LexFather

We knew when General Motors opened up the CTS-V Challenge to any and all Caddy killers the response would be impressive, and according to Cadillac spokesman Nick Twork, it's been just that.

Around 120 people applied for a chance to take on Bob Lutz in the CTS-V sedan later this month, but that doesn't mean we'll be seeing dozens of would-be contenders lining the Monticello Motor Club in New York on October 29. Twork told InsideLine that his team is currently whittling down the applicants based on the rules (an unmodified sedan similar in capabilities to the CTS-V) and while "about three-quarters of them were in the spirit of the contest... there were some like, 'I've got a Porsche GT3 RS with a new spoiler blah, blah, blah.'"

We should expect between five and ten participants in total, and just in case, John Heinricy, pro racer and former GM engineer, will be on hand to, "be used at the discretion of Mr. Lutz." Read: if you're a professional racer, you're going to be tangling with someone of similar caliber.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/19/c...ricy-to-stand/

bagwell

pretty cool...hopefully there will be some good video of the event!

I'd like to see what cars people are trying to compete with.

M5?
IS-F?

I read a little more into it...

......While Jalop's Wes Siler was originally slated to go up against Lutz in a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, that car has since been switched out in favor of the Jaguar XFR (earning the ire of TTAC in the process).

Here's the best part: Anyone who happens to own a new comparable sport sedan, such as a BMW M3 or M5, perhaps a Mercedes-Benz AMG sedan or the Audi S4 (not to mention the Mitsubishi Evolution), is welcome to submit themselves for consideration to take part in the festivities in New York.

huddleston

iTrader: (3)

should be very interesting

Rides Low

iTrader: (6)

To bad this is a Thursday. I would have went up there to spectate

metalgear

sounds fun!

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Only 5- 10 applicants... I guess they expect most cars to be modified.. Should be some good vids..

LIMS407

cts-v is most underrated car of all time...did u guys know they paint the factory wheels match the car color from factory...one of my car club member has this car and its absolutely amazing car...

bagwell

BTW I saw one advertised in the paper last Saturday for about $53K....and 2 others were $60K....with the discounts...seems about right since MSRP starts @ $58K.

cool thing = Seating, Recaro 14-way performance front bucket leather seating surfaces, with sueded fabric inserts. Requires Ebony or Light Titanium interior trims............................................$3,400



holy crap....$3595 for white paint color (tricoat)?

model

2009 CTS-V

type

4dr Sdn

style


Exterior color

White Diamond Tricoat

Secondary Exterior color


Interior color

Ebony/Ebony, Leather Seating Surfaces, with Sueded fabric inserts

base msrp*

$58,575

colors & options

$3,595

delivery & handling

$825

total msrp

$62,995

price


current offers

-$5,000

* Cash Allowance: Up to $5,000 cash back


Net Price

$57,995

Rides Low

iTrader: (6)

seems like the recaro's were added and add white paint for 195

2002GGPIS3

This is just so cool, that Lutz is doing this.

IS-SV

Good sporting fun.

CDNROCKIES

It's ironic that they are going to take 5-10 challengers on. There are not 5-10 stock cars, in the same class, that will beat the V, so this should shake out very nicely for GM as far as marketing goes.

bagwell

results....
http://www.rpmgo.com/the-results-are...ts-m3-m5-evo-x


as you all know, today was General Motors’ Cadillac V-Series Challenge was held at the Monticello Motor Club in New York. This is where GM’s vice president and main PR man, Bob Lutz, put his honor where his words were and challenged any and all to beat the CTS-V in any sedan they could get on the market.

As expected, this interesting marketing stunt brought forward a lot of challengers to the claims of the CTS-V, but among them, a few cars were chosen, the most important being a BMW M3 and an M5 (the latter being driven by Michael from CarGuyDad and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X driven by Jalopnik’s Wes Siler.

As expected, the race generated a huge amount of hype and debate, especially on Twitter, where everyone was talking about it (consider GM’s goal accomplished), and you could even follow the live tweets from the people involved (and from our account, so you’d better subscribe for future events).

But now the race is done and the results are in. As much as we rooted for our fellow colleagues in the automotive blogging business, both Wes and Michael were beaten by Lutz, and the M3, which managed a very good time, was beaten by GM’s engineer Aaron Link, which also drove a CTS-V.

The times were as follows: Wes Siler - 3:08; Michael - 3:05; Bob Lutz - 2:58; BMW M3 - 2:54; Cadillac CTS-V, driven by Aaron Link - 2:48; CTS-V driven by John Heinricy - 2:46. It turns out that out of the top 7 lap times, 6 of them were achieved by a CTS-V.

Lutz declared promptly after the race, via Cadillac’s Twitter account, that: “I’m pleased, the car is wonderful, the track is wonderful. I haven’t done this in 30 years. Young whipper-snappers showed me a thing or two. Let’s see them do this when they’re 77. I’m not complaining, the automatic [transmission's] sport mode helped me a lot.”

Overall, it was an ingenious campaign from GM and one which should definitely be copied by other carmakers. Maybe next time we’ll send someone from our own team to fight them.

bagwell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFr_C...ayer_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/user/cadillac.../1/4whuL_cd8Fo

John Heinricy (Cadillac test driver)- Cadillac CTS-V: Top Lap: 2:46:560

Aaron Link (Cadillac development engineer)- Cadillac CTS-V: Top Lap: 2:48:902

Brian Redman- CTS-V: Top Lap: 2:49:596

Michael Cooper (Who is this guy?)- BMW M3: Top Lap: 2:50:424

Jack Baruth- Cadillac CTS-V (TTAC): Top Lap: 2:51:153

Lawrence Ulrich- CTS-V (New York Times): Top Lap: 2:53:157

Bob Lutz- Cadillac CTS-V (VP of Marketing, GM): Top Lap: 2:56:321

Michael Mainwald (carguydad.com)- BMW M5: Top Lap: 3:05:398

Wes Siler- Mitsubishi Evo X (Jalopnik): Top Lap: 3:08:126

Chris Fairman- CTS-V: Top Lap: 3:14:292

Archan Basu- Jaguar XF: Top Lap: 3:15:670

Tom Loder- Audi RS4: Top Lap: 3:15:702

It’s official: TTAC’s top driver has beaten Bob Lutz! Check back tomorrow for Jack’s on-the-ground take on the weirdness that was.

CDNROCKIES

Huge thread on this topic over on M3post.

Apparently Michael Cooper is some young kid who doesn't have any track experience other than attending Skip Barber's performance driving school.

It's amusing to read all the fanbois touting the M3 as the greatest thing since sliced bread.....then Michael comes on and states that he also got to drive the V afterwards for a couple of laps and that it is clearly the faster car.

The V is an amazing vehicle and the price is a complete bargain compared to other luxury performance cars. I looked at one again yesterday and with $6K dealer cash available can pick one up all in for $72K. That's the same price as a fully loaded new F up here. I then looked at an M3 sedan and they price out to just a hair under $90K up here.