Cadillac CTS (08 on) - Review

One of the major disadvantages the CTS has is the lack of a diesel engine. Customers can only choose from two petrol engines - both V6 units. The smaller of the two is a 2.8-litre with 211bhp but more popular is the 3.6-litre with 311bhp. The larger engine uses direct injection, which is supposed to improve fuel economy and performance. It's not slow with a 0-60mph time of 6.3 seconds (the 2.8-litre manages the same sprint in 9 seconds) but it's not economical either, averaging a meagre 25mpg. It's fairly relaxed and happy at pottering along but push the CTS harder and its weakness is exposed - the six-speed automatic gearbox. Despite decent amounts of pulling power on tap, the auto seems to try and exploit as many gears as possible and will hunt around when called upon suddenly. You have to force it to kickdown which results in high revs and a coarse engine sound. However, the auto is fitted with a paddle shift to manually select gears which makes it a little better.

Cadillac is aware that the preconceived notion of an American saloon is a big car that wallows over the road, which is why it's given the CTS a stiff bodyshell and firmed up the suspension. The 2.8-litre model has a standard set-up which is forgiving and soaks up bumps well, while keeping road noise to a minimum. The more powerful 3.6-litre gets performance tuned suspension but while this helps offer excellent roadholding and makes the CTS feel nimble and agile, it does fidget over bumps and never really settles on poor surfaces. It seems that in attempting to ensure its cars don't roll through corners, Cadillac has gone too far in the opposite direction. On the plus side the steering is pleasingly engaging, nicely weighted and allows the driver to feel fully in control when driving on twisty roads. In fact the CTS feels more athletic than any US saloon sold in the UK to date.