Cadillac CT6 comes up large in every way
Cadillac’s new flagship CT6 charged over mountain roads with poise and comfort.
By John Gilbert
LOS ANGELES
The refrain sounded similar: a luxury auto-builder claiming that it could build a car that was so advanced that it would be bigger, stronger, stiffer, wider, and better-performing than “the competition.”
The competition of large luxury cars always seems is the same German triumvirate — the Mercedes S-Class, the BMW 7-Series, and the Audi A8. And while the new claims are impressive, the refrain seems wearisome, because it simply doesn’t apply once you get the car on the road.
But this time it had a different sound, because the new contender is the Cadillac CT6. You’re excused if the alpha-numeric tendency of contemporary car-makers leaves you perpetually perplexed. If not, see if you can name and identify all the Toyota Scion models, but do it quickly, before the Scion line disappears. In this case, the CT6 has nothing to do with the CTS, except by surname.
Smooth lines meet in classy harmony to set the CT6 apart from other Cadillacs.
The CT6 is Cadillac’s new big sedan, a worthy replacement for all those big land yachts Cadillac used to turn out, only this one is loaded up with cutting-edge technology from its platform to its suspension, to its unique-to-Cadillac twin-turbo, dual-overhead-camshaft 3.0-liter V6.
It was first described to us by a speaker with a distinct German accent. It was Johan DeNysschen, whose name might be familiar because he is the CEO of Cadillac these days, after holding similar titles at such august companies as Audi and Infiniti, where we learned that his cars and his companies rose to prominence just as he said they would.
And he knows the German competition. He was addressing the auto media assembled at The Level, a modern, trendy hotel in Los Angeles, chosen to give us all the feeling of how the new Cadillac CT6 would fit into life in the big city. But reality got in the way of logistics.
After being driven to The Level from the airport in new CT6 sedans, we left first thing the next morning to be whisked away to a group of helicopters for flights south to Ramona Airport, near San Diego, where the fleet of new CT6es awaited us.
“More than half of the people who bought our cars last year were people who had never owned a Cadillac,” said DeNysschen. He added that with the rush to small crossover SUVs, many ask why Cadillac is coming out with another large sedan.
He mentioned that cars such as the S-Class, 7 Series and A8 stand at the pinnacle of engineering, the state of the art. “The CT6 is a large, refined luxury sedan that is absolutely forward-looking,” DeNysschen said. “We think we can be leading in the very segment where our competitors have been at their best. The CT6 is more than a thousand pounds lighter than the S-Class, and while we have built a large car, it has the agility of a smaller sportier car, such as the E-Class, 5 Series, and A6, but the CT6 is lighter than those cars, as well.”
Unique combination of steel and aluminum make the CT6 lighter than S-Class.
Much of the high-tech strategy of the CT6 came from the drawing board. With the smaller and sporty CTS and ATS models already drawing praise for Cadillac, executive chief engineer Travis Hester aimed considerably higher for the CT6.
He said it would have been simpler to build the car out of all aluminum, similar to the Audi A8 and Jaguar large sedans. Instead, the decision was made to combine steel and aluminum, joined with exotic adhesives and spot welds to optimize strength and light weight.
“By mixing 62 percent aluminum and 38 percent steel, we can make it lighter and quieter,” said Hester. “The result is 200 pounds lighter than all steel, and at 3,657 pounds it is 1,000 pounds lighter than the S-Class, and it’s stiffer structurally than the ATS and CTS. It’s the quietest Cadillac ever.”
Hester also went into great detail about the design and the suspension, with an active chassis that features rear-wheel steering assist — with the rear wheels angling up to 3.5 degrees out of phase in tighter, slower turns to make the car practically pivot, while angling 2.75 degrees in phase with the front wheels during a highway speed lane change, making the car veer in a total trajectory, and quickening the feeling of response in both circumstances.
But the powertrain was awaiting his focus. “The CT6 has an all-new engine, a 3.0-liter V6 with twin turbocharging and cylinder deactivation,” Hester said. “It has 404 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque, and it is exclusive to Cadillac.”
A 2.0-Turbo 4 and a 3.6 V6 are joined by an exclusive new 3.0 Twin Turbo V6 with 400 horsepower and foot-pounds of torque.
All CT6 vehicles equipped with the upgrade to the 3.0 Twin Turbo or the 3.6 V6 come standard with all-wheel drive, and the 3.0 is not available in any basic model, which start at $53,495.
Moving up to Luxury, Premium Luxury, or Platinum adds some sensational features, but also escalates the price rapidly, with the top Platinum, which comes with everything standard, starting at $87,465 with the 3.0 Twin Turbo.
“We also have the upgraded 3.6-liter V6, with 335 horsepower and 285 foot-pounds of torque, and a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder, with 265 horsepower and 295 foot-pounds of torque. The CT6 also has an all-new GM-built transmission, an 8-speed automatic with paddles.”
My co-pilot and I eagerly jumped into a CT6 with the 3.0 Twin Turbo, and headed off eastward, into the mountains. The feel of the car lived up to the raves of the Cadillac executives, steering with precision, staying flat and predictable in all manner of cornering, and power that came on at a touch — with the turbo blowing effortless force.
In a way, it’s ironic that Cadillac would get exclusive use of the impressive new 3.0 Twin Turbo, after its hottest cars have been borrowing the “old-tech” power of the pushrod-valvetrain Corvette engines that can only get their power from 6-liter engines twice the size of the 3.0. The new engine puts on graphic display what the critics have been saying for years — that overhead-cam technology can push smaller high-tech engines to outperform their monster old-school siblings. Now that Cadillac has designed and produced just such a gem, the rest of GM can’t use it.
While pushing the CT6 around some tight curves and twisty mountain switchbacks, we were impressed at how the car responded. It definitely “drives smaller” than its size, although with its long wheelbase and large size, there was never any doubt that we were driving a large car that performed well, rather than a smaller sports sedan. Now, of course, I want to see how the smaller and lighter CTS and ATS might perform with this 3.0 Twin Turbo.
Various CT6 interior choices all stress clean lines and classy, uncluttered surfaces.
We were impressed with the interior’s simplicity, because GM and Cadillac are capable of overdoing it. But the use of satin trim rather than gloss, and the restraint shown makes the CT6 appear more subtle than show-off.
The top of the line Bose Panaray audio system has 34 speakers in 19 locations, including two 50-mm. drivers in the front headrests. All four seats have smaller speakers, and there’s a 10-inch boomer in the rear deck. There are even drivers under the floor panels so you can feel good vibrations no matter what you’re playing.
In our test car, we found the control switch for normal, comfort or sport beneficial for handling, steering and throttle response. The large navigation screen operates by waving your finger across it to find the icon you’re looking for, so you don’t need to immediately cover the screen with fingerprint smudges.
The rear seat upgrade has 8-way power adjustment, and there are connections front and rear for phones, laptops, tablets and other connective things, operating via Google Chrome. The night vision feature has advanced to the point of tracking pedestrians separate from other objects ahead that might elude your headlights.
Despite its length and width, the CT6 design looks low and lean.
Price structure is interesting, because you can get the first-upgrade Luxury model with the 3.6 and all-wheel drive for $58,445, or the 3.0 Twin Turbo for $64,395, at the least expensive, but then you’d have to pay for options such as enhanced visibility, comfort, the rear seat package, the Bose Panaray sound system, and the active chassis — which cost over $2,000 each. Same with the Premium Luxury model.
The top of the line Platinum might seem like too much at $83,465 with the 3.6 V6, or $87,465 with the 3.0 Twin Turbo — but every feature option is standard on that one.
After the road tests — and we briefly tried the rear-drive 2.0 too — I told the Cadillac executives that the car fulfilled their objectives in every aspect. However, I suggested they might want to forget about stressing the comparisons to the top Mercedes, BMW and Audi models, because Cadillac might be pushing customers away to try the German cars for their own comparison. Instead, Cadillac should simply say it now has the CT6 — a car that will perform with, or outperform, other premium sedans. So give it a try.
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About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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