By Chris
As Ed mentioned in the last post, any Cadillac has a lot of visual and design presence. In the case of CTS-V, a lot of those visual cues have a dual purposes – much of what you see in the photos of the car is as much functional as it is design oriented.
The grille is the most obvious case in point. I’m sure you’ve noticed how the face of the car differs from the CTS we sell today. The driving force for the new V-Series grille is as much functional as it is stylistic. The revised grille openings are 100 percent larger than in the standard car - a gigantic difference. This is a major aspect of the car’s performance. We’re talking about a 550 hp car, as you probably know! That requires tremendous “cooling” capacity. Beyond just engine power, the airflow is also vital for the brake cooling we want to have for our big Brembo brakes, as well as cooling for all sorts of other systems in the car.
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Comments
I like the -V grille better, definitely gives a more aggressive look, and functionality is always a great thing!
I have to ask though (yea, dumb question, but if you don't know and don't ask...you'll always be dumb)...how does "brake cooling" work. Many of the car mags reference it, and show pictures of the ducts to cool the brakes. They're invariably located right in front of the tire. How does that do much good at all?
Commenters are welcome to provide insight on that, but no flames...honest, we're all here because the CTS is great and the CTS-V is absolutely amazing!
Posted by: Scot S. | February 4, 2008 8:00 PM
I like the CTSV video on the Cadillac.com web site. Nice to see the car in action. Would like to hear more of the car and less of the music though. Can't wait for the coupe to come out so I can trade in my 2008 CTS on it. Let us know about the coupe status when you can.
Posted by: Scott G | February 5, 2008 9:12 AM
Scot S - That's a really good question. It actually is better for the incoming air to be at the forward edge of the wheel. Here's why - The normal, ongoing pressure literally "pulls" the air from front-to-back, across the rotar and caliper - then the warm aim exits out the rear. We use ducts to direct and flow of the incoming air to take advantage of this effect. So, actually having the duct in front (or as we say on the leading edge) of the tire takes maximum advantage of the air flow.
Posted by: Ed | February 11, 2008 11:48 AM
Question/comment about function: Have you researched the benefits of factory installed Nitrogen inflation?
Posted by: Brian A Ruffin | February 18, 2008 4:55 AM