Hey guys,

I have seen this car aound town before, but never had the camera handy. I finally got some shots of it. It is a CTS V, but something is different about it. It has manufacturer's plates. I live very close to the GM proving grounds. My pics are terrible, but if someone has some photo enhancing tool, I can e-mail the shots to you. I was driving at the time, and just trying to shoot pics without wrecking. The most noticeable thing on this car is the presence of two little red valves under the rear valence.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/generalz28/my_photos

They are in the spy shots album

Sorry for the poor quality

 

Um, yes, that is a CTS-V. But I wouldn't go calling Autoweek to try to sell the pics; they have been on sale to the public for a while now. Chris Frezza (one of the site founders) has one...

Sorry to rain on your parade.

I see multiple CTS-Vs daily (I live in Brighton, MI).

 

He already knew that it was a CTS-V. What he said was that there was something different about it and that it had manufacturer plates on it so he was wondering if it was a different kind of CTS-V. The pics are too bad to actually see any kind of detail, sorry.

 

I know its a CTS V. Something looks different about it. And I was pointing out the red valves under the rear valence. I didn't post to show a CTS V, but a CTS V that may have something different about it, or the rumored CTS V+ or whatever they are going to call it if it happens.

Pretty rude post man.

 

Tough crowd around here.

Anyhoo... point out what you're talking about in the pics. I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary, but maybe I'm not looking at the right area.

 

I wasn't trying to be rude, sorry if it came across that way. The little red valves under the rear are for draining the fuel tank. During development work, calibration must be done using different fuels (since the cars are sold all over the country), and different volatility levels (RVP) for summer/winter fuels. They can't just mix the fuels up in the vehicle, so when the test is done with one fuel, the tank can be drained (the fuel goes back into a general holding tank) and the car is refueled with whatever is needed next.

Also, you may occasionally see a CTS-V running around with a grille that is different than the final wire-mesh version on the production cars. That is because the early build CTS-Vs (mules, integration vehicles, etc.) were regular CTSs with the chassis and engine upgrades made to them after being built. So these cars do not have the full CTS-V bodywork (grill, front fascia, plus the interior details).

If you see one running around with super-wide fender flares (you'd know it if you saw it, there were some spy shots that went around in recent months), that might be something to take a pic of...

Again, sorry if the first post sounded rude.

EDIT: I think it came across like that because I had only skimmed your text on the way to the pics; I didn't even catch the reference to the red valves the first time I read it, nor did I really register that you said it IS a CTS-V, but something looks different. My bad entirely.

 

My pics stink, but in person, there is something different looking about the front grille and valence. Under the rear valence in the middle are two red valves of some sort. I have seen this car before and every time, something just looks "different" about it. Just not sure what.

I can e-mail you the photos direct if you want to blow them up or something. Sorry for the quality. I was driving and knew I had only seconds to get the shots off.

 

The red thingies he was pointing out are somewhat visible in this pic: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/genera...fa.jpg&.src=ph

However, having a couple of red thingies might really not be that big of a deal or a sure telltale sign of a new model variation in development.

TS

 

No Problem Joe. Thanks for lesson on the red valves. Now I know. That car was clearly on its way back to the proving grounds after a test drive or having gone out for lunch. Probably nothing to talk about then if the valves are nothing.

 

Whoa, I just looked at the background a little closer. That is General Motors Road, is it not? Coming out of Milford Village and heading toward MPG (the straight lane, with the left turn lane heading south on Milford Rd toward I96)? That CVS is across and down from the Taco Bell, the Mobil station, and so on. Right?

I went through that intersection every day until I bought my house in Brighton Twp. (about 1.5 miles from the grounds, but on the west side, away from the entrance).

 

Joe,

yes that is GM road. right where you are talking about. I was going to turn left onto Milford road and it was goign to go straight to the proving grounds. I only had a few seconds to squeeze off the shots.

good eye

 

There's no "Plus" V series coming. Also, there's no hood bulge which suggests to me it's not testing something new as other spy shots depicting the V as the "Plus" would suggest.

Basically, there's no "Plus" V series coming, other spy shots on the net referring to a "Plus" is actually testing something that very few people know

 

Whoa, Josh, what are you referring to testing?

 

You always have to put these kind of comments in your posts. Kind of "I know something that you don't, haha" type stuff. If you can't comment, don't say anything at all.

Quit teasing the kids...

 

Um, I'm going to hold back my comment on that one.