2009 Cadillac CTS-V

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2009 Cadillac CTS-V Buzz Station

It's 2008, and everyone knows that cars aren't serious until they've circled the Nürburgring Nordschleife a couple hundred times. So why did our spy cameras catch the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V at the famous race/test track? Simple. In an effort to gain traction against some of its European competition, GM is out to make the V more than a torque-charged kick in the pants the second time around.

Despite the test car's elaborately disguised nose, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V was showing its hand. It was easy to spot the power bulge in the hood, the more aggressive airdam and the signature mesh grille. Big Brembo brakes and 19-inch wheels, along with slightly meaner bodywork also made the car's intentions clear.

But the spy shots provoked a big question that didn't get answered until just before the Detroit auto show — what's the hood bulge for? Even Inside Line assumed Caddy would be doing the logical thing and swapping in the 505-horsepower, naturally aspirated engine from the Corvette Z06. As it turned out, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will instead get a toned down (and less expensive) version of the ZR-1's LS9 engine, dubbed the LSA.

That's no bad thing. That mill, according to GM's ever-extroverted Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, will not only dust the M3, it will also "put the M5 on the trailer." That's because the Cadillac CTS-V's supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is rated at 550 hp. That's 50 hp more than the 5.0-liter V10 you'll find in the M5 — and a ball-busting 167 more pound-feet of torque. And while we're on the topic of German thundercars, Mercedes' muscle-bound E63 AMG makes 43 hp less than the CTS-V, and Audi's RS4 falls short of the Caddy's oomph by 130 hp. And yes, that means we won't even mention how much the Lexus IS-F or the BMW M3 can bench-press.

But GM has never had trouble building big V8s, and by now we all know what the slapping of an Eaton supercharger atop such a power plant does. Cadillac's problems are of an entirely different nature. The V-Series just isn't selling, and GM doesn't know why. While Caddy has sold an average of 230,000 vehicles a year since 2004, the V-Series now accounts for just 3,000 of that number — that's less in an entire division than BMW sells in M5s alone, and the M5 costs more.

We finally caught the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V uncloaked last December (and then again at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show), and it's handsome. But it's going to take more than good looks to bring the dwindling sales numbers up. To help the new CTS-V handle like its German competition, engineers have borrowed the magnetic ride-control dampers of the Corvette ZR1, which can be set in either Sport or Tour mode. Keeping the massive torque in check is a new "Performance Traction Management" system, which will presumably limit wheelspin and regulate body motion. Also new for 2009 is an optional six-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles.

Whether the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V gains the public appeal Cadillac is looking for, it's clear that it will be a force to be reckoned with. It goes without saying that we can't wait to get our hands on one and promptly turn that fancy traction control system off.