SeattleBum

What type of Doc are ya? In education?

The dual clutches I'm not sure about...unless you meant to say dual mass flywheel. If that's the case (you have a manual, right?) then the dual mass flywheel just makes for higher 'quality' clutch engagement which translates to smooth shifting. The first gen V had one as well. Single mass flywheels generally weigh less and many first gen owners went that route to improve engine responsiveness and power-to-the-wheels. Taking weight out of the flywheel was like adding 20hp to the motor. Problem is, the rpms drop much faster when you push in the clutch so lazy driving around town gets a little bouncy.

The fake suede on the steering wheel was probably a mistake on Caddy's part. The same material was found on the first gen V as inserts in the seats. That held up very well for me.

As far as the C63 sightings are concerned I'd be careful. I think some of the forum members are stalking you now

Satan

you spoke too early. lexus has a huge recall at the moment for fuel rails pissing all over the engines on the IS, LS, and one more I belive.

GBlansten

Wife's 2006 IS350 has THREE recalls right now. Sigh, got to get it to the dealer soon.

SeattleBum

(sigh) I can't count how many things have been fixed on the Cayenne.

ericpd

Really? I was always under the impression the folks behind the Cayenne read and wrote the book on quality and craftsmanship,... well except for the that retched 914. That was the only one joke from them I was aware of, and that was some time ago.

yooker

I love how the IS forums always say Mercedes and BMWs are less reliable compared to their Lexus.

TA-9FF

Most ignorant people will always assume what they have is the best, and what everyone else has sucks.

But then the average IS driver is what..........20-22? Ignorance is almost a given.

Razorecko

theres a better general rule for having a quality built ride. It doesnt matter who made it, it matters most when it was made. Wed- your all good, friday-you're f*cked

bluert

We know who's the real clown and it's not you just because you bought something than a C63. Congrats.. Can't go wrong with either car, C63 or CTS-V IMHO.

ericpd

Thanks Blue! I'm thinking (hoping) the same thing. I've rationalize my buy to the point where the only difference between the two is the level of excitement and rear seat leg room. Hope it stays that way! Also,... until the next gen M5 hits the streets, I can claim 'King of the Hill'! Word is, the next M5 should scorch the 09 CTS-V. The new bench mark for the small and mid-sized super sedans is now a sub8 NRing lap time. That race now is between the C63 and the M5! Oddly though, nobody's using 'M3' and 'sub8' in the same sentence,... just the fiver. I guess the M department feels that if they can get the 5 in under 8, the 3 is automatic! I think AMG will have to un-detune the 6.2 and/or lighten the C's curb weight to get there.

DaGS1800

Are you suggesting that the CTS-V handles better than the C63...

DaGS1800

Clearly you misunderstood that comment, and my overall point. I did not imply that NO car competes or is worthy of buying over the C63, please read before you make comments like that. Yeah im the clown talking about caddy’s on a C63 FORUM!! That’s what I meant in that post...

SO I WILL ASK AGAIN... PLEASE GO TALK ABOUT THAT GARBAGE ELSEWHERE...

You’re comparing American car quality to German AMG Benz quality, call me ignorant all you want, but in reality you are the fool...

BOTTOM LINE, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

ericpd

If he's not,... I am. Better slalom times, better lateral g's, not as tail happy, slightly less under-steer, and more torque to come out of the corners hot-n-clean. I'd argue that the crowning of the V as the fastest 4 door sedan ever by those who get paid for writing about this stuff and the V's record Ring times is nothing less that the proof lurking in the pudding. Let's see,... the C63 has 4 doors,... right? Now does this mean the V is a better car? Hell no! But it does make it very easy to suggest that the CTS-V handles better. There's a lot of room to argue that the Benz is the better car,... and I'm one who believes this to be true. But at the moment, it does not out perform the CTS-V,... not even close. The real question (suggestion) is, can the CTS-V handle better than the M3. But wait,... that has 4 doors too. Doesn't it? Yeah, it does.

6.3AMG

No comparison. The CTS-V is a better handling car then the C63.

yooker

The CTS-V does handle better than the C63.

yooker

Are you some sort of car racist or something? What exactly is wrong with American cars? Maybe you should open up a bit and learn to respect other cars instead of bashing them because they are a "domestic" or "import"

Do you even have any factual data to support your argument against these cars to back you up instead of just pulling **** out of your ***?

ericpd

Well actually yooker, there's some truth to what he says. That's part of the problem. American cars do have it's long list of problems. Most of them just feel cheap, and fail to convey a feeling of having something substantial in your hands. You know how you pick something up, anything,... and you roll it around in your hand, maybe even launching it an inch or less into the air, repeatedly catching it in your palm hoping to gather more tactile info, and most importantly, a guesstimate as to it's weight. And if it weight just doesn't seem to match it's visual dimensions, we're quick to stamp it "Cheaply Done". Well American cars have long had this reputation. This reputation alone,... well along with it's cousin 'Planned Obsolesence', is the major thing allowing the Japanese automakers to establish a beachhead on our shores. Now it's clear that American automakers have been doing their homework,... slowly they have begun to pay attention to detail and quality, but not enough and not quick enough. But there are exceptions. The approach to the modern Corvette has always been a little above the rest,... same with the Ford GT and Chrysler's Viper. But those weren't cars designed for the masses. Performance (muscle) cars were just the normal cars with big engines shoehorned into the front of them and lots and lots of badges glued onto their panels. Otherwise,... still crap.

Then came the CTS-V. Some argue that the 1st gen CTS-V was little more than the same mentality,... shoeing in a big Corvette engine and lots of badging. But the V2 (the 09 CTS-V) is different. There are a number of V specific parts and construction themes when compared to the base CTS. The upper and lower arms up front of different. There are V specific differences in the differential, You won't get your hands on a TR6060 trans if you don't do the V. Then there's the unibody itself,... a lot more attention to bracing and rigidity. One example of this is the absence of fold down rear seats,... a standard feature on the base CTS. Then chassis,... brakes, coil overs on the base CTS vs MRC's on the V, and the addition of 2 additional Xmembers (one dedicated to the TR6060). Even the engine,... which is not a detuned exact copy of the Corvette engine. It's specific to the V. It's safe to say the approach to the V is akin to GM's approach to the Corvette,... build it with a mission.

DaGS1800

OK, I admit I do not know the slalom times for the CTS and nor did I every say that the C63is faster, my argument was one of quality and experience...

At least ERICPD is honest in his last post, you would be completely oblivious not to admit that american cars are cheep and crappy. NO I am not a car racist as you suggested, I am just stating the FACTS!

I will admit that the CTS-V is definately a step up from this image, and provides unbelievable performance. But that doesnt change the fact which I already stated.

I suppose you'll try and convince me next that mustang's aren’t the biggest POS's
I call them DISGUSTangs's

ericpd

No I won't be trying to convince anyone that the Mustang is a world class car. I couldn't do that with a straight face, and I wouldn't unless paying my mortgage and feeding my kids was directly tied to selling them. In that case, I'd have no qualms with telling such a story. But just as there are exception on this side of the pond, there are exceptions on the other side as well. Fiat, Alpine, Triumph,... hell, anything out of British Leyland for that fact, come to mind. Hell,... even Mercedes is only recently out of a phase of putting crap on the streets and flurting with it's own American style reputation. Ask any 98-01 Merc owner.

I felt very similar to you about American cars, prolly why I had never paid the CTS-V any attention. Accidently stumbling across V in search of a C63 was fate for me. And when I compared the two side-by-side, it was very hard not to seriously consider the CTS-V. And if you're honest with yourself, and objective with your conclusions,... very hard not to declare the CTS-V the winner.

But don't worry,... it's all in the autoworld articles now,... that Merc and MBW are now targeting the CTS-V, and more importantly, sub-8 NRing numbers. So stay tuned for round 2. 2010 and 2011 oughtta be interesting.

Tell ya what,... take a day and test drive the CTS-V at one of your local Caddy dealerships. I think you'd be surprised at it's agility, power, feature list, refinement, fit-n-finish, and comfort (be sure to drive one equipped with the Ricaro Sport Seat option and opt for a manual trans if you can). Then come on back and you tell us what you think!!!

taylorcoleman

I give props to ericpd for not making a rash buying decision. He seems to have been well informed of all his potential cars, took his time in test driving them (more than once), and was not afraid to take a risk on a brand that, well, let's face it, is conflicted.

And further credit goes to ericpd for his sig still listing his AMG first

Now post your damn pics already.

ericpd

LOL! Look over on page 2. There's a link in one of my posts to where they are. They're over in the Caddy owner's forum. Let's just hope that all that concentrated reading and cruisin' the web didn't make me just enough informed to be dangerous. LOL! I did a lot of reading and a lot of asking inside 3-4 days!

cvp33

I don't post very often here, but sometimes a thread comes along that is compelling. First my equity in the discussion. I owned a 2004 and 2005 CTS-V. After 6 rear differential failures, 2 tranmissions, 2 radiators, 2 NAV systems, peeling sunvisor, countless bushings, 2 recalls, etc. etc. I'd had enough. Especially after fighting every mechanical failure that was met with a warranty denial due to inane service managers who must get bonuses for denying warranty claims. The last such denial was due to the fact that my 255 tires vs. the stock 245 tires caused excessive stress on the rear differential (the 6th and last to fail).

I then purchased a 2006 300C SRT8. OK, this is where the brand snobs have decided that I have no automobile IQ as evidenced by purchasing one crappy American brand followed by another and will stop reading my post. But here's where the lesson begins. I owned my first SRT8 for 13 months and 34,000 miles. Yes I drive a lot of miles. These were not trouble free miles. I had three TSB's. One to flush the radiator that had some white gunk in it, another to replace a leaking transmission gasket and one to replace the rotors and pads which apparently were mismatched causing excessive wear on the rotors. All were performed without issue, expense or argument. I was then roped into buying another 2006 SRT8 by an aggressive salesman who made me an incredible deal on my trade.

I've driven this current SRT8 for 58,000 miles. Again, not trouble free miles. Same TSB's (rad, trans, brakes) and a failed rear differential at 56,000 miles. Again all taken care of without stress or expense. Now along comes the new CTS-V. You'd think with my history that I'd be the last one to buy one of these cars. But I'd buy one in a heart beat. In fact my father worked for GM for 30 years and I actually qualify for employee pricing! The only thing stopping me from buying a Cadillac is my dealer service experience. I'm afraid that at the first hint of trouble, I'd be in for another fight. There are excellent Cadillac Dealers and service centers out there. Unfortunately just not in SE Virginia.

To me it's about being able to get in your car and drive the hell out of it when you want, without worry, without fearing your service manager and without stress. Everytime I get behind the wheel of my SRT8 it's a blast. It runs 12.94's in the quarter mile, hit nearly 150mph on the straights at VIR and surprised more that a few Corvettes, M's and AMG's along the way.

If you can get that feeling in an M, AMG, S, Rtype, F, V or whatever that's what it's all about. Lemons come in every make, as do crappy dealers. If you can find a good car, BUT a great dealer run don't walk.

iLc63

Car & Driver Magazine- April 2009 issue, page 98-99

Both cars stock...

C63: 0-60mph- 3.9sec, 1/4 mile- 12.3sec

CTS-V: 0-60mpg- 4.3sec, 1/4 mile- 12.6sec


Dragtimes.com

C63 faster than CTS-V in 1/4 mile overall!

Fastest C63: 1/4 mile- 11.483 sec

Fastest CTS-V: 1/4 mile- 11.859 sec


C63's look so much nicer and...
AND IT'S A CADILLAC, NOT A MERC!

BerBer63

There was a post about a Hennessey CTS-V running 11.4s with limited mods

wuyichao