Looking at the 2011 Cadillac CTS

Model year 2011 marks the latest addition to Cadillac’s lineup of best-selling cars, namely the 2011 Cadilla CTS Coupe. This is a 2-door coupe with is a cross between wagon and sedan body styles, which stays that way in 2011. While some versions can seat up to five passengers, the coupe seats a total of four.

There are three trim levels for this wagon and sedan reprise, and that’s between the 3.6 and 3.0 trim levels. They depend on the body style and drive train, but the trim levels are generally Performance, Luxury, and Base. The coupe comes in 3.6.

The 3.0 trim level runs on 270 hp V6 3.0 liter engines, while the 3.6 runs on 304 hp V6 3.6 liter engines. As for transmissions, the 3.0 models use, as a standard, a 6 speed manual transmission. This same transmission is a credit option for 3.6 coupes as well as sedans. Standard for all wagons, 3.6 sedans, and coupes is an automatic 6 speed transmission. This, on the other hand, is optional for the 3.0 sedan.

Available to all body styles are rear-wheel and all-wheel drives.

And then there’s the CTS-V sedan and coupes, which are high-performance vehicles of the lineup. They run on supercharged 556 hp 6.3 liter V8 engines, and works with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. Furthermore, a wagon version of the CTS-V will be coming out in the 2010 model year.

The CTS-V models are equipped with General Motor’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension. It’s a system that is designed to automatically adjust the vehicle’s firmness on either one of two driver-selectable modes.

Another standard safety feature is the CTS-V Performance Traction Management which functions just like the Stabilitrak antiskid system from GM, except that it is mainly set out to facilitate good spirited driving performance.

New to the CTS-V is a much better interior that now has seats branded by Recaro. These seats come with a 14-way adjustment and micro-fiber wrap that feels like suede covering the steering wheel and the lever for the shift.

Available safety features for models in this lineup include traction control, ABS (antilock brake system), antiskid system, and airbags for both the curtain-side and front-side.

There are also other available safety features. The keyless entry & engine start allows the driver to access the car by simple touching the door handle as well as run the ignition by simply pressing a button as long as the key is somewhere near or inside the car. Steering-linked headlamps are also available, as well as a navigation system, both of which are standard in the CTS-V while optional to other models.

Expert ratings gave the 3.6 Premium sedan an automatic rating of 75, while the premium midsize car gets and average rating of 65.5.