[Billfrombyron]

5 Lug V1 sporting V2 wheels always forces a double take ! My brain just doesn't compute. But it looks great, the red rotors calipers really look good there.

They are the CTS Base gen 2 luxury performance wheels.

Eventually my calipers will be illusion purple, rims anthracite and a sexy hunter green to deep purple wrap.

As much as I dislike sourcing 19" tires here, I absolutely love the look of the rims. If I had my cake and could eat it too I'd have the same rims in 18" for the cost savings.

-Byron

 

[D3l7a3ch0]

They are the CTS Base gen 2 luxury performance wheels.

Eventually my calipers will be illusion purple, rims anthracite and a sexy hunter green to deep purple wrap.

As much as I dislike sourcing 19" tires here, I absolutely love the look of the rims. If I had my cake and could eat it too I'd have the same rims in 18" for the cost savings.

-Byron

I really like the look of those wheels on the V.

 

[Billfrombyron]

It's the only thing I can actually thank the previous owner for lol. It's the only thing of his I left on the car. I had to redo the 5 lug conversion, and replace almost everything else including the shaft. Twice.

The KWs are worth their weight in gold on my 1 hr commute though.

All in all I love it now to start throwing some power at it. ?

Pic for attention of my new private front sport plate.



-Byron

 

[kra86]

Here she is, my new-to-me, V. 2006 model with 81k miles.

 

[AAIIIC]

Any mods other than the GM Accessory wheels?

 

[kra86]

Nothing fancy. I really like the OEM wheels. I don't like the 6 lug bolt pattern too much. I know some Team Dynamics look great on the car also! My new-to-me car is all stock minus the OEM rear mufflers being deleted aka chopped off. The rest is OEM exhaust. I have since taken ownership replaced the air filter (which was a gross K&N panel filter that begun cracking along two edges, first time I saw them crack like that in a much newer model car to me)
This is the first car that I have owned to have an in-cabin filter feature and this is not the first car that I have installed a simple K&N panel filter. Every car I have ever owned either started with a K&N panel filter or maintains one now.
-Here is the old K&N air filter and in-cabin filter.
-K&N

-In-cabin filter

I knew the tires were junk when I first saw the car. The brand was Fuzion UHP and I chunked a set of those on a front wheel drive shitbox from days of yesteryear. I have been a huge fan of these Nokian tires so I got these for the V.
-Nokian label

-Nokian tread

I have little brake test strips that detect the presence of copper and I knew my fluid was garbage when I first went ham on the brakes. I was severely underwhelmed by the four piston front and rear system and experience rapid fluid fade. I know that feeling well enough.
-Brake test strip

I have learned a lot about the few weak points of the 2006 CTS-V. My chassis is pretty good less the driveshaft carrier bearing. All other mounts are good. The rubber is shit inside of that driveshaft carrier bearing that I get terrible clunking noises when torque changes abruptly in the driveline. This has relegated me to driving like the geriatrics the car was marketed for and not the LS2 engine that is strapped inside begging for more air and fuel. The transmission shifts smoothly. Rotella T6 5w-30 oil inside. The rear diff was done with Amsoil severe duty gear oil and the proper LSD additive. Transmission shifts smooth enough I don't feel it necessary to change fluid or do anything to that. Clutch fluid is clean and feels great as well. Just need that brake fluid changed and the driveshaft carrier bearing either serviced, a new driveshaft installed, or I spend some loot on the aluminum one piece.

I checked recalls and three were open, never performed on my car so I have an appointment to get those three done.
A. Front brake hoses in my salt-belt state call for replacement. I hope to get a brake flush for free also
B. Hesitation/stall either reprogramming of ECU or replacement of fuel pump module
C. The silly key ring place-filler to reduce number of keys held on ignition key.

Then decide with a one-piece aluminum driveshaft or try and task myself with wrestling with a one-day install of voodoo chikin bearing. I cannot afford having the car down all that time it needs to remove, ship, wait, arrive, wait, work on, wait, ship back, wait, un-pack, wait, re-install. Just not conducive to my crappy lifestyle choice right now of not owning my own home but buying a sweet CTS-V instead. I like the car, this place seems pretty relaxed while maintaining some integrity.

 

[AAIIIC]

Holy crap, that K&N filter!

 

[kra86]

Holy crap, that K&N filter!

Haha, yes that was definitely the worst one I ever pulled out of a vehicle before. There was also a 5-quart oil jug container cap in the bottom of the air box as well!! All cleaned out and breathing heartily from the new filter.

 

[kra86]

Tune day.

CAGS removed, torque limiting removed, air-fuel ratio cleaned up, ignition timing advanced 2 degrees. Sounds, feels, and drives like a new and different more stronger car. I like.

Tuned by John Kerr of JK-Tuning using HPTuners. Highly recommend. Not the first car I have taken to him to be tuned.

 

[Wayner04]

New headlights and splitter installed

 

[AAIIIC]

A couple from a track event on the main course @ Summit Point this past weekend. Photos from etechphotos.com. Video to follow in the next few days...

 

[rjoffe]

Who put on the Summit point event this past weekend?

How is the main circuit holding up, how's the pavement? Any new updates/additions ?

 

[AAIIIC]

Chin Track Days put on the event last weekend. The main course is in good shape. They've done quite a bit of work in the past 4 or 5 years to open up more run-off room in a few areas, mostly around 7/8/9 (coming out of the tight section). The whole track was repaved back in 2007, and sections have been repaved since then. Apparently they're doing a complete repave this October, new FIA curbing, the whole nine yards. Should be nice.

 

[Billfrombyron]

Just a few from the Cadillac club uae meet.





















Been a fun few weeks showing her off.

-Byron

 

[Billfrombyron]

Tracked down Viktor Bout's abandoned airplane.

That is what is left of the lord of war's cargo plane, left on an abandoned air field.



-Byron

 

[CTSM]

I have been wanting to mod a V like this for years.

So here is my new to me 2007 CTS-V which I acquired a couple of months back.
I have been busy wrenching for a couple of months under the car, replaced, refreshed and fixed too many things to list.

After taking care of the important matters it was time to mod it cosmetically to my taste and my vision from years back.
This doesn't have the sport spoiler like my V6 does and I love that spoiler, I'm just debating either to add one or not.

The cosmetic mods are:

CTS stealth gray sport grille, DEPO STS-V fog-lights, DEPO Smoked side markers, gray dipped and glossed hood lip, tail light top, lower grille surround, brake ducts, fog rubber gasket and stock rims.
All the V badging is faded, so I went ahead and replaced the rear V badge with one from the third gen V. I haven't done the fender ones yet, but I do have 2 more third gen V badges on hand for that.

Lighting:
6000K Phillips HID bulbs to replace the stock ones
6000K Headlight Parking bulbs to replace the stock ones
6000K LED High beams to replace the halogens
6000K LED Fog Lights to replace the halogens
White LED Interior lights to replace the halogens

Brakes:

R1 GEOMET Cross Drilled and Slotted Rotors all around with PowerStop Z26 Street Warrior Carbon-Fiber Ceramic Pads for a balance low dusting and excellent braking.

Last but not least I sanded down and repainted the entire front bumper due to rock chips and pitting.

And here it is first wash after two months collecting dust on jack stands.



New crest and wreath to go with that grille.



Bumper polished and good to go


Side view of the dipped wheels and R1 GEOMET Rotors


Can't say enough good things about those DEPO smoked side markers, they look great in day and night time and come with amber bulbs and new bulb seats.


Magnaflow tips showing there along with the painted taillight top which is much nicer than the faded red look of the assembly.


Third gen V badge is much nicer quality than the 1st gen V badge


I have kept the car stock so far, but came with K&N CAI and Hurst short throw shifter.

I installed a Magnaflow catback with x-pipe (Lovely aggressive sound with quiet idle, but too loud on the inside at most speeds, but it was the only bargain option available at the time)

Let me know what you guys think

 

[EliteC]

Looks awesome! I'm very close to getting one as well.

 

[CTSM]

Thanks EliteC and good luck on your search, take your time, inspect and test drive the heck out of it.
Als, if you haven't yet, consult the Used V Checklist thread for useful tips.
https://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/2004-2007-cadillac-cts-v-general/195214-buying-used-v-checklist.html

 

[AAIIIC]

I hate to say something negative after all that work, but...

The lower grille is in upside-down. That's why the rounded corners of the outer frame are showing at the bottom - those rounded corners should be at the top, to match the rounded top corners of the lower grille opening. You're far from the first person to make that mistake when reinstalling that lower grille on the V bumper!

That aside, it looks good. I've always liked the Sport grille; not enough to replace my V grille, but it's amazing how such a simple design looks soooo much better than the base V6 grille. I'd powdercoat or rattle can the mesh flat black in the main and lower grilles.

 

[CTSM]

AAIIIC. Thanks for pointing that out. I never thought it could be installed upside down, but what you are saying makes sense since the clip holes are symmetric.

The good news is it doesn't look ugly upside down at least.
Also I will be taking the bumper off soon, because the 6000k headlight bulbs took much longer than the rest of the bulbs to make it I, by the time I buttoned up and drove it for nearly 2 weeks they then came in (darn international shipping)

I'll correct it when I put those low beam 6000k bulbs in :yup: