California Autos Examiner

Friday, August 15, 2008

CTS Sport Wagon Bows!





She's here and she's a looker! The fabulous CTS now has a wagon in the family and I couldn't be more happy. According to the press release we'll get the full compliment of powertrains and transmissions. This is a nice touch, as many wagons sold in the U.S. market are a one size fits all variety. You'll get your choice between the base 3.6L or the higher power direct injection 3.6L, auto or manual six speeds and RWD or AWD drive. The press release also makes mention of the 2.9L diesel for Asian and European markets, but could that engine be offered in our market someday? Never say never!

Vehicle type:

four-door, five-passenger rear-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive wagon

Wheelbase (in / mm):

113.4 / 2880

Length (in / mm):

191.3 / 4859

Width (in / mm):

72.6 / 1842

Height (in / mm):

59.1 / 1502

Track (in / mm):

61.8 / 1570 (front); 62 / 1575 (rear)

Engines:

3.6L VVT V-6 (263 hp / 196 kW) 3.6L V-6 VVT DI (304 hp / 227 kW)

Transmissions:

Aisin six-speed manual or Hydra-Matic 6L50 six-speed automatic

Suspension:

four-wheel independent: MacPherson strut front; multilink rear, progressive rate coil springs, monotube shock absorbers

Steering:

variable-assist rack-and-pinion

Brakes:

four-wheel disc; aluminum or iron dual-piston front calipers; aluminum or iron single-piston rear calipers

Wheels:

17-inch, 18-inch or 19-inch aluminum

EPA luggage capacity (cu ft / L):

25 / 720 (behind rear seats)

EPA total volume (cu ft / L):

121.9 / 3452

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ummm, if this car was grey, wouldn't it be the Opel Insignia Sports Tourer posted yesterday?

Michael Sheena said...

I know what you're thinking...What are the chances of two GM wagons debuting so close together. However, in this particular case the cars actually are very different.

The Opel Sports Tourer is based on GM's Epsilon II platform which is FWD and the Cadillac CTS Sports Wagon is based off GM's Sigma II platform which is RWD. Both platforms can be adapted for AWD duty.

Because manufacturers have badge engineered cars for so many years I can understand folks who would think these cars are closely related, but what we have here are two radically different wagons.