Shanghai’s V-Day — Wow!

We posted the fact that Cadillac China held a big event called V-Day in Shanghai to commemorate the arrival of the CTS-V in China.  And that John Heinricy again set a production sedan track record, this time on the F1 circuit in Shanghai.  Well, here are the photos.  All I can say is ….wow!  
Here are [...]

Cadillac CTS-V Sets Record at Shanghai F1 Track

Milestone in China
Our friend John Heinricy is up to his old tricks.  On the 1-year anniversary of the milestone Nurburgring lap in the CTS-V  John and the CTS-V made more news. This time it wasn’t in Germany. It was in Shanhai, China.  The Shanghai Formula 1 Circuit, to be exact.  John and the CTS-V set [...]

A Year at the ‘Ring

As the old saying goes, timing is everything. It was just about a year ago (May 9, 2008 to be exact) that we took a standard production sedan CTS-V with factory-spec street tires — in other words, the same CTS-V that you see at Cadillac dealerships — and took it to the famous Nürburgring in Nurburg, [...]

World’s Fastest Production ‘Ring Runner Sedan Up for Auction

Quick, what production sedan ran the fastest ever documented time at the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife?
BMW M5? Mercedes-Benz E63?
How about the Cadillac CTS-V?
You may remember that seasoned hot shoe and recently retired John Heinricy, formerly Director of GM High Performance Vehicle Operations, absolutely scorched a 7:52.93 last year at the Nurburgring, which put the Cadillac CTS-V and [...]

The Dynamicist

A cool “insider” car magazine is Vehicle Dynamics International . (Yeah, I know, it’s a long way from US Weekly or In Touch. ) The magazine is all about the cars, technology and the way both are developed. Their annual awards issue just came out and one of our own is honored. John Heinricy (link [...]

Milestones

By David

This is an unusual post, a little bit outside what we normally cover here. But I couldn’t let these major milestones pass without comment. In the past couple of weeks, two major figures in recent Cadillac history have moved to new stages of their lives. And these aren’t just a couple of generic team members, or interchangeable execs. These are two major architects of Cadillac’s historic ongoing renaissance, and people whose fingerprints are all over our newest and best models.

Jim Taylor, Cadillac general manager since 2004 and a major leader for Cadillac over the past decade, has moved to a new role as CEO of HUMMER. For car enthusiasts, it’s important to note that Jim spearheaded Cadillac’s move back to rear-drive cars. This was a sea-change for Cadillac, to say the least. Jim led the development of the initial CTS sedan – a project that began in the late-1990s, prior to its debut in 2002. This led to the subsequent RWD/AWD models like the SRX and STS that further helped redefine and expand Cadillac. Since 2004, Jim has led the brand’s global marketing and sales efforts, leading a period of tremendous worldwide growth the development. Beyond all of that business stuff, it just needs to be said that Jim’s a terrific guy who’s well-liked and respected by an unusually wide spectrum of people who deal with Cadillac all over the world. Jim’s still around in a big way, as he’s now our colleague at HUMMER, so this is not a farewell. But his impact on one of the car industry’s most legendary nameplates has been very significant and worthy of special mention here. And, very simply, many of us have had a heckuva good time working with and for him!

Garage 419 Loves the “V”

Garage 419 recently took the CTS-V out got a test Run at Monticello — but not before taking a hot lap with Cadillac engineer and test driver John Heinricy, who also talks about his recent record-setting lap at the Nurburgring in the “V.” This video really shows — and explains — what the CTS-V is capable of. - Will Stewart, blog editor

John Heinricy Talks About the “V”

Here’s some more video, this one featuring GM High Performance Vehicle Operations Director John Heinricy talking about his recent record-setting lap at Germany’s Nurburgring (and answering first hand a couple of questions that have popped up here on the blog.) - Will Stewart, blog editor

The Video You’ve Been Waiting To See

By Ed

We just came back from Germany. As promised, here’s the video of John Heinricy’s sub-8 minute lap of the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife.

To clarify, the car had no performance or operational modifications outside of what we intend to offer in production. We did have a couple of customary safety precautions, as the first goal of our testing is always to keep drivers like John safe. The car had a harness bar upon which a 6-way racing safety belt system was mounted. We also had a fire supression unit on board. These things add a little bit of weight to the car, certainly not helping performance any. Stock tires, too.

We had a chance to mount some cameras on the car and had the benefit of a beautiful day. Enjoy.

More from Nurburgring

Last week, we told you about the 2009 CTS-V’s searing lap time at Germany’s famous Nurburgring test track. Here are a couple of photos of GM Performance Division executive – and racing driver – John Heinricy taking the CTS-V through it’s sub-eight-minute lap — believed to be the fastest ever by a production car. - Will Stewart, blog editor