2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe

2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe

Episode 2951
Auto Value and Bumper to BumperTire Rack "The Way Tire Buying Should Be"

Now in its second generation, the Cadillac CTS sedan has proven to be the pivot around which GM’s luxury brand has turned both status and market share. And like any smart car maker, they’ve built on that success by adding a high performance V-series variant, a sport wagon, and now a slick two-door coupe. While the luxury-sport coupe market is small, it makes up for volume with big buyer impact. So now’s our chance to see if the new CTS coupe hits its mark.

For starters, the 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is a stunner. Its dynamic Art & Science front fascia transfers over nearly unchanged from its four- and five-door stablemates. But, from there back, everything else has been honed to give this luxury sport coupe an even more aggressive stance. A faster windshield drops the Coupe’s roofline two inches from the sedan’s, a clipped rear overhang cuts three inches stem to stern, while the rear track steps out two inches.

So, despite being built on the Sigma chassis 113.4-inch wheelbase used by the sedan and wagon, the CTS Coupe looks like its own animal. One with claws shod with stylish 18- and 19-inch alloys that completely fill the wheel wells with wider tires at the rear. And they all hide massive disc brakes that reside at all four corners.

In profile, the wedge-shaped Coupe bears simpler lines than its siblings with a knife-edged, fast back roof NASCAR could love. Touch-pad handles tucked on the trailing edges of the Coupe’s long doors keep the big coupe’s lines shaved to design-sketch simplicity. Roll down the windows for a B-pillar-less true hardtop look.

At the rear, the Coupe’s unique character is further defined.  A chevron-shaped stop-light spoiler mounts atop the tall decklid, set between trademark vertical taillights, and above angular twin center-exit exhaust ports.

The CTS sedan and sport wagon’s optional 3.6-liter, direct-injected, twin-cam V6 is a Coupe standard, delivering the same 304 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. Like all world-class luxury sport coupes, manual transmissions are in play. Rear drive Coupes sport a revised Aisin six-speed manual as standard.The all-wheel drive Coupe comes with a six-speed manual-shift automatic, which is also optional with rear-wheel drive.

Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 16 City/25 Highway for the manual, and 18 City/27 Highway for the automatic, all on regular gas.

To fit a more aggressive behavior, the coupe’s suspension gets a number of key upgrades, including smaller-diameter front, and larger-diameter rear sway bars, along with stiffer dampers all around. A limited-slip differential and stability and traction control naturally are standard.

Together they give the CTS Coupe an even more planted feel than the sedan. We noted on our Napa Valley, California preview drive that there is some tradeoff in ride comfort, but it’s acceptable given the CTS coupe’s sharper response and decreased body roll when compared to the sedan. Front and rear balance seems near perfect as this car slingshots around corners and down the road. Zero to 60 is dispatched in six seconds with the manual.

As you would expect, the supercharged V-Series treatment kicks this coupe’s fine performance equation up another couple of notches. We’ll cover that car in detail in a few weeks.

Inside, the CTS’ dynamically flared interior treatment is back. With thick-rimmed wheel, motorcycle-like analog gauges under a no glare hood, and a water-fall center stack, everything looks both serious and inviting, including optional Bose 5.1 surround sound, 40-gig hard drive, and pop-up navigation.

The standard front bucket seats are comfortable, but a bit flat. We prefer the optional Recaro Sport seats. They are thickly-bolstered and do a proper job of keeping you in place during enthusiastic driving.

Even though this is a 2+2, rear seat legroom shrinks by less than an inch compared to the sedan. But, the coupe’s sexy roofline cuts rear headroom down by over 2 1/2 inches. Still, the CTS Coupe has more rear legroom than either the BMW 3-Series or Infiniti G-Series Coupes. The flip-side of the fine interior equation is a small trunk- at 10.5 cubic feet. Still, for more stow and go, the Coupe’s rear seat does fold flat.

Prices for the 2011 CTS Coupe are competitive to rivals, starting at $38,990. All-wheel drive adds $1,900 more, while options can easily push it over 50 grand.

With a sedan, a wagon, and now a luxury sport coupe, the CTS stable looks complete. All of our favorite facets of the sedan have been left intact-or improved upon-for the new Coupe. The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe not only hits its mark, it blasts right through it.

 

Specifications

  • Engine: 3.6-Liter Direct-injected Twin-cam V6
  • Horsepower: 304
  • Torque: 273 Lb Feet
  • 0-60 MPH: 6.0 Seconds
  • EPA: 16 MPG City/ 25 MPG Highway
2025 Infiniti QX80 1

2025 Infiniti QX80

Infiniti’s Flagship SUV Sets A Course For Extravagance

Episode 4437
Auto Value and Bumper to BumperTire Rack "The Way Tire Buying Should Be"

This full-size Infiniti QX80 started out as the QX56, a hastily rebadged version of Nissan’s truck-based Armada full-size utility. That was in the early 2000s when the luxury SUV craze was exploding. It wasn’t as much as a game-changer, as it was “try to keep upper”. Now, this new QX80, Infiniti is promising to “Reimagine the luxury SUV”. Let’s see if Infiniti has turned their imaginations into reality.

Well, if over the top is what Infiniti was shooting for in the all-new 2025 QX80, mission accomplished. There’s an overall feeling of extravagance here that we haven’t experienced from Infiniti in quite some time.
It’s not just the open pore ash wood trim with aluminum inlays, 24-speaker audio, and plush quilted leather seating; there’s also nicely integrated ambient lighting, a massive glass roof, plenty of tech, lots of active driving assistance, and even chilled center console storage. Forward of that is a dual touchscreen setup; the top 14.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment sits next to the digital gauge display in a single housing; while just below, there’s a 9-inch one for climate controls.

You are reminded this is still a body-on-frame utility the moment you have to climb up into the cockpit, but there’s also the commanding view of the road that comes with that. Captain’s chairs are standard for the second row, but a three-place bench is optional with all trims except for top Autograph which comes exclusively with these climate-controlled massaging chairs, along with a touchscreen control panel. The third-row experience is great, too, with heated leather seating, and adult size room for three.

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Now, there is a whole new experience coming from under the hood. The last gen’s V8 has been replaced with a new twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 rated at 450 horsepower, 50 over the V8. More notably, torque is up by more than 100 lb-ft to 516. Transmission is a nine-speed automatic, two more gears than last year, with rear-wheel drive standard, four-wheel drive an option. Max tow rating is 8,500-lbs.

And at the test track, it did pull strongly off the line, getting up to speed in a hurry with the 0-60 sprint taking just 6.3 seconds. There is roughly 3 tons of weight to push through the quarter-mile, but that twin-turbo does it well, finishing in 14.7 seconds at 95 mph. Gear changes are incredibly smooth, while not hindering acceleration in any way.

It's an impressive looking utility from any angle.

In panic braking runs, there was some fade and a considerable amount of nosedive, but our average stopping distance of 115 feet is not bad for a vehicle as big and heavy as the QX80. Last gen, the QX80 moved from the Titan truck platform to the global Patrol SUV chassis, which shifted the vibe from budget Escalade to Lexus LX fighter. The attending improvement in ride and handling was the real bonus, and that largely continues for this gen with air suspension and Dynamic Digital Dampers on all but base QX80s. While we could certainly feel all that weight through our cone course, body roll was well-controlled and without significant oversteer or understeer.

It’s an impressive looking utility from any angle, starting right up front with the big “bamboo forest” grille. The overall shape is boxy, but all body panels are smooth; and for better or worse, Infiniti joins the flush door handle fad. Look for its “Artistry In Motion” design theme to work its way down through the rest of the Infiniti lineup. All QX80s ride on 22-inch wheels except for base Pure trim which makes do with 20s.

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A full power play includes standard motion-activated rear liftgate and power operation of both second and third row seats, expanding cargo capacity from 22 cu-ft behind the third row to 59 behind the second, and a max of 101.0 cu-ft with both rows folded.

Government Fuel Economy Ratings with four-wheel-drive are not great: 16 city, 19 highway and 17 combined. We averaged 18.6 mpg of premium. That’s a much worse than average Energy Impact Score, using 17.5 barrels of oil annually, with 8.6 tons of CO2 emissions.

Driving such a PUREly LUXEurious SENSORY overload, you’ll probably be expecting people to want your AUTOGRAPH, which we’re guessing is how Infiniti came up with their grade structure; pricing starts with Pure at $84,445 and climbs to $112,590 for Autograph.

The 2025 Infiniti QX80 is a massive SUV that delivers massive amounts of power and luxury. They aimed for the moon here and have clearly blasted themselves into a much more competitive orbit in the big buck, big hauler, sport-utility galaxy.

Specifications

As Tested

  • Engine: 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6
  • Transmission: 9-speed automatic
  • Horsepower: 450
  • Torque: 516 lb-ft.
  • EPA: 16 City | 19 Highway | 17 Combined
  • 0-60 mph: 6.3 seconds
  • 1/4 Mile: 14.7 seconds at 95 mph
  • Braking, 60-0 (avg.): 115 feet
  • MW Fuel Economy: 18.6 mpg (Premium)