Ending my foray into the EV world

So about 2 years ago I dipped my foot into the EV world with a plug in hybrid Cadillac ELR.  At the time I was looking at CTS and ATS coupes and a random search on Cadillac coupe one day led me to discover the ELR (I dont pay much attention to newer cars or EVs so I had never heard of it)  It was love at first sight, a beautiful car.  I set my sights on a particular color (crystal red) and option package and found there were only 27 made.  Still I managed to find one in budget and while living in NJ with a charger at home and charger at the office it was an awesome car.

With my relocation to NC my commute in no longer a highway slog and I no longer had a charger at the office which meant I was running in hybrid mode more which would be my one complaint with the car.  It is gloriously quiet and smooth in EV mode but Caddy dropped the NVH ball on the hybrid ICE and it was, well, annoying.

On top of that for the past few years my "toy" projects have all been fun cars (Jeep CJ7, 63 Corvair and my VW Trike) but none were particularly performance oriented.   2 years without some push you back in your seat fun is a bit too long and I had an itch to scratch.   So today I replaced my little red Cadillac coupe with......

A litte red Cadillac coupe.

2012 CTS-V coupe to be precise.  Same color I loved on my ELR with all the "wheeeeeeee" I wanted in my gas pedal.  Tastefully modded with air raid intake, rear axle cooler (racing only, I'll probably never need it) APR splitter and CF side skirts, and electric exhaust cutouts that turn it from a mild manner cruiser into a "hide yo kids" monster.   Probably other mods too but the dealer didnt get a list from the previous owner so I have a bit of discovery to do.

It scares me.  I haven't given it more than 1/3 throttle.  It behaves quite nicely when you dive it that way.  But even with traction control on I got the rear loose a few times with a throttle blip.  Should be some stupid fun.   Now Im off to donate blood to pay for the fuel.

"Now Im off to donate blood to pay for the fuel."

You say that like it's a bad thing :D

Jay_W said:

"Now Im off to donate blood to pay for the fuel."

 

You say that like it's a bad thing :D

Not at all, totally worth it :)

That looks awesome, I'm wildly jealous. Love those, and that's a fantastic color

I’ve only ever seen them in black. I like the red! These are a guilty little secret crush of mine. 

Nice score. The press intro was held down at PBIR. They added a chicane to the back straight. The thing came out of the chicane will full whine. 

Welcome to the sub 4 second 0-60 DD club. It just never gets old.

A word of caution. Make sure you have the car aimed where you want it to go. Things happen really fast until you get use to it. 

The ELR is the Cadillac Volt right? 

Beautiful. 
 

it's probably too late to ask how much for the ELR isn't it?

Can i drive it?

Nice new ride! A good friend of mine has a 2011. Put it in whatever mode will turn traction control off and still provide stability control. It's fantastic tire spinning fun!

yupididit said:

The ELR is the Cadillac Volt right? 

Yup!

It scares me.  I haven't given it more than 1/3 throttle.

You'll get used to it :) What tires are on it now? They look soooo much better with blacked out trim/grille. Congrats!

I've never seen one of those in that red, and Jesus McGillicuddy is that pretty. 

So good to see someone ditch a hybrid for a luxury muscle car and not the other way around 

dculberson said:

Beautiful. 
 

it's probably too late to ask how much for the ELR isn't it?

Too late to ask me but I can point you toward the dealer :)   I can tell you they are selling it for well below what I would have tried to retail it for.

 

poopshovel again said:

It scares me.  I haven't given it more than 1/3 throttle.

You'll get used to it :) What tires are on it now? They look soooo much better with blacked out trim/grille. Congrats!

Tires are Nitto NT555 G2

I waivered on the blackout, I like a little chrome on my caddy.  But the blacked out windows and grille look great with the darker wheels.  Dealer had already removed the plastidip from the hood edge and side vents which gave it just enough bling up front and I removed it from the rear bar which rounds out the look just right for my tastes.

Mndsm said:

I've never seen one of those in that red, and Jesus McGillicuddy is that pretty. 

I used to never shop cars on color, but when I first saw my ELR in that crystal red I knew that's what I had to have.   So when I was contemplating this move I was very happy to find one in this color locally (actually there were 2)

Justjim75 said:

So good to see someone ditch a hybrid for a luxury muscle car and not the other way around 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a believer that EVs are our future.  If there was a better charging infrastructure in this area I might not have made the move.   But even when I eventually go back to EV I know I'll need to keep a fun car around that makes all the right noises and feels.

The ELR was fast and handled very well, it was a fun driving experience, but to be that fast and smooth looses a little something without the accompanying noises occasionally.  I will likely miss the silence on my commute, in fact I almost rejeted this car because it was so loud on the test drive.  Very amusing but I could tell the drone would get on me really quick.  But thats when I learned it had electric exhaust cutouts and they were open.  Once closed its a reasonable noise level for daily use.

And in case I didnt mention it, its not exactly stock ;)   Having to do a little bit of automotive archeology to determine exactly what all has been done under here,  difficult as I've never dealt with a stock one so I dont know what's what.  But thats definitely not the stock charge cooler, its the updated one of the ZL1 Camaro.

That's dope. 

I have some friends that do powertrain calibration for Cadillac. It's all 2.0T these days, they seem to really miss the ridiculous cars like this one.

Keith Tanner said:

I have some friends that do powertrain calibration for Cadillac. It's all 2.0T these days, they seem to really miss the ridiculous cars like this one.

I wish they'd put some more focus into EV development.  The ELR was an awesome car but it needed more range or even a pure EV variant.  Although I'd also like them to produce more silliness like this :)   I dont care how good you make it, a 4 banger caddy just seems wrong.

These particular guys aren't EV guys, they're internal combustion driveability specialists. Most people have no idea just HOW much work goes into making an ICE work well at the OE level. 

I agree, a turbo four just isn't right for a Cadillac. A straight piped supercharged V8 is much more appropriate.

Keith Tanner said:

A straight piped supercharged V8 is much more appropriate.

I'll even settle for the turbo 6 in the ATS V :)

In reply to JThw8 :

The fake shiny would drive me batty...but so does the black slowly peeling from my grille. 

Keith Tanner said:

I have some friends that do powertrain calibration for Cadillac. It's all 2.0T these days, they seem to really miss the ridiculous cars like this one.

Why don't you & yo frenz get wit me & my frenz?

The twin turbo 6 definitely ISN'T settling!!!