Fast Lap: 5 Things To Know About The 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon

Image via Complex Original

The Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon is lucky to be here. When it was first proposed, the suits declared it too impractical for the U.S. audience. American's don't like wagons, went the reasoning, so what makes you think they would want an expensive, super-sport wagon? Then, when the CTS team finally convinced the bean counters to greenlight it, the automotive market fell through to Dante's fourth circle. But when GM bounced back from bankruptcy, they decided to flesh out the CTS line and build the 556hp, rear-wheel-drive V-series Sport Wagon. And we couldn't be happier. To get a taste of the fastest production wagon on American soil, we joined Cadillac at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Here's what we learned...

As part of Caddy's V-series, the CTS-V Sport Wagon is lugged around by the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine found in all the other CTS-V models. It wasn't detuned or tamed down to fall inline with its more domestic body type. It still pushes out 556hp (and 551 lb-ft of torque) to the rear wheels. That massive figure is thanks in part to the intercooled Eaton Twin Vortices Series. It's a high-tech system that delivers more efficient and smoother airflow to the engine for better power delivery and gas mileage.

Logic would dictate that a mid-sized wagon would exhibit different driving dynamics than a mid-sized sedan. And logic would be right, but not by much. Whether on a residential street or a race track, the CTS-V Sport Wagon feels exactly like the CTS-V sedan. You would have to drive both back-to-back to really suss out the differences. It's that close. Turning is just as sharp; weight transfer is similar. If you didn't peer into the rearview mirror, you wouldn't know you were driving a Costco-mobile.

The reason the CTS-V Sport Wagon is so comfortable on a track is because Caddy's engineers secured it with a bunch of tech to make it fun for even the most suspect of drivers. Most important is the magnetic ride control—a lightning-quick suspension system that keeps the car under control at all times. Beneath that are the Michelin Pilot PS2 tires, which were specifically altered for the CTS-V (the Porsche Panamera rocks similar rubber). But the piece of tech most people will use is the six-speed automatic. Able to be operated via the steering-wheel-mounted shifters, this is the transmission that was used when the CTS-V made its now-legendary Nurburgring lap. We'd rather row our own gears using the six-speed manual, but if you need to drive an autobox, there are worse options.

It's a wagon. One with sporty pretensions, sure, but it's still a wagon, which means that while people that buy it may want a much faster ride, they don't want a car to attract the attention of five-O. The CTS-V wagon balances its already great design perfectly with the usual V-hood bulge, the mesh grill that sends twice the amount of air to the engine, and a lower squat. It doesn't look as performance-driven as the V-series sedan, but it's how we think the Wagon should have looked from the onset.

Besides the wagon rear end, the interior is identical to the sedan. You get the suede-trim steering wheel, glossy panel trim, and you can opt for the Recaro sport seats (if you plan to drive it like it should be driven, drop the coin). However, for no extra dough, you get a Bose 5.1 surround-sound system, 40-gig hard drive, and a retractable navigation system.

It's real simple: If you want a sports car, but need the utility of something like a wagon, and you live in the continental U.S., this is your only choice. It's M5-fast, amazingly practical, loaded to the brim with features, and looks like it drove out of a Cadillac design studio. It's the best of all worlds.