Remember the Cadillac version of the Corvette? For whatever reason, during the past week I think I passed one XLR a day--and not the same car, either.
Just poking around online. I didn't realize that the XLR-V stickered right at a hundred grand. No stick shift was ever offered, though.
David Hill came to Corvette from Cadillac. Guess he had been jealous while there?
A low mileage '07 is less than half it's original price now. Still, $45k is a bit rich for my blood.
We service an XLR-V at the dealership, it is rather cool to drive.
No Corvette motor either. A 4.6 liter Northstar IIRC, which means no simple swaps for supercharged 7 liter goodness.
In reply to pinchvalve:
No expertise here but I think you're mistaken about the engine pinchvalve.
In reply to M2Pilot:
regular XLR had a 4.6 Northstar, XLR-V used the STS-V's 4.4L supercharged Northstar.
WilberM3 wrote: In reply to M2Pilot: regular XLR had a 4.6 Northstar, XLR-V used the STS-V's 4.4L supercharged Northstar.
This is 100% correct.
So, you can get a CTS-V with 3 pedals and an LS, but the caddy Vette has a N* and a slusher?
WTF?
More interesting to me is that early first gen CTS-Vs are now low to mid teens... that's a mess of car for the coin. Better buy than a GTO IMHO.
And, of course, the XLR can now be bought for the price of a new Miata. I'm telling you David, you guys should do an affordable supercar comparo article. Supercars you can buy for the price of a Miata. There are about two dozen legitimate contenders. Round up a half a dozen or so from readers and owners groups. Pit them against a new Miata for performance, usability, fun, etc. Would make a great cover story!
darkbuddha wrote: More interesting to me is that early first gen CTS-Vs are now low to mid teens... that's a mess of car for the coin. Better buy than a GTO IMHO.
June 2012 issue of GRM has a buyer guide on the first-gen CTS-V. That issue goes to press very soon.
Why bother with the XLR? It is an ugly Corvette with no stick shift and not as good an engine.
i kinda like this half breed corvette BUT i wound't pick it over a corvette,.
I would have to be lobotomized or hit my head hard enough to cause brain damage to want an XLR. Northstar powered pile of ass...
I've driven numerous XLRs in my days at the Cadillac dealer. They always struck me as heavy, slower, more expensive, and uglier Corvettes. Sort of makes no sense to me. I was never able to drive an XLR-V, although we had one at the dealer, I was not allowed to drive it. The general manager of the dealer was the only one who drove it.
And I'm not saying the XLR is a Corvette substitute. I just think it's odd that I have seen several in the past week or so: silver, black, blue, red.
93EXCivic wrote: Why bother with the XLR? It is an ugly Corvette with no stick shift and not as good an engine.
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the interior was probably built to a higher standard than Corvettes of the era. This was somewhat important to the buyers Caddy was going after.
David S. Wallens wrote: And I'm not saying the XLR is a Corvette substitute. I just think it's odd that I have seen several in the past week or so: silver, black, blue, red.
Are you in Chicago? Because I swear they have all migrated there. Went there a few months ago & in one day we saw about 5 of them.
I've driven a couple. Rode smoother and much better material on the interior than the C5 the wife had, as you would expect.
It was fast, but heavy and slow compared to the Vette, again as you might expect.
I thought the folding hardtop action was pretty slick. The car struck me as built for the guy that wanted to own a sports car, but didn't want to drive it. Sorta pointed at the Mercedes SL, I guess. I don't think they sold all that well, as you might expect.
I was just talking at my girlfriend about how I liked those things, thinking they were basically just a fancier Vette.
But no LSx, no dice.
Basil Exposition wrote: I thought the folding hardtop action was pretty slick. The car struck me as built for the guy that wanted to own a sports car, but didn't want to drive it. Sorta pointed at the Mercedes SL, I guess. I don't think they sold all that well, as you might expect.
It was aimed dead at the SL500 when they built it. Its actually a really good car, the xlr-v in particular has excellent power, good seats, and it is comfortable for someone 6 2' ish.
It is really let down in the fit and finish though, the trunk looks like a something out of a rental Malibu, the CD player is slow and the navigation on the 06-back is dreadful. The radar cruise control is pretty cool though.
It is super quiet though. You expect 450ish HP to sound like something other then a vacuum.
I love the cars. No power issue a turbo cant fix.
I really like the look of them. In person, they are pretty striking.
I like them too – you see one so rarely that it's a head-turner.
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