Video: Hennessey V700 Coupe hits the dragstrip

Not only is the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V coupe one of the better looking cars available today, it is also pretty quick. Packing 556 horsepower from the factory, the two door is a force to be reckoned with right off the showroom floor. But that just isn't enough for some folks.

Give yourself an edge over those "normal" CTS-V owners with the Hennessey V700. The massaged LSA motor pumps out an impressive 700hp and 740 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. The quarter mile is obliterated in around 11 seconds, and we can bet it's one of the more comfortable 1/4 mile runs you'll ever make.

560 hp Dodge Challenger Convertible

Coach Builders Ltd is best known for it's convertible conversions of the Chrysler 300 and Cadillac CTS, so after Dodge nixed any plans it had of building a Challenger drop top, they stepped right in to fill the void.



The Florida-based company will bring a customized soft-top Dodge Challenger SRT8 to SEMA, packing a Vortech supercharger good for 560 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. In addition to the hydraulically powered acrylic polyester cloth roof (complete with sound and temperature insulation), the Challenger is dropped courtesy of a KW coil-over suspension over 22-inch Foose wheels coated in Nitto rubber.



The cost of the conversion, which also includes a heated glass rear window, matching headliner and a rear strut bar to shore up the chassis, is a whopping $16,000, making for a $58,000 hair dryer when rolled into the $41,695 base price of an SRT8. But for those looking to buy a drop top Challenger, it's the only way to go.

2008 D3 Cadillac XLR-V

Stigmas are hard to shake. Perhaps the hardest one in the automotive world to shake is the idea that Cadillac makes cars for the more "senior" members of society. Long has this been an image that Cadillac has tried to shake, even as it's counterpart Buick seems to embrace it.



With Caddy recently introducing the new CTS, it's a legitimate German fighter. The car has received much praise and was even Motor Trend's Car of the Year. But when you look upwards in the lineup to the Corvette twin XLR, you can't help but think that it's a Corvette for older folks.



The XLR is, basically, a Corvette with less power, more plush interior, and a softer ride. It sports some nice styling and is definitely a head turner. Corvettes are a dime a dozen, but when you see an XLR it turns heads.



For those with a desire to look unique and go fast, D3 Motorsports has the solution for you. D3's focus has been on amping-up Cadillac's already formidable V-series offerings, with its take on the Cadillac XLR-V roadster being the latest and greatest.



Save for the shiny 20 inch wheels, this Caddy is all business. D3's stage 2 package consists of an upgraded supercharger, monster dual intake, Corsa full exhaust system, upgraded intercooler, performance spark plugs, auxiliary methanol injection cooling system, and retuned suspension (although no components are replaced). Rubber also is upgraded, with Toyo Proxes T1Rs sized 245/35ZR20 up front and 285/30ZR20 in the rear replacing the stock 19-in. Pirelli runflats.



All of these upgrades result in 575 hp at 5900 rpm and 585 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm. Sixty mph comes and goes in just 4.2 sec, the quarter in 12.7 sec at 112 mph - take that Vette owner!



D3's asking price for the package is $16,435 -- $8555 for the performance modifications, $5200 for the wheels, $1180 for the tires, and $1500 for the installation. The XLR-V itself costs $101,300, bringing the total price to $117,735, some $15,000 and change shy of the SL63. Skip the big-ticket wheels and accompanying tires, and that drops to $111,355 -- not the worst deal in the world, all things considered, and a far cry from your grandpa's old Fleetwood.

2009 Cadillac CTS-V First Look

Cadillac is on a mission. Long have they played second fiddle to the likes of BMW, Mercedes, and other luxury auto makers. For a brand once known as the "Standard of the World," they weren't just going to lie down and give up to the Germans and the Japanese.

GM as a whole has been on a roll lately. The new Malibu is receiving praise, the Corvette ZR1 will be terrorizing roads soon. The new Camaro is making huge waves. The newly redesigned CTS sedan was crowned as Motor Trend's Car of the Year. And they follow up with a out of the park home run, the new CTS-V.

As you would imagine, the new "V" is powered by a small block. It was developed along with the ZR1's powerplant and features such racy items as a dry sump oil system and the saddle-mount twin intercooler bricks that allowed the LS9 to limbo in under the Vette's low hoodline.

The same quiet, efficient, four-lobe blower design is used, though it's a bit smaller and makes less boost (8.7 psi versus 10.5). Using LS2-like valvetrain restricts the Caddy's redline to 6200 rpm, while the ZR1's low-mass bits tolerate 6600 revs. Befitting the sedan's statelier nature, the Corvette's loud-mode exhaust is ditched in favor of a quieter system with four catalysts and a modest resonator (it's quiet, but for resonant drone at 1500 rpm). The sound is dominated by pleasing V-8 induction noise embellished with a bit of supercharger whine.

The bad Caddy puts out 556 hp at 6100 rpm and 551 lb-ft at 3800 rpm; that's down 82 horses and 53 lb-ft from the ZR1's power peak, but, more important, it trumps rivals like the M5 (by 56 hp and 168 lb-ft) and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG (by 49/86). In Europe, the Audi RS6 has Cadillac outhorsed with 571, but that naturally aspirated spinner falls short by 72 lb-ft of twist, and AWD bloats its weight-to-power ratio to equal that of the CTS-V-7.7 lb/hp. And only Cadillac offers a no-cost choice of six-speed transmissions: paddle-shifted planetary automatic or a proper three-pedal stick.

Both the stick and the automatic cross the 60-mph mark in 4.1 sec, but taller gearing in the manual's first three gears blunts its quarter mile slightly (12.4 sec at 117.1 mph versus the automatic's 12.3 at 117.5). Either transmission performs comfortably ahead of the M5 (4.5, 12.5@114.9) and E63 AMG (4.3, 12.7@113.0). If you're looking for autobahn supremacy opt for the manual, which tops out at a reported 193 mph in sixth, while the automatic is limited to 175 to protect the transmission.

All of this power is routed through a heavily revised suspension. Second-generation Magnetic Ride Control shocks, like those on the ZR1, work magic in expanding the envelope of comfortable ride and sharp handling. Tour and Sport settings offer completely different control logic. Each has the bandwidth to go full-firm or full-soft in an instant, but Sport elevates the baseline damping control and lowers the thresholds of steering, braking, or road inputs that trigger a damping-rate change. Tour provides supple ride comfort with reasonable body-motion control on twisty, imperfect public roads, but when running hard on a smooth track or up a mountain pass, Sport curtails roll and pitch far more aggressively by instantaneously transitioning to high jounce-damping rates at the wheels on the outside of a turn and high rebound-damping on the inside, or full jounce front/rebound rear during braking.

The CTS-V uses Brembo brakes on all four corners, with six-piston front, four-piston rear calipers chomping on huge 15.0-in. front rotors featuring co-cast technology (iron braking surfaces and cooling vents cast around an aluminum hub and spokes). The 14.7-in. rears are all iron. An optional track package swaps traditional bolted iron/aluminum rotors for the co-cast ones, eliminates the surface grooves (they compromise pad life in heavy track usage), and paints the calipers red. 60-0 times are around 105 feet.

Cadillac's new super four door CTS-V may or may not entice buyers away from BMW and Mercedes showrooms. Those types of customers aren't always enamored with quarter mile times and other performance numbers. But it may make them think twice. For those of us who appreciate a little burning rubber smell with our cushy leather interiors, the Cadillac CTS-V goes on sale soon.