According to Autoblog, someone over on Cheers and Gears has revealed detailed pricing on the new '08 CTS.

Here is the Cheers and Gears link

 

Pricing looks good. Should sell well

 

$2,300 for the auto. Seems pretty high to me.

 

Its a package deal...along with the auto you get more ponies. Seems fair to me

 

IF/When the cts-v model comes in in AWD that will be a mean SOB that I would want

 

From what I hear AWD won't be availale on hte CTS-V

 

Interesting. 2007 CTS 3.6 MT starts at $32,785 MSRP...

 

The CTS can apparently get quite pricey (well into the fourties) when optioned out.

Is this the writing on the wall for the STS? Seems like it's going to become a redundant car in the lineup, unless you desperately need the Northstar....

 

Depending on what those option packages include, the pricing looks somewhere around on par to great depending on which of its competitors you place it next to.

I'd like to know what those packages include, though, and I suppose we also have to see how the car actually drives next to the competition. Infiniti G, BMW 3, and Mercedes C have all stepped their game up in the last year or so and Acura TL and Lexus ES/IS are another year or two away from doing the same.

 

I dont' think you could campare this with a 3 series in size. With the size increase the new CTS is closer/similar to a 5-series now IIRC.

 

So then what is GM trying to do here?

Create a budget-conscious alternative to the 5xx/Exx/GSxxx/Mxx/RL/A6?

Or create a plus-sized alternative to the 3xx/Cxxx/ISxxx/Gxx/TL/A4?

 

I don't know. The last CTS I thought was positioned nicely between the 3 and 5 because essentially you got close to the room of the 5 for the price and performance of the 3 (Charlie can maybe chime in on this since he has a CTS). Now if the CTS is '5 sized', do they bring over the BLS from Europe if they want to offer a smaller, '3 sized' car?

 

I think this time around though , Caddy may have a CTS someone might not mind spending nearly 50 large on ...with all the cheapness of the old car gone . They really have appeared to have sweat out all the details at all pricepoints .

It really is a shame though the 6 speed manual , 306 hp 3.6 and AWD cannot be ordered together . That woulda been and incredibly sweet package . Its a odd move imo they banish the 6 speed from the DI engine , they do have a gearbox capable . I wonder what gives .

 

Create a plus-sized alternative. GM's mindset has always been bigger car = better car, when instead they should be concentrating on better car = better car. Can't make the CTS as good as a 3-series? Let's make it bigger so we have at least something to brag about. Can't make an Equinox as good as a RAV4? Then pump it up to 40 psi. Can't make the Solstice quite as divine as a Miata? Then make it bigger (on the outside) and heavier. It'd be nice to see GM actually put the effort into a car that's better than their competitors instead of just bigger.

 

Other than perhaps some aspects of the interior, what about the RAV4 was "better when the Equinox came out (which was the previous version of the RAV)? Most would argue that the Equinox was (and still is) the better looking of the two. The Equinox offered more room and a 185 hp V6 with 5 speed auto.

I just spent the weekend visiting some friends who just got a brand new 4-cylinder RAV4. The interior is kinda stylish (though the plastics, like those of most SUVs in that price range, were pretty hard, although the appearance was OK). The ride was God-awful. They got rid of their V8 4Runner (lease was up), which also had a rather flinty ride. This RAV4 is 3 times worse. It felt like the tires were filled with concrete. My Dad's base Equinox rides much better (it's no Caddy itself, though). Oh, and the engine is surprisingly coarse. The 2.2L ecotec that is in my wife's L200 (my Ion also had the 2.2) is quite a bit smoother and quieter sounding than the 2.4L in their brand new RAV4. But the worst part about it was the ride.

As for the Miata vs. the Solstice, the Solstice as far as I can tell does have more passenger space, and it clearly seems to have the more capable chassis. The big falling down point of the Solstice, to me, is the nearly useless rear trunk area. Styling wise, the Solstice and Sky blow the Miata away (and I actually LIKE the Miata quite a bit). Also, the perhaps overbuilt chassis has made the car a bit porky for its size (an all too common trend among ALL makers these days...).

Let us not forget the Corvette. It's long time rival, the 911, manages to be both slower AND heavier, despite the history of the 911 being the more compact, lighter weight car of the two. The only 911 that can breathe the same air as the Z06 is the race-car-for-the-street, $120k GT3. Hell, the new LS3 base car is apparently capable of outdoing the 911 Turbo on the race track.

I'm just sayin'.