It takes a special kind of crazy to look at the Cadillac CTS-V's 556-horsepower supercharged and intercooled V8 and think, "That's nice, but what it really needs is some power."
John Hennessey of Hennessey Performance has, then, lost his marbles completely. His company's V700 package for the 2009-2010 Cadillac CTS-V is claimed to take the sedan up to a scarcely-believable 707 horsepower and 717 lb-ft of torque as measured at the crankshaft. Yes, 707. John's affliction apparently doesn't affect that hemisphere of the brain responsible for precision.
In the coming days we'll post a comprehensive test of the V700. For an early taste of what the Texas tuner hath wrought, though, here's the breathed-on Caddy's dyno performance.
Hit the jump for the dyno chart and images.
Hennessey's V700 conversion of the Cadillac's 6.2-liter LSA V8 entails reworked heads and a lumpier cam, plus a laundry list of bolt-ons: a smaller supercharger pulley, headers, a big-bore intake, 3-inch exhaust and high-flow cats. Boost rises from its stock of 10 psi to 13.5 psi in V700 trim.
As per our standard practice, we made double-dog certain that the mill was indeed sipping pump fuel, so we first dosed the nearly empty tank to the brim with California finest premium swill. That's 91 octane, in case you forgot.
Then we hit the dyno. On the Dynojet 248 chassis dyno, the V700 ripped off seven pulls. Output rose with each pull and once we had three dyno results that were stabilized within a few hp and lb-ft, we were done.
The V700's final, stabilized output is below. Click for a larger image:
Talk about torque -- this thing smashes out more than 600 lb-ft from 2,600 to 5,350 rpm. Peak torque of 656 lb-ft arrives at 4,150 rpm, and its maximum of 636 horsepower is reached at 6,150 rpm. SAE weather correction was 2%.
When you take into account drivetrain loss, which saps some of the engine's goods on their way to the dyno rollers, the at-the-wheels numbers we measured support Hennessey's claims.
You'll notice in the images below that our tester was equipped with exhaust cutouts. At the flip of a switch, the cutouts open up the exhaust just forward of the (stock) mufflers. Just for kicks, we activated the cutouts for one of the dyno pulls.
It sounded like the gates of hell opened behind us. Afterwards, our ears ringing, we saw that any additional power they liberated was pretty much within the variation of the pulls we made (yes, the result you see above is with the exhaust flowing through the mufflers). But, man, what a noise.
Yeah, the V700 is a monster, all right. Stay tuned for our full test.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor
sniperruff says:
08:18 PM, 03/29/10
nice engine. wonder if the transmission was upgraded to match.
thedream21479 says:
09:04 PM, 03/29/10
Very nice numbers indeed. Now if this thing wasn't so darn ugly....
I'm sorry, but this thing looks like it was designed with only an etch-a-sketch.
lexuslvr says:
09:14 PM, 03/29/10
The CTS-V is a monster easily the best American Sports sedan and Sports car ever made.
pontneuf2503 says:
09:26 PM, 03/29/10
haha what a ridiculous statement...
double_duece says:
11:15 PM, 03/29/10
sounds epic! i guess the thing that's still putting me off is the design language. it's good for Cadillac, but it just doesn't appeal to me. i don't even care that it's so angular, but i think it's too angular in a lot of the wrong places and it could harken back to it's history a bit better. anyways, now that we know for sure the CTS-V wagon is on the way, the sedan and coupe can kiss my grits haha
frank908 says:
05:54 AM, 03/30/10
Now that's something you won't see Ford's EcoBust do.
jmess says:
06:32 AM, 03/30/10
Yawn, what is new? More boost = more power. 3rd party mods void the GM warranty. Does anyone really believe the drive train was designed to handle that much power
stingray454 says:
07:10 AM, 03/30/10
"Does anyone really believe the drive train was designed to handle that much power"
Uh, yeah. The transmission is a Tremec TR6060 with a dual disc clutch. Same transmission used in the Viper and ZR1, among others. I forgot who makes the differential, but it's a stout cast iron unit, much much stronger than the old CTS-V's. You should add a differential oil cooler for this package, but that's about the only drivetrain upgrade you'll need. The stock lower end of the engine can handle this power with little trouble. Any more though, and you'll need to upgrade to forged pistons and stronger rods.
Also, as crazy as this is, the V700 is one of Hennessey's smaller packages for the V. He's got packages for over 1,000hp for the CTS-V.
stoppre75 says:
07:36 AM, 03/30/10
Drive train has no problem handling this extra 100hp as StingRay explained.
Did anyone else catch the spitfire out of the exhaust pipes at the 50second mark?
This car sounds unbelievable. If I had a spare $65,000 to spend on a car this would be the choice...but adding 150hp is basically overkill at this point....I'm curious to read their full writeup and see if getting traction became a big issue when launching the car.
arumage says:
07:46 AM, 03/30/10
@frank908:
You'll never see the LSA get 25mpg with AWD either. They're both awesome engines, but engineered from the factory for different purposes. The LSA's primary goal is speed as evidenced by it's 19mpg highway numbers, and Ford is trying to still stay a bit mileage conscious with the Ecoboost V6. Throw the new all aluminum 550hp V8 into a Ford Falcon from down under, and it would probably give the CTS-V a run for it's money.
audisport says:
09:40 AM, 03/30/10
Sooo sweet. I want one. Wagon though.
fuhteng says:
10:20 AM, 03/30/10
What a monster. I wonder what the new top speed would be for this thing. I have to think it is drag (as opposed to rev) limited. 200 maybe, even for something that chunky?
lmbvette says:
11:11 AM, 03/30/10
I never thought I'd say this, but my CTS-V is the first car that I really don't think I need to mod. Yeah, I said it.
With the auto tranny (yeah, I got the auto as it's quicker in the 1/4 mile) running in regular drive, the car leaves in 2nd gear. Step on it and the car is faster than most cars. However, switch the auto over to sport mode, it's a different story. The car will now leave in first, and if I hit the gas even the least bit aggressively, I light up the tires. Good times! LOL
So, after all this ranting, my point is, for where I live, I really cannot use any additional performance with a car that runs 12.1 in the quarter bone stock. I may get some drag radials for the track and perhaps upgrade the intercooler (essentially an electric bypass switch to keep the coolant running) but that may be it.
Of course, if I lived in wide-open Texas, where Hennessey is....I may have to get the 700 hp option without those wheels and hood.
lmi500 says:
11:18 AM, 03/30/10
Why does the media continually give this joker press? He is clearly known as a thief, a scammer and other things. He takes great cars and turns them into junk cars at the expense of others that keep getting duped by this guy.
iskch says:
12:37 PM, 03/30/10
Too much. Just the standard CTS-V is good enough! Backfires....? I don't know if that is goooodd!
desmolicious says:
01:16 PM, 03/30/10
A serious question... if this thing spits flames from it's exhaust, how is it emissions legal? How can this thing be registered in CA? May be a rude awakening when ya need to smog it etc.
For all the press that Edmunds for some reason unknown to me gives Hennessy (check the complaints against him) a revealing thing to do would be to ask for one of his cars as a short term loaner. You don't need it for a year. A month would do. And then see how it holds together.
stingray454 says:
01:41 PM, 03/30/10
"uhteng says:
10:20 AM, 03/30/10
What a monster. I wonder what the new top speed would be for this thing. I have to think it is drag (as opposed to rev) limited. 200 maybe, even for something that chunky?"
Considering the stock manual CTS-V tops out at 191, I would think 200 mph is in easy reach for this car.
church123 says:
11:31 PM, 03/30/10
The CTS-V trannies are very reliable. We have one customer putting out more than 700 lbs-ft and 640 hp to the wheels on an automatic with a totally stock engine, the stock blower at 15 psi and meth injection - which I offered JK a opp to test a while back... ;). We've actually tuned a couple dozen and I've been waiting for a tranny to fail and they just keep taking the abuse.
While the stock CTS-V is quick, the modded ones are crazy fun. 70-120 happens really quickly. 0-60, not so much better unless you put some sticky tires on there.
p.s. - high flow cats don't like these power levels. I give them less than 12 months if the owner beats on it.
half_ton says:
11:36 AM, 03/31/10
Overkill is correct . . . 556HP is more than enough for ANY driver on ANY vehicle being used on city streets. And that’s with an EXPERIENCED driver behind the wheel no less.
What car is that in the second pic? The yellow one with the Porsche-looking headlights?
half_ton says:
12:32 PM, 03/31/10
Overkill is correct . . . 556HP is more than enough for ANY driver on ANY vehicle being used on city streets. And that’s with an EXPERIENCED driver behind the wheel no less.
What car is that in the second pic? The yellow one with the Porsche-looking headlights?
anythngbutgm says:
07:29 AM, 04/ 1/10
^Lotus Exige^