2009 Cadillac CTS Review
America's best sports sedan.
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Walkaround
The eggcrate grille of the Cadillac CTS fits with the family look of the DTS, STS, and Escalade, and provides a generous supply of incoming air for the engine, brake and transmission cooling functions. The large lighting units at the front and rear make good use of light-emitting-diode, or LED, technology: lots of light and lots of style for little electrical load.
The taillights, rear quarter panels and decklid also fit the Cadillac theme, and below the rear bumper are exposed dual exhaust tips. Altogether, this is a great looking car, with adventurous lines everywhere, especially in the gracefully sloping rear roof section.
The CTS-V is distinguished by functional features. The power dome hood, distinctive wheel and tire package, and the bold mesh grille suggest an intent for serious driving. The larger mesh grill is for improved airflow. The power dome hood is as small as they could make it. Big brake ducts help cool the big two-piece Brembo calipers. The CHMSL center brake light reduces rear lift. The dual exhaust provides better performance.
Interior Features
The theme of the CTS interior is black and brushed metal and chrome. It's very contemporary, very modern, very attractive and very space efficient. The dashboard is fairly low and away from the front seats, which gives an airy and open feel to the car. The center stack on the CTS is beautifully done, easy to read and use, with some interesting readout placements here and there. While its cold interior was the weakest point of the previous-generation CTS, the current model boasts a lovely cabin indeed.
We found the comfortable front bucket seats held us down and in place behind the wheel, including some enthusiastic driving on central California's windiest, curviest roads.
We really appreciated the range of adjustments offered by the power seats and the power steering column. The tilt-and-telescope column offers ultimate comfort and proper driving position. The instrument package is complete, easy to read, and graphically pretty.
All-in-all, the interior of the CTS is a very nice to sit and take a drive. The driver is held in, yet comfortably, to properly operate the car, and the passengers enjoy a feeling of ease, confidence and luxury. It's great to see Cadillac offer such a terrific interior.
The AM/FM/XM Bose 5.1 sound system with the 40-gigabyte hard-drive, iPod connector and USB port offers the ultimate in musical enjoyment. Using the navigation screen, it's easy to switch back and forth between the three broadcast and three stored-music formats by simply touching the screen, and the blue display is large enough to be read from the back seat. We think it's one of the best overall, most fun-to-use sound systems we've ever enjoyed in a car. Many other luxury cars have systems that are difficult or fussy to operate.
The CTS-V has a sportier cabin with a steering wheel with a thicker rim available in suede. The dead pedal, allowing the driver to brace the left leg, is optimized for racing. A Recaro option is available with 14-way adjustable seats, including bolsters that can be pumped up for hard driving then deflated for cruising.
• For more information such as specs, prices, and photos of the 2009 Cadillac CTS, click here: 2009 Cadillac CTS.
