Only a few days ago, veteran GM engineer and racer John Heinricy, executive director of GM performance car programs, took a bone-stock 2009 Cadillac CTS-V around the famous Nurburgring circuit in seven minutes, fifty-nine and thirty-two one hundredths seconds, making it the fastest production sedan ever to have lapped the ‘Ring circuit. They had to wait to make the announcement until the car could be shipped back to Detroit and demonstrated to the media at the GM Milford Proving Grounds.
Heinricy says the car was run on stock Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires at standard inflation pressures of 32 psi, and that the car was heavier than stock due to the inclusion of a roll bar, driving seats, five-point harnesses, and fire extinguisher in the cockpit, about 4300 pounds. He said the car, an automatic left in Drive the entire lap, got airborne in several places around the track, and hit a top speed of 175 mph at redline (6200 rpm) in fifth gear, averaging well more than 90 mph all the way around the circuit.