Tell me about 1st Gen Caddy CTS (Not V)

Maybe 2nd Gen, too.  Starting to see a lot of these in the U-Pull yards.   Is the suspension decent under these?  Similar to the CTS V, or no?    

One of the worst driving experiences I've ever had.  Mom had one.  Perfect for a 75 year old who hates driving.

It was impossible to drive.  Let's say you were thinking about passing and then change your mind. You lean into the throttle and it doesn't downshift.  Then you change your mind and back off and THEN it downshifts to 2nd and stays there for two seconds even at neutral throttle.

The shift settings were programmed somewhere between Geriatric and "I'll get back to you tomorrow with an answer."

Shifting over to the manual setting was worse.  You would bump the shifter, the computer put on a pot of coffee, waited for it to brew, drank two cups, realized that it needed to have a bowel movement from the caffeine, then realized "oh yeah, the driver wanted to shift."

Otherwise, expect typical GM electrical gremlins, but worse since it is overly complex for no reason other than luxury.  The leather will wear out fast.  Expect to have a dead battery once a year when the BCM doesn't turn the door/entry lights off like it's supposed to.  Expect the tailgate on the wagons to stop closing because it thinks something is in the way.  Not the end of the world, but Mom had constant complaints about it.

CTS-V was the same basic thing with an LS and different suspension tune.  I assume the suspension was basically the same, just different springs and damping, but I'm not sure.

The 3.6L V6 was kinda nice, but the car was so bloated it felt like it had half the advertised HP.  There is also a reason you see so many in the junkyard.  They were built on the Sigma platform which was CTS-only until 2008 when it started sharing a few parts with the Zeta platform in the second gen.  This means that no one wants to make parts for a single-vehicle platform.  As they age, parts get expensive and people retire them.

Having had one in the family, I say hard pass.  There is a loving following for them here, so I'm sure someone will chime in with all the wonderful things about them.

I always disliked the first gen CTS because it kinda seemed like Curtis said, trying to stretch circa-2000 GM quality over a luxury car, but on a budget! Yikes. If you want an affordable low-key rwd 'luxury' car that's less likely to be a complete pile in 2020, i'd suggest a GS400.  If you're just thinking about one as a suspension donor for something else, then that's something I don't have the foggiest idea on, lol. 

I'm just looking for info on the suspension.

I know that G80 is their code for the glass LSD they had.

There is nothing magical about the suspension in the 1st gen CTS-V, so I would assume the same is true with the standard CTS. .

I don't know if second gen CTS's got the "magnetic ride" treatment the V did, but again, it's nothing to write home about regardless.

There would likely be large differences between AWD and RWD versions, but I don't think there is anything different mechanically between the V and not-V.  I think all the differences are in the dampers and springs.

Shocks (FG2 and nivomats on the V), springs (400lbs/in on the V), brakes (Brembos on the V), hubs (6 lugs on the V), some bushings, and suspension tuning where different between the non-V and V.

Other than that, it's the same. Some V specific parts are NLA or insanely expensive (i.e. front lower control arms) and we substitute some non-V parts without any ill effects.

They were avaialble with a stick shift; I drove one of those at the GM Auto Show In Motion. Came off thinking it wasn't quite as good as the BMW 3 series they had there. But it would solve most of the problems Curtis mentioned.

Curtis73 said:

One of the worst driving experiences I've ever had.  Mom had one.  Perfect for a 75 year old who hates driving.

It was impossible to drive.  Let's say you were thinking about passing and then change your mind. You lean into the throttle and it doesn't downshift.  Then you change your mind and back off and THEN it downshifts to 2nd and stays there for two seconds even at neutral throttle.

The shift settings were programmed somewhere between Geriatric and "I'll get back to you tomorrow with an answer."

Shifting over to the manual setting was worse.  You would bump the shifter, the computer put on a pot of coffee, waited for it to brew, drank two cups, realized that it needed to have a bowel movement from the caffeine, then realized "oh yeah, the driver wanted to shift."

I've had the 5l40e in a BMW before, and I didn't think it was an awful transmission at all.  Yeah, there's no rev-matching on the manual downshifts, but I don't think anything had that in 2003.  I wouldn't call the transmission particularly sporty, but it worked well enough for 8/10ths driving on twisty mountain roads.  The fluid DID get hot though, likely due to the lack to rev-matching.  For 99% of other driving it worked pretty well I thought.  

Also, the manual transmission is the same one that's in the E46, and people seem to love it in that application.  

The biggest downside to the first gen CTS, in my opinion, is that its ugly inside and out.  

My daughter had a 2004, I believe, it's been awhile. Top strut mounts are garbage, and the strut can launch through them.  The car rattled and seemed cheap, but my daughter liked it, and soldiered on. Ecu needed replacement, seemed it didn't hold an alignment for very long.  Timing belt ended it's misery.  She ended up with an Acura, and is happy. 

The car, thus the suspension and tuning, is a mixed bag. The CTS was marketed as a 5 series competitor for 3 series price.

There several levels of suspension. Most are mixed and matched with sway bars, speed sensitive steering, wheels and tires, brakes, etc. It boils down to FE1 (soft) -> FE2 -> FE3 (sport) -> FE4 (ride and handling - rears are nivomats) -> FE5 (FE4 and all the other non-V goodies) . The V came with FE4 or FG2 and nivomats.

Then there is the retuned chassis that no one has information on but is everywhere in parts catalogs.

I have an 06' with 230k on the clock and I still think it's fun to drive. Sure it has some annoyances but those are mostly from age and mileage. Of course mine has the 3.6L w/ 6speed manual and sport package. The suspension is okay but a compromise. GM wanted to compete with BMW in the sport sedan market but was not willing to risk loosing the old Cadillac demographics. The first suspension mod I would do is swap in CTS-V sway bars and maybe the SRX strut brace. 

Incidentally, the manual transmission was the standard offering, but good luck finding one. I think the dealers all said "what!? Manual transmission in a Cadillac. No one will want that. Send me automatics."

Catera Touring Sedan. That is all.