Hennessey tuned Cadillac CTS-V vs. Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R [video]

Two video shows quarter mile drag race between the Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V and the Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R

Here are a couple of videos put out by Hennessey showing their Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon with automatic transmission doing the quarter-mile race against a 2011 Nissan GT-R and then a Porsche 911 turbo.

Both cars, of course, are heavily out muscled by the tuned CTS-V , now sporting 650 bhp (485 kW / 659 PS). And if you look closely at the numbers you'll find that the more than 150 horse advantage the CTS-V has over its rivals should be delivering more than those marginal gains it has over the 911 and the GT-R.

Actually, if you look at the 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) numbers that Hennessey itself puts on the videos, that 2011 GT-R,with 485 bhp (362 kW / 492 PS) and 434 lb-ft (588 Nm) of torque, has the same 3.5 second time as the Hennessey CTS-V.

And the Hennessey CTS-V weighs 1,000 lbs (454 kg) more than the 911 - 4423 lbs (2006 kg) vs. 3474 lbs (1576 kg).

Slaloming on the track? The GT-R sports some impressive Nurburging numbers and the 911...well, it's harp-tight suspension is a matter of legend.

Okay, yes, the Hennessey CTS-V is a quick-footed American sport wagon.

Source: Hennessey

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 autoficianado autoficianado
....This is a wagon NOT a sport sedan
March 18, 2011 8:14 pm
 droid_dtm droid_dtm
dude, its a sports sedan in wagon guise ok. The CTS-V shares little with its lesser siblings. It was designed to take on the Germanic 3sum... M5, E63 and RS6.
March 18, 2011 8:49 pm
 BrianWCF BrianWCF
Fixed. Just checking to see who's reading to the last word. JK :D
March 19, 2011 9:51 am
 droid_dtm droid_dtm
despite the pratically dead even performance figures, its still impressive on two fronts... first the CTS-V is toting a lot more weight around, and secondly its price point and immense practically in everyday life cannot be match by the Nissan or Porsche. But apples should be compared with apples. Line this up with a E63 and RS6 estate (I guess an E60 M5 estate too) and lets see what happens. My money's still on the Caddy, well until they meet a corner
March 18, 2011 8:54 pm
 Andres2007 Andres2007
Why a corner? That stereotype that no American car can go around a corner is getting very old and tired. Even Jeremy Clarkson, the Osama Bin Laden of automotive journalism in terms of anti-Americanism, admitted that the CTS was a delight to drive around a corner. My money's actually on the next-gen M5, but rest assured that whatever the result of the hypothetical match-up may be, the Cadillac will go around a corner as well as its German rivals.
March 18, 2011 9:51 pm
 wcfuser14369 wcfuser14369
"first the CTS-V is toting a lot more weight around, and secondly its price point and immense practically in everyday life cannot be match by the Nissan or Porsche." Really? How much does this Hennessey tuning conversion cost then?
March 19, 2011 4:40 am
 GSS5 GSS5
lmao. seriously when did RWD become more practical than AWD. what a bunch of bs.
March 19, 2011 8:22 am
 VWSTAN VWSTAN
Why didn't they put slicks on the GTR and 911? Because it would have lost, that's why! .1 seconds difference in the 1/4 mile. The drag slicks alone would have overcome that!
March 19, 2011 10:45 am
 Zonda Addict Zonda Addict
they didn't use the revised version of the 911, but still impressive victory.
March 18, 2011 9:00 pm
 catchmyshadow catchmyshadow
Hennessey seem overly proud with all those mods and the racing slicks for a tenth of a second over a stock pre facelift Turbo. the racing slicks alone are a pretty big edge for acceleration in a straight line. nice try!
March 18, 2011 9:34 pm
 alamak alamak
Could not agree with you more. Put the racing slicks on the GTR or 911 and both of them will beat the caddy for less hp. One last thing, that is NOT a family station wagon for crying out loud Hennessey, you don't see ppl say M5 is the same station wagon as the 5-series do you.
March 18, 2011 11:44 pm
 suprahul suprahul
But what about the handling?
March 19, 2011 12:32 am
 salik990 salik990
i thought new facelift 2011 GTR is 530bhp or is this one the 2009 GTR? nice try Hennessey now try to race with new 911 turbo (pdk)
March 19, 2011 12:34 am
 abugatti abugatti
2 things!! GT-R,911 Turbo ran STOCK tires and CTS-V had DRAG tires!! anyone who tried Drag tires know it makes HUGE!! difference!! and second of all, GT-R, 911 turbo have LAUNCH CONTROL but they did not use it in this race because CTS-V doesn't have it!! now, go remake the video with drag tires on GT-R,911 and turn on the launch control and see which one wins!!!!!!!!!!
March 19, 2011 1:57 am
 mn07 mn07
Ammm.1;- CTS-V has 192HP more 2;- this video was made by Hennessey so the GT-R will always lose even if its faster.3:- cts-v had drag tires.
March 19, 2011 3:08 am
 cronan cronan
What the hell was this? Are they mentally challenged or something? You cant compare these in a dragrace, and besides, even if you?d use them as refference they would still beat the Cadillac as soon as the road bends.
March 19, 2011 3:40 am
 ebugra ebugra
ahahaha..this video is such a shame for hennessey..really funny..
March 19, 2011 4:17 am
 swifthead swifthead
without DRAG tyres and on normal tarmac (instead of that dragstrip) the result would be the abomination of tha Caddy...and it's a shame that Caddy need 650hp to move forward...
March 19, 2011 5:42 am
 3ccl6 3ccl6
That was ironic...modified vs. 2 stock cars...then used the Porsche slogan to say "There are no substitutes"? But you substituted mods into the Caddy!
March 19, 2011 5:51 am
 Devo Devo
Mmmmmmmmmmm don't get me started! And I like the fact it had drag radial tyres!! A Cadillac being an American car built for the American market will never be better than a GTR or Porsche! I could make a old $20 000 ford or holden kill that caddy for half that price- does it make them better? No way!
March 19, 2011 6:32 am
 3ccl6 3ccl6
My point exactly. Thanks for articulating better than I can. :)
March 21, 2011 2:22 pm
 hurahn hurahn
Better is subjective. Everybody is always spouting off about 0-60 or quarter mile times. Please. If you go around drag racing around your town, you're lost.Most people can't drive properly anyway, including those that post on this site. For people with CTS-V money it is the better car. V8,manual tranny, all the interior goodies and it handles reasonably well. Can't complain about that.For those people it's probably one of the better cars they've driven plus it won't put them into foreclosure. We're lucky to have any of the super powered cars as it is. Last time I was on the road I didn't see any CTS-V's or E63's(they don't sell RS6's here). What I did see was Camrys,Altimas,Maximas,Lancers and Corollas. When I did see a Bimmer,Benz or Audi it was the regular model.
March 19, 2011 7:14 am
 N20_Purge N20_Purge
Typical Americans, thinking straight line speed is everything. If this tuned Cadillac Estate goes on a race track (with corners) it would be left for dead by the 911 and GT-R.
March 19, 2011 11:38 am
 justanotherfan justanotherfan
Put 650bhp on a M5 or an E63 and let's see who wins, this is a stupid comparison I mean I like the Caddy but that much horsepower advantage should have done more and the video should have been done by someoene independent.
March 19, 2011 3:16 pm
 nixlair nixlair
so.......for the same price I could be driving a GT-R and really not notice any power difference. Thanks Cadillac for making me aware of that.
March 19, 2011 4:26 pm
 6spdterror 6spdterror
It seems like a lot of people here get their panties in a bunch every time a euro car gets beaten by an american car. First off, the porsche and the GTR are both AWD so they dont need slicks. Secondly, the CTS-V did a 7 min 59 sec lap at the nurburgring which i think is still the fastest time for a 4 door sedan so i think it DOES know how to go around corners. Its beyond me how biased some people can be just because a car hails from a certain country. If youre an enthusiast, be an enthusiasts and appreciate all cars with some kind of sporting worth. SMH
March 19, 2011 4:41 pm
 Aesthetics Aesthetics
im sure this cadillac beat both cars in handling, grip and breaking too, not because its fact but because its american, as sophisticated as a hamburger at all times
March 19, 2011 7:57 pm
 Aesthetics Aesthetics
its braking you idiot
March 20, 2011 10:01 am
 the-matrix the-matrix
Big engine ok, But at the first turn, bye bye cadillac.
March 20, 2011 2:23 am
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