Base price: $34,545
As Tested: $47,740
304-horsepower 3.6L V6
17 city / 26 hwy
More info:
www.cadillac.com
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The Escalade made Cadillac a player again among drivers under 50; suddenly, it was cool to be young, flush with cash and rolling in a Caddy rather than a Benz or a Beemer. It took Cadillac a little longer to work the same magic on its sports sedan line, but the beautifully designed 2008 CTS stacks up just fine to the European competition. With sharp geometric angles in the grill, sporty touches like 18-inch painted aluminum wheels and a sloping, aggressive stance, the CTS4 looks like a sexy beast ready to pounce. Those "Does it return the favor?" TV spots featuring Private Practice hottie Kate Walsh sure don't hurt that image.
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With elegant wood trim on the steering wheel, shifter, instrument panel and doors, the 2008 CTS4 cabin feels like a law firm boardroom on wheels. Plush leather and chrome appointments abound, and the CTS4 boasts the luxe amenities we'd expect for its near 50K price tag: heated seats, dual-zone climate control, a sleek pop-up infotainment console and a double sunroof that covers 70 percent of the roof. A very cool TiVo-like "pause and play" function (thanks to an in-car 40GB hard drive, part of the $8,195 premium luxury package) enables playback of live radio, so we happily overplayed our favorite road tunes. It's a great feature, but let's hope the RIAA doesn't sue GM over it.
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No Red Bull necessary to get the blood pumping behind the wheel of this machine. The new 3.6-liter direct injection V6 yields a claimed 5.9 second 0-60 time, and we'll buy it. It's hard to resist doing drag-race starts at every stop sign and street light, and our tester had the optional all-wheel drive -- a practical touch we appreciated driving in the Midwest winter. The 2008 CTS might not quite have caught up to BMW, Benz et al, but that Cadillac badge in the Euro sports sedan's rear-view mirror has never been larger.
-- by Sam Jemielity |
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