NURBURG, Germany Cadillac announced today that the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V has run a 7:59.32 lap of the N?/4rburgring Nordschleife in the hands of GM Performance Division's John Heinricy. This is thought to be the fastest-ever lap time for a production sedan on this demanding 73-corner, 12.9-mile racetrack.
The redesigned CTS-V is no stranger to the Nordschleife, as it was here that spy graphers first spotted this car in heavy camouflage. The high-performance sedan is now in the final stages of development and testing, says Cadillac, and this particular CTS-V had no significant modifications over and above the production specification.
Although not confirmed as the fastest lap any sedan has ever run on the N?/4rburgring, there's no denying the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V has the hardware to pull off such a feat. The power source in the CTS-V is GM's supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V8 and it's rated for an estimated 550 horsepower at 6,200 rpm and 550 pound-feet of torque. We'd guess this particular car also had the six-speed manual transmission, which will be offered as a hard-core alternative to the usual automatic.
Cadillac says it will post video footage of the record-setting lap on the Cadillac Drivers' Blog in the coming days.
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