Cadillac developing V12 Lexus LS and Merc S-Class rival

FINALLY!

Cadillac has such rich heritage.. bring back the V16!

I think V16 is pushing it in today's climate.. but a smooth V12 would do nicely.

bring it !

I know the Sixteen meant it had a V16 in it, but really if you brought back the Sixteen and offered a good V12 in it, I think that'd sell really well. They've used the same concept images for a few years now and it still looks really fresh and avant guarde.

caddy is switching to rwd and awd platforms.

Good for them. I think some one should battle these cars from america.

DTS and STS are going to die and be replaced by a larger RWD vehicle than the current STS based on the same parts as the upcoming Aussie imported G8. Could be a very considerable car. The V12 could allow it to start in 5 or E type pricing and still get upto S class pricing with the V12. Just make the V6 and option to get it down to 5 and E price range. Not sure why a 306hp V6 wouldn't be sufficient for Limo and executive grade versions of this car??

5/E is too low. What I think Cadillac should do is, instead of confusing buyers with strange product placement like Acura... this new RWD big sedan should be a direct competitor to the LS/A8/7/S. The CTS should be pushed slightly upmarket; it doesn't need a significantly higher price, but should be a bit bigger and compared to the E/5/A6/GS/M. There should be (and will be) a new sedan under the CTS (NOT THE BLS!) that competes in the 3/C/A4/IS/G class.

They will have a global Diesel in the CTS long before this V12 car ever happens. The Car that will get the V12 will probably only have a V6, V6 diesel, and V8 from the outset and the car won't be here until about 2011 or 2012. So it would probably be like the 2013 timeframe before a V12 is ever planned. And that would only be to make a version of the car to compete with the top S, 7, and A8's. So it would be a very low production car and hopefully right at about a perfect time for when they are really getting traction in international markets. It's going to take a good 5 years of good cars before they really get any international Caddy volume, but to get that volume they are going to need a vehicle comperable to the competition at every level. This will be the car that completes the line up in that respect.

Gas will have to be $100/gallon for the market for such cars to go away. When your worth is in the billions or even 100's of millions such cars and the fuel they requires isn't that big of an expense. Think many people just don't have a good understanding of the number of people that have huge wealth in this day and age. The people with that wealth aren't as concerned with the environment and global warming as the vocal minority of them seem to make you want to think.

I think this car will have an extended length CTS chassis. If it looks like the Cadillac 16 show car they may have a winner. I saw this car in person at my local auto show and it is amazing.

correction to the headline: cadillac is a building a V12 competitor to mercedes, bmw and audi. there's no V12 offering from lexus.

a V12 hybrid...even more ridiculous than a V8 "hybrid." so if the LS600 is getting 14.9mpg overall, what the V12 going to get? 9.9?

As long as it weighs more than the 760/W12/S600, then it will get the same mileage as those, LOL. All about the badge and the image.

This will compete with the likes of Maybach, RR DropDead Phantom, and Bentley Azura. BMW, Benz, Audi, Porsche and Lexus, Infiniti, Acura are outclassed.

I don't think anyone can really outclass Mercedes.

3.6l V6... 7.2l V12... 16.4l V16 in the sixteen lol.. pattern.. ;p

oh wait... whats the V16s displacement... ?

The V16 in the Sixteen was two Small block V8 OHV LS engines put together. So it would range from 11.4-14L depending on what block they started with. Seems most everything is going to the 6.2L block slowly so that would make for 12.4L. A high power LS7 based once could be 14L.

Thanks for the info.

This is not a bad idea for Cadillac, but I'm quite certain that theres not going to be a market for this outside of the US. Outside of the US, I think that Mercedes has the V12 Executive Saloon class, though 760Li and A8W12 is making head-way.

that caddy sixteen is probably one of the best designed car ever. wish the new caddy looks exactly like it.

the 2.0l V8 doesnt seem like it would be a good contender, because it doesnt seem like it would be an engine for such a big vehicle, especially the smoothness of the engine's performance.

Yes, I agree with Thierry. It would compromise the power delivery.

How about a larger (but still small) V8, about 3.8L? With twin-turbochargers and about 450hp?

Alot of people seem not to realize when they talk about big enines being usless and inefficient, that Cadillac brought us WORKING cylindar deactivation. So if caddy follows suit with what its done in the past it would only act as a 12 cylindar when the hammer was dropped. The rest of the time it would act like the V6.

Now if caddy were really smart they would mate together two 306hp direct injection V6's and have a car that performed phenominally (612 hp)as well as obtained great gas milage.

That would be a Truly modern big block from the US.

A8L W12, anyone?

the cadillac sixteen was that kind of engine, 17mpg and 1000hp if im not mistaken were the projections....no other 10 cylinder or above engine gets that the w12 gets gas mileage just like the v12's i guess it was just more a marketing ploy than anything else...

Anyone else notice how the Lexus LS600h is included in the same sentence as the S600?

7.2L V12 with only 523hp and 500lb-ft of torque?

S65 AMG: 6.0L Bi-turbo V12 604 hp 738lb-ft