When I replaced the Goodyear F1 Supercar runflats with Toyo T1Rs, the axle hop problem was reduced, but then again so was the traction and the steering response. My car had the transmission replaced, the driveshaft replaced and finally the rear end replaced trying to track down a highway-speed vibration issue that would cause the whole car to rumble. They never could solve it. I had to get a lawyer involved and GM finally bought it back.

Strange car, the CTS-V. It was a blast to drive. The engine soundtrack was unbelievable. The A/C would freeze your n*tz off on a 110 degree day. It was also very crude, with cheap plastic bits, a wonky shifter (even w/ UUC aftermarket), a pedal-operated E-brake and a lopey hot-rod idle that caused all non-motorhead passengers to comment about how rough it was. It also had surprisingly little headroom in the back seat. Not a comfy place for 6 footers.

I Euro-delivered a 335i last month and I'm not looking back!

 

i gotta say this is one sweet car to drive. i drove one at a gm event, tight and responsive and bags or torque.

...that being said, i would not buy a gm product due to quality issues they mostly all seem to have, that is reliability is not a strong point. and neither is resale...case in point the stsv, almost 50 large when new, now, after a couple of years....$14.95? well almost....then again how about the 2 door cousin, the gto...that one was about $30,000+ new and now....$7.95?

you get my point, nice car, but not for more than a test drive imho.

 

The 335i is a fantastic car, there's no need to look back. I'm a big fan of the '97-03 5 series, especially the 540 and M, great cars.

Mike

 

What a shame these cars are such POSs, because the idea is a home run. Too bad the execution is more like a bunt that got popped up right to the catcher, then they doubled up the man on second base.

Did I stretch that baseball metaphor far enough?

 

I used to own a '99 540i 6-speed.. awesome car, although it had its share of problems as well. I'm glad my S2000 has been reliable

 

As Ferris Bueller once said, you can never go too far

GM blew it on the attention to detail. Actually, I'm pretty sure their engineering staff made it clear to management that the rear axle design wasn't robust enough to stand up to 400hp and 395ft-lbs with an extremely strong clutch, but management probably signed off on it anyway due to market pressure and budget reasons. There was an article in GM High Tech Performance a while back that mentioned a leaked memo from GM engineering about how the halfshafts were only rated up to a certain amount of torque and it was calculated that that could be exceeded easily under certain conditions, like a clutch side-step at 4000+ RPMs or something similar.

My CTS-V spent about 50 days in the shop. I must have driven 3 or 4 different examples of base 2.8 V6 CTS models for loaner cars. One of them was brand new and had 10 miles on it when they gave it to me. After driving it a week, it developed a weird thumping noise coming from the rear brakes. Another one leaked diff fluid on my garage floor. Not reassuring. I know GM does get some stuff right but for the time being I'll stick to stuff made in Germany or Japan.

 

^^ And they wonder why they (all the domestics for that matter) are so far behind.

The laughable thing is they cut corners to save moeny, and in the end that is what has them losing billions.

 

Wow lots of input here. Here's a little update- I had the TSB performed on the wheel hop and the '06 diff installed and it made a HUGE difference. I was very suprised as I have heard many mixed views on it. I've averaged 11.7mpg so far this tank so it is clear I'm having a little more fun with it now.

 

In theory, I really like the CTS-V. In reality, it has too many problems and costs more than I would pay.

It does look good though.

 

Was inchs from picking up a brand new 05 a year or so back.. I am sort of glad I didnt but at the same time I wish I did. Fantastic cars when they are working properlly... the brakes look gorgeous.