.6L, if you don't much care and want to save money go with the 3.2L 03 CTS - it's not weak by any means, or even a 2.8L if you don't care at all about power....

you can get stick in both....

CTS is a great car, and coming from me that says a lot.... I have had many problems with my 03 but still like the car and hope to upgrade to either a newer CTS or even the CTS-V in the near future.....

go for it!!! :thumbsup:

You may be right Kali about there not being a 2.8 made in 2003. I did test drive a 2.8 and 3.2 and the 3.2 seemed like it had lot more power than the 2.8.

03 was only the 3.2L engine (I don't think they made the 2.8L one... did they?), then 04 and up you get the 2.8L and 3.6L engines....

3.2L vs. 3.6L - if you can go for the 3.6L, if you don't much care and want to save money go with the 3.2L 03 CTS - it's not weak by any means, or even a 2.8L if you don't care at all about power....

you can get stick in both....

CTS is a great car, and coming from me that says a lot.... I have had many problems with my 03 but still like the car and hope to upgrade to either a newer CTS or even the CTS-V in the near future.....

go for it!!! :thumbsup:


Right, the only engine available in '03 was the 3.2 - after that it's the 2.8 or the 3.6. All are good engines - the 3.6 & 2.8 have VVT, but the earlier 3.2 is a fine engine in its own right and is quicker than the new 2.8. Auto 5-speed or manual 6-speed - both are available with all engines & both gearboxes are superb.

Do some reading on-site - that's the best way to learn what folks think of the car and how it's performed for individual members. Nearly all love it in spite of what problems they may have encountered.

The most troubling weakness, imho, is the differential - but some folks have had no problems at all with it. Do a search on differential & you'll find quite a bit of info regarding differential failure/replacement...

MarvB is right, use the search tool and you can find pretty much anything you want to know about the car.... and yes there is a few of them that are maybe not to par, but a lot of the people here are without any problems.... just how it goes and happens with every car company not just this one!!!

I think the styling of the car is still by far the best out there!!! :thumbsup:

Ok, heres the break down:

03- Only available in 3.2L V6 engine. Five speed manual or five speed auto
04- Available in 3.6L 5 speed auto or 3.2L with 5 speed manual
05 to current- Available in 3.6L or 2.8L engine. Your choice between a 5 speed auto and 6 speed manual.

I have owned both and 03 3.2L auto and now have an 04 3.6L auto. BOTH ARE VERY quick. Obviously the 3.6 is fairly quicker. The 3.2 has 220hp and the 3.6 has 255hp. Unless your some kind of pro- the 5 speed auto is going to be faster than a manual. The auto in sport mode really screams. Your best bet is going to be a 3.6L. The 3.6 gets the best gas mileage of any of the engines and still has the most power. If youre lookin to save some bucks go with an 03 with the 3.2. I WOULD NEVER GET A 2.8. Also, try to get something with the luxury sport package.

Heres what each package includes:
Luxury package-
Wood grain shifter
wood grain steering wheel
wood grain door handles
heated seats
power passenger seat

Sport package-
HID Headlights
Stabiltrack (stability system to prevent sliding/spinning out, has saved my ass more times than I can count)
17" rims
auto leveling rear shocks
better suspension for better handling

Heres my kills in my 3.2:
Late 90s Mitsubishi eclipse
2003 Nissan maxima rated at 265 HP- took him from behind even
About even with an infinity G35- From about 40mph I had the slight edge
V6 mustang with 5 people in my car-LOL

Heres my kills in my 3.6:
Early 2000's Honda Accord- smoked him bad
Late 90's Honda Civic with fart cannon and other mods Im sure- smoked!
99 Cadillac STS (300 HP northstar)- My brothers car, burned him bad!


For some reason I have a hard time finding races in my 3.6. I think its more intimidating since its black. My 3.2 was White Diamond. In case youre wondering why I got rid of the 3.2- I totaled it back in march on the freeway. Rollover accident with no seatbelt, walked (hopped) away with a broken leg. ****er saved my life!

Great post Nick.:thumbsup: It had alot of info and personnel expirences. I give it...:2thumbs:

Ok, heres the break down:

03- Only available in 3.2L V6 engine. Five speed manual or five speed auto
04- Available in 3.6L 5 speed auto or 3.2L with 5 speed manual
05 to current- Available in 3.6L or 2.8L engine. Your choice between a 5 speed auto and 6 speed manual.

I have owned both and 03 3.2L auto and now have an 04 3.6L auto. BOTH ARE VERY quick. Obviously the 3.6 is fairly quicker. The 3.2 has 220hp and the 3.6 has 255hp. Unless your some kind of pro- the 5 speed auto is going to be faster than a manual. The auto in sport mode really screams. Your best bet is going to be a 3.6L. The 3.6 gets the best gas mileage of any of the engines and still has the most power. If youre lookin to save some bucks go with an 03 with the 3.2. I WOULD NEVER GET A 2.8. Also, try to get something with the luxury sport package.

Heres what each package includes:
Luxury package-
Wood grain shifter
wood grain steering wheel
wood grain door handles
heated seats
power passenger seat

Sport package-
HID Headlights
Stabiltrack (stability system to prevent sliding/spinning out, has saved my ass more times than I can count)
17" rims
auto leveling rear shocks
better suspension for better handling

Heres my kills in my 3.2:
Late 90s Mitsubishi eclipse
2003 Nissan maxima rated at 265 HP- took him from behind even
About even with an infinity G35- From about 40mph I had the slight edge
V6 mustang with 5 people in my car-LOL

Heres my kills in my 3.6:
Early 2000's Honda Accord- smoked him bad
Late 90's Honda Civic with fart cannon and other mods Im sure- smoked!
99 Cadillac STS (300 HP northstar)- My brothers car, burned him bad!


For some reason I have a hard time finding races in my 3.6. I think its more intimidating since its black. My 3.2 was White Diamond. In case youre wondering why I got rid of the 3.2- I totaled it back in march on the freeway. Rollover accident with no seatbelt, walked (hopped) away with a broken leg. ****er saved my life!

My 03 has the luxury package with the HID's!! Don't know about the self leveling shocks though.......

The 03 LUX didnt come with HID's. I have an 03 with the Sport/Lux package.... And I don't have HID's. I didn't think Cadillac did HID's until 05.

The 03 LUX didnt come with HID's. I have an 03 with the Sport/Lux package.... And I don't have HID's. I didn't think Cadillac did HID's until 05.
maybe yours was special order...my car and TripleOughts car both have HIDs and we both have luxury sport 2003's.

Ok, heres the break down:

03- Only available in 3.2L V6 engine. Five speed manual or five speed auto
04- Available in 3.6L 5 speed auto or 3.2L with 5 speed manual
05 to current- Available in 3.6L or 2.8L engine. Your choice between a 5 speed auto and 6 speed manual.

I have owned both and 03 3.2L auto and now have an 04 3.6L auto. BOTH ARE VERY quick. Obviously the 3.6 is fairly quicker. The 3.2 has 220hp and the 3.6 has 255hp. Unless your some kind of pro- the 5 speed auto is going to be faster than a manual.

just to clarify...

2003 also came with a 2.6L, but that was a European model.
Also in 2003, the luxury package didn't come with HID's, but the Sport package did. Yes, it also had load-levelling shocks for whoever asked.
About the manual being slower then the auto, i'm no pro, but I've beaten a friends 3.6L 3 of 4 times to 60 or 70. 100 lbs less weight and more aggressive gears certainly help :thumbsup:

nickc50310 thanks for the info along with the rest of you!

i wish i got the sports package :-(

Also, the 3.2 is a completely different motor based on the German Opel/Catera 3.0L V6. It's an iron block, aluminum head, DOHC motor. The 2.8 and 3.8 are the new design 'Global V6' with Variable Valve Timing (VVT), which gives a nice flat torque curve to redline. It's an all aluminum engine that was originally supposed to go into the CTS from the start, but was late in production. GM chose to release the CTS anyhow around January 2002 with the Opel derived motor. Once the 3.6 was available for the 2004 model year (summer of 2003) then it was put into the Automatic CTS's.

All manual trans 2003 and 2004 cars have the older 3.2L motor. So do all 2003 automatics. Since GM didn't have a strong enough manual trans for the 3.6L yet, you could only get the 3.2 with the 5 speed Getrag in 2004. 2005 brought the 6 speed Aisin manual trans, which IMHO, is the car to have, especially the sport model. Max power and a manual transmission. Add a set of CMS headers, a Volant CAI, and a Corsa dual exhaust, and you're pushing almost 300 HP. Then install Eibach springs, V sway bars, and you have a killer road race machine that handles like its on rails.

The 2.8 was introduced recently as a smaller version (entry level) of the 3.6L motor. Its easy to tell, since it has a single exhaust, as do all stock, 3.2's.

Ody, did the 3.2L 2004's come with the 3.73 rear end like the 03's?

Yes. If it's a 3.2 manual trans car (2003 or 2004) it's got the 3.73:1 rear end and a Getrag five speed transmission. All other CTS's have 3.42:1 rear ends. The V has 3.73:1 and and LSD.

The gearing on on the Aisin 6-speed trasmission combined with the 3.42:1 differential, gives almost the same overall gear ratio's as the Getrag 5-speed and 3.73's, plus the addition of another overdrive gear. That combined with the increased torque of the 3.6, makes that particular car the best one, IMHO.

thanks ody!

I gotta say tho, I like the exhuast note from the 3.2L the best.

Do you know if the dual throttle bodies open at different stages? It seemed like at 4k rpm, the second would open. The sound changed and the power increased big time. The power could be a result of the power band delivery, but what about the sound?

Air rushing down a pipe makes noise, since it's typically a turbulant flow. When the valve opens in the intake tube and the second TB is active, you now have twice the air flowing down two pipes, which causes twice the noise. I also noticed that the TonyA mod increased noise considerable, since the airbox is also designed as an intake 'muffler'. That's also why open element filters like the K&N are so noisy.