Quick Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V
By Winding Road Staff
July 20, 2011

Unfortunately for me, I have, far and away, the longest commute of anyone at the Winding Road office in Michigan, especially when it comes to the afternoon rush. Spanning 45 miles, my drive home averages 90 minutes. On a good day, I can make it in an hour. On a bad day, it can be anywhere from two to three hours, depending on traffic and construction (winter is an entirely different issue, where I’ve spent upwards of eight hours commuting for an eight-hour workday). So I spend a lot more time in stop-and-go traffic than either John or Seyth, and therefore, I appreciate a gearbox like the one on the CTS-V just a little bit more than they do.
The CTS-V’s shifting duties are handled by a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual. It’s the same gearbox that is found on the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Even though it’s designed to handle some serious power, it proved to be an extremely friendly transmission. The clutch was surprisingly light and progressive, with an easy to find catch point that made stop-and-go travel a relatively labor-free affair. Granted, the oodles of torque available from the 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8 certainly helped us trundle along as well.
The gearbox itself somehow felt more refined and friendlier than what we’ve become used to on Corvettes. It still required some strong-arming, but overall, it was a precise and easy-to-use shifter. I know that the CTS-V isn’t a car that should be limited to crawling around in traffic, but it’s nice to see that a car that is capable of destroying a set of rear tires can be so civilized during the daily slog.
—Brandon Turkus, Test Fleet Manager