GM’s performance and luxury models and the Nürburgring track have been going hand in hand for the past decade or so, with the Detroit giant recording a number of lap times to boost certain vehicles’ reputation as driver’s cars.
The latest GM model to be baptized on the Nordschleife is the new 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport featuring a newly-developed 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine with 420hp and 430 lb-ft (582Nm) connected to an 8-speed automatic driving the rear-wheels.
So how did it fare on the Nürburgring’s 12.9 miles (20.8 km) long track that includes 154 turns? The answer is not bad at all as the new CTS Vsport recorded a lap time of 8:14.10, almost six seconds faster than the first generation CTS-V set 10 years ago with a bigger V8 engine, and very close to the previous generation BMW M5’s (E60 with a V10) 8:13 minute run. For the record, the current CTS-V lapped the ‘Ring in 7:59 back in 2009.
One thing you should be aware of is that, the Vsport is an intermediate performance nameplate for Cadillac – something like Audi’s “S” models, with the fastest CTS to be the upcoming CTS-V.
“The new CTS models had a lot to live up to considering the nameplate’s history of outstanding performance, and we were not disappointed,” said Dave Leone, CTS executive chief engineer.
“The new CTS was an absolute riot to drive on the Ring,” commented Cadillac vehicle dynamics performance engineer Kevin Zelenka. “It’s more athletic and refined, and the Vsport proved extremely capable. If a car performs well on the Ring, it will perform well on any road in the world.”
The Vsport version of the 2014 CTS has an MSRP of $59,995.
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