Shirl

Looking at a 2011 cts-v. Please list your mpg. Any issues to be aware of would be helpful. Rear window visiblity? Any info on the car is appreciated. Thanks.

optimum01

Edmunds states 14 city 19 hwy...

Shirl

Thanks. I did see that. I also saw that it had a gas guzzler's tax. I am wondering if these cars can be tuned a little to get better gas mileage. ??
Owners please chime in with any experience with this car. (It won't be a daily driver.)
Thanks for any and all help.

tomsws6

It probably really depends on your driving habbits. Im actually interested to see what owners are getting too. Id imagine one could get in the 20's on hwy if they tried with the manual ofcourse.

DoingOK

I get ~22mpg on the highway if I ignore all the Mustangs revving on me.

JIM07

If your worried about MPG probable not the car for you.

LDB

I have a 2011 CTSV coupe with manual tranny. Freeway mileage on cruise control is 19-20. I did get 21.5 on a couple of tanks away from the big cities where the gas didn’t have ethanol, but with the usual ethanol gas, I’ve never done better than 20. Urban mix mileage, with some freeway and some neighborhood is 15-17. I previously had a 2005 Vette coupe with manual, and its mileage numbers for comparable driving were 25-26 freeway and 19-22 urban mix. A second kind of mileage you didn’t mention is tire. Good news is that the Michelins are quiet and very grippy, giving the car handling very nearly equal to my past Vettes. Bad news is that they achieve that with soft rubber, giving 20000 mile life versus the 30-35000 I used to get on my Vette tires.

Can’t comment on CTSV sedan or wagon rear visibility. Coupe visibility to left rear and straight back rear is perfectly ok, but visibility to right rear is lousy. You get used to it and compensate, but it is a significant weakness. The 2012’s have blind spot detection as standard, and that may solve the problem. That option was not available on the 2011’s.

Overall, it’s a great car. Yes, the mileage is mediocre and visibility to right rear is poor. But the rest is terrific. The car is comfortable, fast, nimble, quiet, and has a quality interior. The blither about weight that gets spewed by some is just that --- namely, blither. The reality is that all of its competitors such as M5 and the various AMG’s are also in the upper 3000’s on weight. That’s what it takes if you want the combination of smooth, quiet, high performance, and 4 seats. One guy on a weight rant mentioned M3 in the mid 3000’s, but M3 is about as noisy and harsh as a Vette, clearly not in the smooth and quiet category. So I’d say if you’re ok with the mileage numbers stated above, go for it.

Shirl

Thanks for this info. Those aren't bad numbers for the mpg. The one I am looking at is a 2011, so as per what you said, it doesn't have the blind spot detection. I noticed the tires were 285 19's, BUT they are Continental tires NOT Michelin Pilot Sports. The car only has 13,000 miles so I'm not sure why the tires were swapped already. I wonder if that matters?

The car appears to be in mint shape except for some minor scuffs under the front plastic bodykit piece (which is usually the case from curbs). Oh yeah, it also has a "dealer-installed" exhaust which sounds incredible. (It sounds better than my C5 with headers and B&B's.) They couldn't tell me what brand exhaust it is though and I didn't bother crawling under the car. But I can say that when I started it, I was amazed at how rich and deep the exhaust tone sounds. The rear tips looked a little larger and pretty much filled the openings in the rear of the car. I see it has gotten a lot of press as the fastest sedan. That's pretty cool. The interior is very nice and it's comfortable.

In comparison, prior to looking at the V, I looked at the CTS-4. Also, a very nice car. It is all wheel drive, which is great. However, upon start up, it sounded like a rattle box. The V6 was raspy with a terrible tone to it. I questioned the dealer and he said it was because the exhaust pipes are too close..lol.. when it settled into idle, it was ok. But I'm not sure if I'd be happy with a V6, not to mention that god aweful sound. And... for about 50k, maybe I'm better off getting a used top of the line V for a little more $.

Any other thoughts, appreciated and thanks for the help.

Shirl

Is yours a manual or auto?

Bucknut2006

I average 15 mpg over the ownership of the car. On a road trip with an average speed of 75mph I can average 20. In town driving is more like 12-13.

LDB

Some CTSV owners have reported less than 10000 miles on a set of tires, but they admit that they drive hard, some even with a bit of track time. Most that I’ve heard (about a dozen) say they get at least upper middle teens on tires. I drive and corner briskly, but almost never spin tires or get them “smoking hot”. I can’t imagine that anyone would voluntarily swap Michelins, and if had been a road hazard, you’d think only 1 or at most 2 tires would be swapped. So that would suggest the prior owner was either into frequent hard cornering or wheel spins. You didn’t say how worn the Continentals are, but if they’re more than slightly used, it was really into short tire mileage. Incidentally, while rears are originally 285-35-19, fronts are 255-40-19. None of the above strongly suggests that the car has been abused, but it might trigger me to ask a few questions.

As far as standard CTS with V6, I agree it sounds a bit tinny. Oddly enough, at least to the seat of my pants it seems to have a harsher ride too, despite softer springs and tires. That’s a good illustration of how effective the F55-type shocks are.

Dave68

Ouch! I thought I'd never see those numbers again. (remembering the 60s....)

LDB

I think you need to be a bit more careful to keep this stuff in context. Some on the forum love to bash CTSV for weight/mileage. My experience with CTSV would suggest that you only get down to 12-13 mpg if it’s 100% stop and go at less than 40mph, no freeway, and plenty of hard acceleration. A Vette under those conditions would probably get around 15-17 mpg. As posted above, with a mix of some neighborhood and some freeway driving, I get 15-17 in my CTSV where I used to get 19-22 in my Vettes. EPA mileage ratings give a similar picture of the Vette/CTSV difference. I conclude that if you drive them the same, a CTSV will get about 20-25% poorer mileage than a base Vette. Yes, that is a penalty, but it’s not a killer issue that should cause people to rant about weight and mileage. You want a smooth, quiet car that performs essentially the same as a base Vette? You’ve gotta pay the piper somewhere. You want 3200 pounds and 20+ mpg in urban mix driving with high performance? OK, but then you aren’t going to get smooth, quiet, or 4 seats. Life is about choices.

Shirl

Ok, so I looked at the car again this morning. The dealer claims that some of the new Caddy's came with the Continentals.. something to the effect about a lawsuit because they were only using Michelins on the car.. ? Anyway, we've narrowed it down to a 2011 V or a 2012 CTS-4. Looking to trade one or two cars, but the manager is good at playing hardball. He's an older gentleman who doesn't want to budge much on the V or give us a fair amount on our mint condition trades, even though the V has been sitting on the lot for at least a month. He must think he's got a rare bird here. Does he? Are these cars somewhat rare? Good thing is, it has all of the "options" including the exhaust. I crawled under the car and found the badge on the muffler for "B&B".

DoingOK

Auto. I also have a CAI, headers and full exhaust. Car has also been tuned(they are usually pretty rich from the factory).

LDB

I can’t categorically deny that some V’s came with Continentals, but I certainly hadn’t heard of it. And all the Caddy and magazine literature during the intro of the coupe made a big deal of the fact that the Michelin PS2’s were specifically tuned for the V. Indeed, if you look at the tire part numbers, they have one number for most PS2’s and another for the ones specially tuned for the V. So I’m at least somewhat skeptical about the claim of original equipment Continentals on V’s. That shouldn't be taken as proof that there's funny business going on. I'm simply trying to supply you with the facts as I understand them.

phileaglesfan

12mpg in the city would go real fast with around a 18 gallon tank. At least our Yukon Denali XL had a 31 gallon tank.

noel48

I have a 2011 V6 coupe with the performance package with staggered 19" Continental summer tires.

Dave68

Then again, living and/or driving in the city (daily) and having a 556 HP vehicle that gets 13 MPG is like riding a racehorse to your mailbox every day. Of course, if you can afford it......

LDB

You’re really into CTSV weight/mileage bashing. I simply repeat the context from above. If you insist on calling the CTSV a 13 mpg car, then the Vette under comparable driving conditions would be a 16 or at most 17 mpg car which isn’t exactly stellar either. As for racehorses to mailboxes, since the Vette and CTSV performance levels are very similar, if you want to criticize CTSV owners for that, you’ve got to look in the mirror and criticize yourself and other Vette owners for the same thing. Bottom line, what a person does when buying a CTSV instead of a Vette is pay a 20-25% mileage penalty to get greater comfort and 4 seats at comparable performance level to Vette.