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2008 Cadillac CTS

2880 messages,  Last post on Mar 14, 2013 at 9:16 AM

You are in the Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Forum.

What is this discussion about? Cadillac CTS-V, Cadillac CTS, Sedan

Messages Page 284 of 289

#2828 of 2880 CTS & Snow by westernfan

Dec 11, 2010 (7:19 am)

The high performance summer tires that typically come standard on sport sedans like the CTS are all going to be lousy in wet/snowy conditions. Check out the reviews and test results for a good, high performance, all weather tire at tirerack.com
Secondly, seclect a relatively narrow tire. A wider tire, great for clear, dry roads, distributes the weight of the vehicle over a large area. A narrower tire concentrates the weight of the vehicle in a smaller area, increasing traction on wet and slippery roads.
Lastly, how powerful a car is has very little to do with how it drives in inclement weather, but may have a great deal to do with how your drive it!

#2829 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [westernfan] by K9Will

Jan 02, 2011 (4:09 pm)

Replying to: westernfan (Dec 11, 2010 7:19 am)
you could be right i need to ck out the new tread designs for these lower profile tires, than maybe i can get my cts out storage and put my all wheel drive explorer back in its place.

#2830 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [K9Will] by paisan

Jan 05, 2011 (1:09 pm)

Replying to: K9Will (Jan 02, 2011 4:09 pm)
Yeah a good set of snow tires will change drastically how any car handles in snow, especially an AWD one.
 
-mike

#2831 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [paisan] by maybesomeday

Feb 06, 2011 (2:53 pm)

Replying to: paisan (Jan 05, 2011 1:09 pm)
I don't normally post on message boards but I am doing this to try to save people a tremendous amount of grief and danger
 
I have a Cadillac CTS. Rear wheel drive. 35,000 miles and new tires 4 months ago. It is so bad in snow it's absurd and it is very dangerous. I caution anyone who lives where it snows not to buy this car unless you put chains on the wheels. Even an inch of snow and this car is inoperable and highly dangerous. This is a 30k car--in snow I am stuck all the time and 10,000 dollar cars go whizzing by.
I will get rid of this car asap. I don't know if GM did any testing on this car in snow but they could not possible have done any

#2832 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [maybesomeday] by cdnpinhead

Feb 06, 2011 (4:33 pm)

Replying to: maybesomeday (Feb 06, 2011 2:53 pm)
What kind of tires were put on the car 4 months ago? If they were "performance" tires, they're set up for very good grip at moderate & higher temperatures and almost none at all when it gets cold. So-called "all season" tires work better in the winter, but nothing beats dedicated winter tires in the (wait for it) winter.
 
This sounds to me like a tire issue, not a car issue.
 
Plus which, if you're used to FWD or AWD cars, driving a RWD car in the snow is a skill you may not have acquired. Bear in mind that until 20-30 years ago all cars were RWD and people did quite well with them, at least those who knew how to drive them.

#2833 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [maybesomeday] by sinnerii

Feb 21, 2011 (7:59 pm)

Replying to: maybesomeday (Feb 06, 2011 2:53 pm)
The Cadillac CTS only has about 5 inches of clearance from the ground to the front apron. Any item over 5 inches tall, such as a dead racoon or ice chunk in the road, will cause damage to the vehicle.
 
The Cadillac CTS is a rear wheel drive car. These drive systems used to be popular because the front wheel drive system was not yet invented . These became "rare" with the invention and perfection of front wheel drive. Front wheel drive pulls the car and the engine weight on top of the drive system makes a front wheel drive car virtually on level as four wheel drive.
 
In addition, the Cadillac CTS has very wide tires. These will float on top of the snow and not dig in as a narrow tire will. So the Cadillac CTS is a very poor choice of a vehicle in winter driving conditions.
 
You will place your occupants and yourself in a greater danger situation if you purchase this vehicle and intend to drive in ice or snow conditions. Consider a front wheel drive vehicle with higher road clearance.

#2834 of 2880 Re: CTS & Snow [sinnerii] by marsian

Nov 30, 2011 (2:34 am)

Replying to: sinnerii (Feb 21, 2011 7:59 pm)
Obviously you were not reading the other posts. Little knowledge can be dangerous and can confuse a lot of people. Please do not misinform. First of all not all CTS's are rear wheel drives. It comes in AWD. Second the clearance you mentioned is the skirt made of thin soft rubber and a racoon will not damage it as it will bend springs back no problem. CTS is a high performance vehicle and comes with wide tires when bought but the tires are not meant for snow. If you read the other comments above, Winter tires are recommended and if you can afford a cadi you should be able to afford more safety for winter like snow tires.
Like what other people said dont blame the car. Be a better driver or put on proper gears. You dont go out on winter wearing a summer shirt. You can if you want but its not recomended.

#2835 of 2880 marsian's comments by tooeagle

Apr 19, 2012 (2:24 pm)

Marsian's comments are basically correct except I don't know why some people have to "talk down" to other people making posts and giving opinions, when they might be better informed or more experienced than another poster. With his apparent experience with the CTS, he (or she) could have just started off with "i disagree" and go on. Further, I wouldn't consider anything sinerii said as "dangerous" as he implied.
 
I'm just here looking for reasons to buy, or not to buy a CTS. If they really are comparatively bad in snow and/or slippery conditions compared to other AWD cars, then as an existing owner of an older AWD Acura TL which IS exceptionally good in snow, I'll probably pass and get another Acura AWD TL or RL. Sorry, I'm off topic. But just had to throw my 2 cents in.

#2836 of 2880 overpowered RWD cars & snow, most-likely CTS-V buyers by elias

Apr 27, 2012 (2:55 pm)

With snow tires, RWD cars can be fine in snow except for the ground-clearance issues.
In city-snow, proper tires allow the RWD driver more flexibility getting into on-street/half-ice parking spots. But FWD is better, all else being equal... Best to have a FWD Chevy Cruze for winter use if one owns a CTS-V. The snow tires & snow-rims for CTS-V would probably cost as much as an entire Chevy Cruze, if they are even available for it :| .
 
Also i must nitpick marsian's comment about the 'perfection' of Front Wheel Drive. Front Wheel Drive is nowhere close to perfect. It's major flaw will always torque-steer, not due to a design issue, but due to Newtonian physics.
Designs with different-sized halfshafts/balanceshafts/blahblah can only mitigate mother-nature's insistence that front-wheel-drive sucks for performance vehicle applications.
 
sincerely,
 
one of the top 3000 likely USA buyers of a new CTS-V, according to detailed market research!

#2837 of 2880 To the AWD CTS drivers - you need snow/ice tires too! by elias

Apr 27, 2012 (3:03 pm)

Blizzak or similar... get the best... you won't regret it when you hit the brakes...

Messages Page 284 of 289

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