For 2011, Cadillac CTS is available in two new body styles: a two-door CTS coupe and a CTS Sport Wagon. (The CTS Coupe is reviewed separately by New Car Test Drive.) This is in addition to the four-door sedan. 

The CTS Sport Wagon, introduced in late 2010, is available in CTS and high-performance CTS-V trim, and the CTS-V Sport Wagon is a 556-horsepower family hauler that goes toe-to-toe with the hyper-tuned luxury cars from BMW's M division and Mercedes-Benz AMG. 

The CTS offers something for a wide range of automotive needs with three engine options, manual and automatic transmissions, four different suspension and tire/wheel combos and optional all-wheel-drive in three different body styles. 

By price, the Cadillac CTS line compares with compact-sized luxury competitors such as the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. By size and function, however, the CTS is closer to midsize competitors such as the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class, and Audi A6. The base CTS sedan is a great value at about $36,000. 

The CTS uses rear-wheel drive, the baseline for a true sports sedan. The standard 3.0-liter V6 generates 274 horsepower and revs freely, complementing the available 6-speed manual transmission. The upgrade 3.6-liter V6 increases output to 304 hp, with substantially more torque, and it's rated at the same 27 mpg Highway as the smaller V6. The larger V6 works great with the optional 6-speed automatic, which is one of the best in this class. Both engines feature the latest technology, with variable valve timing and high-pressure direct fuel injection for the current optimum in power, fuel economy, and low emissions. 

All-wheel drive is available, and it's a valuable addition in the Snowbelt. The AWD system uses an active transfer case that normally sends 40 percent of the power to the front wheels, 60 percent to the rear, maintaining a more rear-wheel-drive feel. But in slippery conditions the system can apply all of the torque to either axle, maximizing the CTS's ability to find traction. 

The CTS and CTS-V feature sophisticated suspension systems developed, among other places, at the famous Nurburgring race track in Germany. Even the standard suspension delivers a good balance of handling response and ride comfort. The ride is always comfortable, but always well damped and never mushy. Steering is as fluid, as accurate and as nicely weighted as that in any sedan in the world. The CTS feels solidly put together, and it's quiet underway. The cabin is attractive, comfortable and space efficient, and everything is easy to operate. The Bose 5.1 Cabin Surround audio upgrade sounds fantabulous. 

The Cadillac CTS-V has a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that makes 556 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque, offered only with rear drive. It's one fast car. Cadillac reports a top speed of 179 mph, and when we tested the CTS-V at sinewy Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, its lap times were nearly as quick as the NASCAR Sprint Cup racecars that compete there. Then we drove it away, coddled in quiet civility and superb audio. The V series is tip of the CTS line-up, starting just under $63,000. Still, a buyer can find a CTS sedan with the upgrade V6, essential luxury features, the audio upgrade and navigation for less than $45,000, maintenance included for 50,000 miles. It's a luxury-class value that's hard to overlook. A new Cadillac CTS Coupe has joined a growing family of CTS-branded vehicles. The family started with the CTS four-door sedan in 2003, based on a new rear-wheel-drive platform, a major change for a division that had been heavily front-wheel-drive for many years. Then Cadillac added the high-performance CTS-V, using a variant of the Chevrolet Corvette V8 engine and a manual transmission, and then added the slick CTS sport wagon. Now the CTS family includes a radically edgy coupe. Cadillac's last coupe, the Eldorado, went out of production in 2002. 

The powertrain chosen for the CTS Coupe is a 3.6-liter V6 engine with four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and direct fuel injection, about as modern as any other V6 engine on the planet, and it is capable of producing a whopping 1.4 horsepower per cubic inch at engine speeds approaching 7000 rpm, or 304 horsepower from only 217 cubic inches, on regular fuel. For reference, the old 500 cubic-inch Cadillac V8 made 400 horsepower, or 0.8 horsepower per cubic inch, and generated unspeakably bad fuel economy, whereas the new engine can reach 27 mpg on the highway easily. Even in a car that weighs more than 4000 pounds with two people in it, the V6 pulls very strongly at full-throttle and sounds muscular and powerful while doing it, which some other V6 engines in this class do not. 

The CTS Coupe is available with all-wheel drive. 

The CTS Coupe offers a six-speed automatic transmission. It's also available with an Aisin six-speed manual transmission, which comes with summer performance tires and rear-wheel drive. The Summer Tire Performance Package is also available with the automatic transmission equipped with paddle shifters. 

What started out as a purely provocative concept vehicle under former GM product czar Bob Lutz got such a strong response that GM decided to build the CTS Coupe as a regular production vehicle to compete with the new rash of luxury coupes from the German and Japanese luxury brands. The sheetmetal, decoration and dimensions of the production coupe are all nearly identical to the concept vehicle, and it is one angular and angry-looking beast. 

Inside, the CTS Coupe mimics all the other cars in the family with a rich mix of chrome, wood, leather, and in-car electronics and entertainment systems that are on par with any other vehicle in this relatively small class, with navigation, AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio, OnStar, Stablitrak chassis control, and a comprehensive information display. 

The CTS Coupe competes with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe, BMW 335i coupe, Audi A5, Lexus IS 350 C, and Infiniti G37 coupe. 

The CTS-V Coupe boasts a 556-hp, 6.2-liter supercharged V8, upgraded suspension, larger high-performance tires and alloy wheels, huge Brembo brakes, and GM's Magnetic Ride Control shock absorbers, for what Cadillac claims is the world's fastest sedan.