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196K views 357 replies 154 participants last post by  gogmgo 
#1 ·
What options? How was the dealer experience?

Post pics too.
 
#338 ·
Re: STS-V owners, check in!

2006 9400 miles Land vehicle Vehicle Car Cadillac sts Sedan
 
#339 ·
I own a 2008 STS-V but it does all its driving on the other side of the pond in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and the UK to be exact. There are a few other countries but you get the idea. Driving differences - a few. The car is speed limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) and one hits that rev limiter frequently - so we had them remove it and now it taps out at about 270 km/h which allows pretty quick travel on the various highways. But of course at cruising speeds of 200 km/h+ the fuel tank empties at a prodigious rate and so I find myself stopping for 98 octane gasoline every 90 mins or so. These cars deserve 80-liter fuel tanks - not the 68 liter ones that seem to have become de rigeur in the past ten/fifteen years. I have heard that it has to do with gaming the CAFE system - not sure but it is a nuisance. A few years ago Cadillac Europe very kindly replaced my hood because on some models shipped to Europe the hoods flew off at speeds above 240 km/h and in fact I remember mine shuddering at those speeds. I very much appreciated Cadillac Europe's excellent customer service.

It is an absolute blast to drive in Europe - the Europeans love the car; they follow it; photograph it; race it; smudge it; and give me the thumbs up everywhere I go. On three lane highways that climb there is nothing more enjoyable than getting in the passing lane to zip by all the trucks and small-engined econo-boxes which are furiously changing gears to extract what little torque they can while the Cadillac majestically sweeps by in regal comfort and elegance. And Europeans love the sound of that supercharged V8 at idle -as do I. For an unforgettable vacation if you really love to drive ship your STS-V to Europe for a month.
 
#342 ·
Nice to hear!
 
#344 ·
Re: STS-V owners, check in!

Hello everyone, just stopping by to check in as the thread invites us to do. Bought my '08 back in May 2018 here in Louisville. She used to be owned by member rcamp4125 up in Dayton apparently as the VIN shows up in the STS-V Owner's Registry thread. Her name is Veronica for the record :bigroll: and just turned 88,000 miles yesterday morning. She's light platinum with ebony interior, chrome (polished) wheels, chrome door handles, a C pillar wreath & crest, stage 1 & 2 intake and Borla catbacks. All the mods were done prior to my purchase. I've attached a few pics.

I look forward to being a part of the forum/community here and hope to get to know you guys over time - I plan to keep her for a while. I've only put about 2500 miles on her in 8 months but I'm about to start daily driving her when the weather isn't poor. I LOVE the car man, she's spectacular. Hope everyone is well and that your families - including your V's - are healthy and happy too.

Take care! -Chris-
 

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#345 ·
My STS-V I got out of a auction in Up-State New York. Now it is a Texas ride........ It had a white wrap and I have worked to restore her.....it has come a long way....Allot of work but it is getting their. I have an ABS and stabilization issue to fix then it should be 100%.....before and after picture

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Luxury vehicle
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Cadillac sts Luxury vehicle
 
#346 ·
My STS-V I got out of a auction in Up-State New York. Now it is a Texas ride........ It had a white wrap and I have worked to restore her.....it has come a long way....Allot of work but it is getting their. I have an ABS and stabilization issue to fix then it should be 100%.....before and after picture

View attachment 545806 View attachment 545808
Car is looking really good now! Would it be possible to post more higher quality pics?
 
#348 ·
Great. Post a pic when you get a minute.
 
#349 ·
Congratulations - I also have a CTS-V Mk II and Mk III but I have to tell you that it is the most elegant of the three besides having the best interior - that interior was built by Draxelmaeir, the German interiors company - they built a beautiful interior but I believe Cadillac did not renew their contract because they were too expensive. So as you now the car has a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) but you can take the speed limiter off which I have done because otherwise I get beaten by W12 Bentleys on the run between Lake Constance and Munich. Without the limiter the car comfortably reaches 270 and then ***s out. Also at those speeds the hood used to shake and sometimes blew off - so in Europe all STS-Vs had their hoods replaced and now at speeds above 240 kmh it does not shake. Its a great car - the only downside is the quirky nav system that is not intuitive. But otherwise it is a gem of a car. Enjoy it -
 
#351 ·
Just before Covid-19 lockdown at the end of February I got the itch to drive from Zug Switzerland to Girona in Spain. It was a dark and cold Saturday morning (very early) and I got into the STS-V and drove the long way 'round to get to Spain - normally drivers would drop down to Italy and then cut over to Torino and down to Ventimiglia before crossing the border into France and taking the crescent highway that coasts by Monaco, Nice, St Tropez and Marseille before cutting over the border in Spain - about 8-9 hours door-to-door. But that meant spending an extra 2 hours driving in Switzerland which is tedious - the top speed is 120 kmh but it oscillates all over from 120 to 100 (in tunnels) to 80 in work zones (of which there are many) and back up again. So I decided to go north and arrived in Basel (the Swiss city that straddles 3 countries) and then cut over to France. France probably has the second best highway system in the world (after Spain) and so it is a real joy to drive. The highway patrol is much stricter than in the past (in fact 20-30 years ago there was no speed limit) but you can still get by with relaxed cruising at a bit over the official limit of 130 kph - and tickets are derisory in any case.

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This is me reaching the first toll booth in Spain and you can see the cops on the side of the road - because Europe has Schengen (no more customs and border controls among the countries that have adopted it - most of Europe with the exception of those knuckleheads in GB) - it is a joy to drive over country lines (just like driving among states in the USA). However in this case Covid-19 had begun to rear its ugly head and the cops were out in force although to what purpose it was hard to discern.
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Here I am filling up the car with V-power gasoline at a Shell station (98 or 101 Octane - cant remember - but I remember the price at €1.80/liter). I will let those curious enough to calculate what that comes out in terms of $/gallon. You will be shocked. But for these high prices you get true driving freedom in Europe.



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This is the little port town that was made famous by the Catalan painter Salvador Dali who was also famous in Spain for driving a Cadillac which is now memorably displayed in the Dali Museum nearby.
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On the return I eschewed the highway and took the coastal road from Cadaques to Cerbere over the border in France (as you can see there are no customs and border controls anymore - it is wonderful). It is especially wonderful for those French and Spanish who remember the days when Spain was a dictatorship under Franco and was antagonistic to most of democratising Europe. So at the time (until the 80s) the border between France and Spain was heavily guarded and controlled - and now nothing - we are so much better off in Europe with these freedoms.

So I spent the night near Girona, had dinner in Girona and on Sunday drove back the long way to Switzerland. You can see that on the map.
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#352 ·
I had not driven my '08 STS-V in over 6 months and now it smells of sulfur - and you all know what that means - it is either the catalytic converter or the fuel filter or both - can't leave a car for six

months. Well on this trip I decided to stretch its legs and so
Map World Line Atlas Parallel
drove 1,060 kilometers in one day and stopped for 100-octane gasoline 3x so I averaged about 350 kilometers per fill up - not much range but then Cadillacs all have small fuel tanks these days - the STS-V only carries 66 liters which at 20 liters ever 100 km or 5 km/liter gets drained very quickly!

But I digress.

Yesterday, Saturday, I woke up at 04h00 to drive from Massa on the Tuscan coast to Zug, Switzerland for a breakfast meeting at 10h00. When I got to Zug the temp readout on my dashboard was -6.5c. It was cold and you can see from the photos that the car is streaked from the heavily salted Swiss highways. I always like that look but over the next few days I'm going to get it washed off. On the way back from Zug I made a detour to Bergamo to pick up a Valentine's Day gift for my better half and from there I headed down to Parma on the empty and 3-laned E70 highway where I got the opportunity to Vmax the cobwebbed engine around 265-270 kph. It was a very enjoyable drive. I stopped for food near Ghedi - and for those of you who were in the military in Europe, might recognise the name. It still houses 40 B61 thermonuclear weapons managed by the US air force - just a few hundred meters from where I was enjoying a delicious panino with prosciutto crudo. It is a funny world. I made it back to Massa by 19h00 and just in time to grab a delicious pizza from my local before settling down to binge watch Season 5 of Engranage (Spiral in English) on Amazon.
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#354 ·
2006 Cadillac STS-V

1 week into STS-V ownership, love it so far! I am a Sales Mgr at a Caddy dealership so I was somewhat familiar with these before I purchased it as well as I have owned a Platinum with the 4.6 (although the 4.6 is a completely different motor than the 4.4 SC - build and all). So far, for having a fair amount of miles and being 15 years old, I cannot complain. My commute is 90 minutes round trip each day, so the 6 speed Challenger RT (previously owned, traded in, daily driver) had to go. I am glad to be back in a Caddy, not my first STS but my first V and it is a blast! I love the original look, but am going to mod it a touch. So far I have only altered the exhaust. Really the only other things I want to do right away is a stainless intake, lower and level, Ceramic coating is a must, black rims, and tint to keep the black leather coolish, hopefully lessening the after work oven factor. Other than that, she is perfect! Bone dry underneath (I have seen 06 DTS's with 20k on them with more fluids spilling out than a bimbo in an orgy scene so dry was a fun surprise), also it looks like the seals have already been done as well the trans and oil cooler lines although I am not 100% certain. The only issue is the dreaded 6 speed "what gear do I want to be in I can't make a decision" problem. It seems common from the threads as well my STS, Old School Caddy tech. When it completely fails I will address it as it happens only about once a week at low slow down speeds. Until then, manual mode in town it is - more fun/loud anyways! I will try and keep up with progress pics as I work on it.

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#356 ·
2006 STS-V and 2022 CT4-V Blackwing. And my co-workers said bronze on black was a dumb choice, hmmm... lol. I'm changing to gloss black next spring, not that I didn't like the bronze but I like to switch it up more or less. Obviously some major differences here, but I thought it would be a cool pic when I saw the CT4-V Blackwing come off the truck the other day. Thoughts anyone, keep the brass on my 2006 or go with black murdered out next spring? FYI, yes I know mine is dirty. I have Ceramic on it but a 45 mile drive to work in MN doesn't allow me to keep a black car clean unfortunately. When it's washed though, momma it sparkles!

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