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Another thing to consider is those suede inserts will help keep your butt from creeping up the door panels during those high-g maneuvers. As much as I love leather seating surfaces, if your gonna drive hard, there's no replacement from solid butt alignment. Unless you retro fit the car to use a full harness of course
Absolutely. I usually prefer cloth or suede for that reason alone. Leather is my least favorite option and I am always surprised by how many people think of it as an upgrade. Leather is always too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and you slide all over around corners. No thanks.
Originally Posted by rotarymike
You'd be amazed how much better planted you'd be with a 5 or 6 point harness LOL. Until I drove one on track, I thought between knee/thigh pads on the door/center console and pre-locking the seat belt I was securely installed in the car. NOOOOPE.
Having said that - my biggest problem with Cadillac is... it's a GM, ultimately. BTDT and not interested in that goat rope again. Shame though - they look sharp.
I know this is just a mental bias, because when I see Jaguar sedans on the road I go 'hmmm' and if anything those are a right nightmare compared to GM.
You are definitely right about the harness. I know what you mean about GM, but the good thing is their race engineers who led a big hand in developing this car (and primarily the ATS-V before it) know their stuff and are really good. It seems to be the only car in this class that had multi-hour on track torture testing done on it. It should be nicely overengineered so I can confidently take it on track without having to worry about anything overheating or breaking the first time out.
I'd like to believe that, but my buddy's CTS-V and most of the Columbia Caddy Club members with that car would beg to differ.
I think he's had it on the road for a total of 6 months in 7 years of ownership? The rods keep disintegrating into powder and chunks when breaking in each new engine. I keep ribbing him because he went from RX7s to the CTS-V to have a 'reliable car' LOL.
I'd like to believe that, but my buddy's CTS-V and most of the Columbia Caddy Club members with that car would beg to differ.
I think he's had it on the road for a total of 6 months in 7 years of ownership? The rods keep disintegrating into powder and chunks when breaking in each new engine. I keep ribbing him because he went from RX7s to the CTS-V to have a 'reliable car' LOL.
What year is the CTS-V? The ATS-V and CT4-V Blackwing both have titanium connecting rods with the 6 spd. manual so that is the last part I would expect problems with. Not sure those made it into the CTS-V though.
2005 I think? He and I don't talk much these days.
2005?!? Yeah, I would not want any GM car from that era. They really did not get serious about sports sedans until the 2016 ATS-V and that is the car that outclassed the very good BMW M3 in just about every review. These new Corvettes, Camaros, and Blackwings are for real.
I am definitely leaning toward the light gray seats because of the contrast and the additional read piping/stitching, but not excited about how hot leather is when you first get in during the summer and how cold it is in the winter. The tan interior is different, but not for me.
Unfortunately, they do not offer magnesium wheels on the CT4-V Blackwing like they do on the CT5. Those are "tech bronze alloy wheels" according to Cadillac. I am fine passing on $7k in carbon fiber aero bits for now.
Looks like we would be ordering similar options on our Caddys even though they are different models. I would also need the heads up display and Performance Data Recorder for track days, but maybe some of that is standard on the CT5?
I do think the light gray seats look the coolest and I am so down with massaging seats. I agree, leather has to be ventilated for me to consider it. I have suede inserts in my seats now and a suede steering wheel and it is by far my favorite. So much better at handling extreme temps than leather and much gripper in corners too.
Thanks for your input guys!
I just realized GM never produced the magnesium wheels because of the shortage of parts/materials, they simply released the wheel in 'bronze'. D'oh!
I don't really care for the Performance Data Recorder as I don't plan on doing any track days. HUD & massaging seats are standard on the CT5BW.
Originally Posted by rotarymike
2005 I think? He and I don't talk much these days.
1st gen CTS-V had their fare share of issues, I would stay away. Everything after that has been great.
Originally Posted by AnotherVQ
I've been considering the new Z, a Q50 (unsure on minimum year but probably 2019 or 2020) or a 2SS 1LE 2018+ Camaro.
New Z or Camaro 1LE seem like the best options here. New Z reviews will be out on the 16th this month so that will give you a better idea of what to expect.
I just realized GM never produced the magnesium wheels because of the shortage of parts/materials, they simply released the wheel in 'bronze'. D'oh!
I don't really care for the Performance Data Recorder as I don't plan on doing any track days. HUD & massaging seats are standard on the CT5BW.
1st gen CTS-V had their fare share of issues, I would stay away. Everything after that has been great.
New Z or Camaro 1LE seem like the best options here. New Z reviews will be out on the 16th this month so that will give you a better idea of what to expect.
Yeah I've since changed my preferences and I'm pretty sold on a 2018+ Mustang GT Premium with performance package 1, magneride, active exhaust and 401A package.
The other one is still the new Z and like you said I'm waiting for the independent reviews (specifcally I am waiting for Redline Reviews which is my favorite).
I sat in a 2017 2SS on Saturday morning and while I liked some things about it, it had LESS HEADROOM than my G and as I continued to read and watch videos online I've determined it's not for me. I like that the Mustang has no sunroof and I expect good headroom.
Some more great pros of the new Mustangs:
- E85 only requires a tune. No upgrades to injectors, pump or fuel delivery system.
- From what I can tell, Lund seems to be a common tune choice and for the hardware AND the tune it's only $550.
- Catch can install appears to be a simple, couple minute install where you disconnect an easily accessible hose at the top of the engine then connect a new one with the can.
Yeah I've since changed my preferences and I'm pretty sold on a 2018+ Mustang GT Premium with performance package 1, magneride, active exhaust and 401A package.
The other one is still the new Z and like you said I'm waiting for the independent reviews (specifcally I am waiting for Redline Reviews which is my favorite).
I sat in a 2017 2SS on Saturday morning and while I liked some things about it, it had LESS HEADROOM than my G and as I continued to read and watch videos online I've determined it's not for me. I like that the Mustang has no sunroof and I expect good headroom.
Some more great pros of the new Mustangs:
- E85 only requires a tune. No upgrades to injectors, pump or fuel delivery system.
- From what I can tell, Lund seems to be a common tune choice and for the hardware AND the tune it's only $550.
- Catch can install appears to be a simple, couple minute install where you disconnect an easily accessible hose at the top of the engine then connect a new one with the can.
I picked up a 2016 GT premium w/ performance pack and it's been a great car. 2018 - 2020 are the preferred years. After that, it's tough for any tuners to mess with them. Are you considering the 10A or 6 MT? From a roll, 10A are quick and can get after it. It's no secret a boosted 10R80 will walk away from a 2020 GT500 at the same power. That said, day to day driving can be finicky with the skip shifts and neutral-ing out; so something to keep in mind. MT82 D4 in the Gen 3 Coyote cars is a step up from previous versions (such as in my car). Honestly, NA builds are a bit pointless since these motors LOVE boost. You can grab a Paxton/Vortech/procharger kit for 5 - 5.5k, fuel system and tune for less than 10k and be sitting at 800-900 whp and the car will live a long life.
Lund is the best choice IMO. They'll give you enough to have fun and take advantage of your mods but they're not going to push your car to the ragged edge. They also hold just about every relevant record in the Mustang world or have tuned the car that does. They dump money into vetting so what you get may only take 1-3 revisions to dial in. That said, they don't 'hold back' by any means. My boosted 2016 is tuned by them and produced 653 whp on a Mustang dyno on 93. The car never saw more than 18 degrees of timing; no knock events on a 3.6 pulley at 10.5 PSI. I also looked at Darryl Wengard but he was pretty new so Lund got the nod due to experience. Never considered PBD.
Catch can installs are a 10 minute job. The wheel hop is what you want to address. At stock power, WOT in 1st or 2nd will absolutely make the back wheels shudder. STEEDA or BMR kits take care of it.
I picked up a 2016 GT premium w/ performance pack and it's been a great car. 2018 - 2020 are the preferred years. After that, it's tough for any tuners to mess with them. Are you considering the 10A or 6 MT? From a roll, 10A are quick and can get after it. It's no secret a boosted 10R80 will walk away from a 2020 GT500 at the same power. That said, day to day driving can be finicky with the skip shifts and neutral-ing out; so something to keep in mind. MT82 D4 in the Gen 3 Coyote cars is a step up from previous versions (such as in my car). Honestly, NA builds are a bit pointless since these motors LOVE boost. You can grab a Paxton/Vortech/procharger kit for 5 - 5.5k, fuel system and tune for less than 10k and be sitting at 800-900 whp and the car will live a long life.
Lund is the best choice IMO. They'll give you enough to have fun and take advantage of your mods but they're not going to push your car to the ragged edge. They also hold just about every relevant record in the Mustang world or have tuned the car that does. They dump money into vetting so what you get may only take 1-3 revisions to dial in. That said, they don't 'hold back' by any means. My boosted 2016 is tuned by them and produced 653 whp on a Mustang dyno on 93. The car never saw more than 18 degrees of timing; no knock events on a 3.6 pulley at 10.5 PSI. I also looked at Darryl Wengard but he was pretty new so Lund got the nod due to experience. Never considered PBD.
Catch can installs are a 10 minute job. The wheel hop is what you want to address. At stock power, WOT in 1st or 2nd will absolutely make the back wheels shudder. STEEDA or BMR kits take care of it.
I didn't know about the tuner issue with 2021+. Do you have any resources talking about this that you can link?
I'm considering the 10A.
From research I've done and just my general view on changing things greatly from orignial design and the general idea of introducing more and more points of failure I'm not too into anything but NA on the Mustang. Also, from research I've done it's safe to about 600 whp until you have to start doing engine builds and other things.
I have seen those wheel hop kits and was wondering how important those are. Thank you.
Has anybody here ever considered stepping back on power and prioritizing the overall driving experience with something like the BRZ?
It's certainly affordable, even fully loaded up with all the STi trim stuff (and short-shifter, and FSTB, and stuff). Small car, though. But not any more so than the new Z.
04-18-2022, 02:15 PM
