Cadillac’s new CT6 is an interesting proposition. The GM unit’s interim flagship sits above the CTS, but ultimately will acquiesce its de facto slot at the top of the Cad pyramid to a true S-class competitor. Price-wise, the newest Cadillac starts at $54,490 for a base, turbo-four-powered model. Tick all the boxes and you’ve added another $38,450 to the Monroney. After pouring over the options, we found ourselves on the high side of the middle of that spread.
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Rather than going straight for Cadillac’s range-topping Platinum trim level with the hot engine, which rings the bell at $88,460, we opted for the Luxury-level car and then seasoned to taste. Thankfully, Cadillac allows you opt for the stonkingest mill paired with lesser amenities. We predictably chose the new 3.0 twin-turbo engine, which features 400 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, shunted through an eight-speed automatic and an all-wheel-drive system. If the CT6’s upcoming twin-turbo eight had been available, we quite likely would’ve opted for it instead. Call us predictable. We’ll allow it just this once.
-Nobody ever complained about a Cadillac swathed in black, and in a stroke of good fortune, the Black Raven paint adds not one iota to the bottom line. We are, however, believers in the essential goodness of magnetorhreological dampers, so we willingly parted with the $3300 required to net us the Active Chassis Package, which also includes 20-inch wheels.
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Unlike some of the rather spendy Burmester and Bang & Olufsen factory audio setups in today’s luxury cars, Cadillac’s top-spec Bose Panaray system is only $3700. It comes with 34 speakers, which is a mere $108.82 per speaker. Porsche charges $5890 for the Panamera’s excellent 16-speaker Burmester system, bringing its price-per-speaker quotient to $368.13. With so many speakers for your hard-earned dollar, how can you not opt for the Panaray? Cadillac has been doing great things with brown leather lately, so we opted for the Cinnamon seats with jet black accents with carbon-fiber and piano black trim.
-Because we couldn’t resist the Panaray hype, we were forced to adopt the Enhanced Vision and Comfort package. It tacks on an extra $2025, adds a panoramic sunroof, and pumps an HD rear camera feed into the inside mirror. In that light, the Panaray wound up costing us about as much as the Burmester, but hey, Cadillac gives you a big sunroof and 34 speakers for the price of a paltry 16 speakers from Porsche! If that’s not American value, we’re afraid we can’t tell you what is. In a more hardcore performance machine, grudgingly give up the stereo to forgo the high-up weight and invariable penalty in stiffness such a hole in the roof structure brings, but hey, it’s a large-ish Cadillac. We might as well treat ourselves to at least a modicum of impractical opulence.
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We didn’t find ourselves in need of a ground-effects package, hyper-luxe adjustable rear seats, or a lighted trunk sill plate, so we saved a fair dollop of dosh there. We threw in the $210 tire inflator solely because we’re too lazy to pop by Walmart for a compressor and a can of Slime. For $74,415, we got everything we wanted, a couple of items we were ambivalent about, and we ultimately saved $14,045 over a Platinum-spec CT6. But man, that Panaray better live up to the hype or we’re gonna be feeling a little cheated. Especially when we’re picking Cinnabon crumbs out of our perforated Cinnamon seats.
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