*the sports sedan that's cleverly disguised as a luxury car. *
#1
03-18-2016, 12:42 PM
*the sports sedan that's cleverly disguised as a luxury car. *
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum AWD
THE SPORTS SEDAN THAT'S CLEVERLY DISGUISED AS A LUXURY CAR.
Zero to 60 mph: 5.0 sec'
Standing ¼-mile: 13.5 sec @ 105 mph
Top speed (gov limited,
C/DTop speed (gov limited,
est): 155 mph
- MAR 2016
- BY JEFF SABATINI
- PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHARLIE MAGEE
INSTRUMENTED TEST
From the April 2016 issue
If the CT6 were truly Cadillac’s new flagship, it might well fly a banner of surrender. Because by any reasonable accounting, the CT6 is not a direct competitor to the big German luxury barges. But that’s okay. Like the first two generations of CTS sedans, the CT6 is something of an in-betweener, bigger than the mid-size class but less replete than the luxury full-sizers. It covers roughly the same dimensions as the short-wheelbase 7-series that BMW doesn’t sell here. But for just $54,490—about what you’d pay for another BMW, a nicely appointed 3-series—you can get into a base CT6 with a 265-hp turbo 2.0-liter, as Cadillac tries to manage the high-wire act of balancing sales volume with prestige.
From the April 2016 issue
If the CT6 were truly Cadillac’s new flagship, it might well fly a banner of surrender. Because by any reasonable accounting, the CT6 is not a direct competitor to the big German luxury barges. But that’s okay. Like the first two generations of CTS sedans, the CT6 is something of an in-betweener, bigger than the mid-size class but less replete than the luxury full-sizers. It covers roughly the same dimensions as the short-wheelbase 7-series that BMW doesn’t sell here. But for just $54,490—about what you’d pay for another BMW, a nicely appointed 3-series—you can get into a base CT6 with a 265-hp turbo 2.0-liter, as Cadillac tries to manage the high-wire act of balancing sales volume with prestige.
A sharper sword in the form of a twin-turbo V-8 has been pledged to the CT6, and hints of an even larger and more majestic Cadillac built off the same new platform continue to circulate. But for now, this is it: a handsome four-door with a four, a six, and a turbocharged six that acquits itself well as a sports sedan that just happens to have a bigger back seat and five more inches of corresponding legroom than the CTS. It will certainly sit atop GM’s luxury throne for now; the Platinum-spec car we drove carried a sticker north of $88,000.
While the CTS is underpinned by the steel Alpha platform it shares with the ATS andChevrolet Camaro, the CT6 is the first vehicle to ride on GM’s Omega platform, which is about two-thirds aluminum with the last sliver of pie stamped in steel. At 4371 pounds, our test car weighs just 11 more than the last aluminum-intensive Audi A8L to hit our scales. The aluminum in the CT6 is mostly situated at the ends of the car, including 13 separate castings that Cadillac says make it stiffer than the CTS. The ferrous metal is concentrated in the midsection and in the A- and B-pillars, floor, and bulkheads. Cadillac says this arrangement makes the cabin less resonant, allowing it to use less sound insulation, which reduces overall weight compared with the same body-in-white built entirely out of aluminum. Our measurements show the Cadillac to be quieter than a BMW 7-series or Mercedes-Benz S-class. The new structure also allowed Cadillac’s designers to lower the car’s long hood. Most modern sedans have waist-high fenders and noses, but you can actually lean back and sit on the prow of this one, even when it’s shod with 20-inch wheels.
While the CTS is underpinned by the steel Alpha platform it shares with the ATS andChevrolet Camaro, the CT6 is the first vehicle to ride on GM’s Omega platform, which is about two-thirds aluminum with the last sliver of pie stamped in steel. At 4371 pounds, our test car weighs just 11 more than the last aluminum-intensive Audi A8L to hit our scales. The aluminum in the CT6 is mostly situated at the ends of the car, including 13 separate castings that Cadillac says make it stiffer than the CTS. The ferrous metal is concentrated in the midsection and in the A- and B-pillars, floor, and bulkheads. Cadillac says this arrangement makes the cabin less resonant, allowing it to use less sound insulation, which reduces overall weight compared with the same body-in-white built entirely out of aluminum. Our measurements show the Cadillac to be quieter than a BMW 7-series or Mercedes-Benz S-class. The new structure also allowed Cadillac’s designers to lower the car’s long hood. Most modern sedans have waist-high fenders and noses, but you can actually lean back and sit on the prow of this one, even when it’s shod with 20-inch wheels.
Any chassis engineer will tell you that structural stiffness is key to optimal suspension tuning. But maybe Cadillac aimed a little high on the spring and damper rates. The car charges into corners and pulls 0.86 g on our skidpad. It feels very well planted on mountain switchbacks and high-speed sweepers. Indeed, it drives much like its smaller sibling despite having an extra 7.8 inches of wheelbase. Yet its ride only approaches plush on good roads, and after a few hours of feeling every ripple on the not-so-good ones, we might be willing to trade the CT6’s magnetorheological dampers for air springs and conventional dampers.
Cadillacs still look best when they're low and long. The CT6's elegant exterior design is seasoned with just a hint of sporty spice.
Our four-wheel-drive test car (rear-drive is available only with the 2.0-liter) was equipped with the Active Chassis package, which includes those high-tech shocks as well as a rear-steering system that can pivot the rear wheels up to 3.50 degrees (to shorten the turning radius) or add 2.75 degrees in phase with the fronts (to help foster that planted feeling at speed). The CT6’s four-wheel-drive system biases 60 percent of the torque rearward in standard tour mode, which gets bumped up to 80 percent when you select sport mode via a button on the center console. (There’s also a third mode for winter, which splits the power equally.) The system does not, however, perform any side-to-side torque vectoring, nor do the brakes assist cornering.
Our test car had its standard all-season tires upgraded to 20-inch 245/40 Pirelli P Zeros. Cadillac has not yet priced this optional summer-tire package, but we were assured that it will be available later in the year. We can certainly credit the tire fitment with producing stellar 152-foot stops from 70 mph. The brakes are impressive in the real world, too, with strong initial bite from the four-piston Brembo calipers and a firm pedal that is always easy to modulate.
Our test car had its standard all-season tires upgraded to 20-inch 245/40 Pirelli P Zeros. Cadillac has not yet priced this optional summer-tire package, but we were assured that it will be available later in the year. We can certainly credit the tire fitment with producing stellar 152-foot stops from 70 mph. The brakes are impressive in the real world, too, with strong initial bite from the four-piston Brembo calipers and a firm pedal that is always easy to modulate.
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