When Lexus introduced the updated GS series in 1998, they did it by using one of the most well-done advertising campaigns ever, the “Something Wicked This Way Comes” ads. They didn’t showcase the new Lexus sedans as soft and quiet, but instead made them off to be as evil as any muscle car, and I’ll admit that as a fifteen year old, hearing a Lexus with a snotty V8 hauling tail around a wooded road really made me want a GS400 in dark green to go raise hell with.
“What does that have to do with a CTS-V?”, you’re probably asking. Easy: the CTS-V was the most radical departure from the old, slow retirement sedans that Cadillac had been selling for…well, pretty much forever. When it debuted in 2004 the CTS-V shocked many people by being very good at what it was designed to do: haul ass and carve corners at a decent price. And even after the wagon and coupe versions of the CTS came and went, the sedan lives on with the third generation, which was introduced in 2014, minus the big hammer version.
Well, here is the top brass doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing. The new CTS-V, expected in mid-to-late 2015 as a 2016 model, is expected to use the blown 6.4L LT-4 motor that is currently doing work in the Corvette Z06, and damn if it isn’t making a glorious noise doing it, too. With power levels still accelerating through the stratosphere, the LT-4 had better be at least in the mid-600’s to still have a chance of playing. In addition, the hot rod Caddy has to keep the same sorted chassis that has been a draw for drivers. Something wicked, indeed.
With the CTS-V being one of the few good shots GM has in the game, it better be as good as this mule is promising. Click play below to hear it rip around the ‘Ring.
Jesus H., that’s great. They should offer that wrap as color choice.