GM’s Lutz, Caddy CTS-V take ‘fastest sedan’ claim to the track
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
GM's chief Bob Lutz on Tuesday, after a practice lap in a 556-hp Cadillac CTS-V at GM's Milford Proving Ground in Michigan.
General Motors‘ septuagenarian marketing chief, Bob Lutz, will race a handful of high-priced, high-performance rivals at a New York track Thursday to put a fine point on GM’s new slogan, “May the best car win.”Lutz will pilot a Cadillac CTS-V with a 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8 rated 556 horsepower. GM says it’s a “showroom stock” — unmodified — CTS-V (base price about $63,000).
Several private owners are scheduled to put at least one Audi and a couple of BMW M Series high-performance sedans on the track, one at a time, trying to beat Lutz’s time around the course.
A few auto writers also are to take a crack, in the same CTS-V as Lutz. GM professional test drivers are likely to turn a few laps, too, to ensure the Caddy has the best chance at the fastest time.
“This is all about having fun” at a dreary time in the recession-thumped auto business, Lutz, 77, says. “If I don’t have the fastest lap, I’ll blame it on my age.”
The head-on challenge grew from Lutz’s impatience with ads “that namby-pamby around. … Why don’t we just come out and say it’s the world’s fastest four-door production sedan,” he mused, triggering a Lutz blog entry and challenges to the claim from some 120 readers.
Only a few of them had cars likely to be competitive, and they were invited to show up at the Monticello, N.Y., track Thursday.
GM, almost unable to quit communicating in its post-Chapter 11 incarnation, says it will post real-time lap results on twitter (twitter.com/cadillac), videos on Facebook (Facebook.com/Cadillac) and final results later Thursday in a public space at http://media.cadillac.com.
The European makers, who sell the most likely rivals to the CTS-V, have steered clear of the challenge. But not out of fear of losing, they say.
“We have no fear of comparisons by objective bodies, but it’s different if the person doing the comparison has a dog in the hunt,” BMW Vice President Tom Kowaleski says. He notes that GM can use results of the challenge any way it wants in marketing pitches, which should make any rival automaker wary.
The 500-hp, $89,000 BMW M5 is a direct CTS-V rival.
Audi says it got no requests from auto writers for cars.
Jaguar first offered writers use of its 510-hp supercharged XFR sedan, then had second thoughts over legal and safety issues.
Jaguar spokesman Stuart Schorr points out that he willingly participated in a direct CTS-V vs. XFR comparison under controlled conditions by Road and Track magazine. The Caddy scored higher (results at roadandtrack.com). “I already know the CTS-V is a faster car. My PR goal was just to get mentioned.”
Mercedes-Benz spokesman Jeff Day says he declined to provide cars because of “how heavily the deck is stacked.” GM picked the venue, Lutz has racing experience and M-B is concerned — as are other makers — that there’s no way to verify GM has not modified the car.
Says Day: “I’m sure it’ll be a fun day out, but I don’t think it’s my job to aid and abet Cadillac’s marketing 101 exercise.”
