By Bill Zervakos
Twofortheroadusa.com
2011 CTS-V Sport Wagon
Let me start out by saying that I simply don’t have enough superlatives for this car. I was impressed with the V6 Sport Wagon I drove last year but this car is in a dimension all its own. The numbers are mind numbing; 556 supercharged horses under the hood and a thundering 551 lb-ft of torque rocket the V-Wagon from 0-60 in a blistering 4 seconds. Yep, you read it right; a nearly 4400 pound station wagon out runs the likes of the Mustang Shelby GT500KR and it’s just a tick slower than the Saleen Dark Horse Extreme Mustang, and the Z06 Corvette. In other words, it’s a monster, but a monster that offers a lot of utility. I was surprised when I saw the test car came with the Tremec TR6060 6-spd. Manual transmission, I mean station wagons and six speed manual transmissions seem a bit oxymoronic to me, but then again, the V Sport Wagon is far from a typical station wagon.
The engine features an intercooled Eaton Twin Vortices Series™ (TVS™) supercharger. This unique supercharger design employs twin four-lobe rotors, twisted 160 degrees. Typical superchargers feature three lobes twisted 60degrees. The fourth lobe and added twist, when combined with unique air inlet and outlet ports, create smoother, more efficient airflow into the engine. In addition to improved overall efficiency, this supercharger has superior noise and vibration characteristics compared to more ordinary designs.
The kind of power the 6.2 liter Supercharged engine puts out is managed by torque being channeled through the six-speed transmissions to a high-performance rear axle that features a limited-slip rear differential within a cast iron housing for greater thermal management, and asymmetrical half-shafts to smoothly manage the supercharged engine’s incredible torque. The unique design includes alternately sized half-shafts that also help dynamically balance the oscillation of torque from side to side, effectively eliminating “power hop.”
To read more of Bill’s review, visit his web site.