Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon is great

The CTS coupe comes with a standard V-6 engine and an available V-8.

By GM

The CTS and its Arts and Science design language kick-started the resurgence of Cadillac. The addition of the CTS-V (now with an awesome 556 horsepower!) underscored just how serious the once-proud marque was about regaining its self-respect. Enter the CTS Sport Wagon.

As with its siblings, the Sport Wagon is all about its hard-edged attitude. What a looker -- the gawk-meter was off the scale, even when parked beside Acura's fetching ZDX crossover.

The good news is that the CTS Sport Wagon has the mechanical wherewithal to back up its good looks. The Crystal Red (a $1,295 paint option -- please!) wagon arrived with GM's up-level 3.6-litre V6 under the hood. It puts a healthy 304 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque at the driver's right foot.

Yes, it is motivating a rather portly 1,851 kilograms, but that does not blunt its enthusiasm in the least. The use of a six-speed manumatic certainly helps matters, as the engine is only a snappy kickdown away from the meat of its power curve.

The disappointment is that the manual side works only when the shifter is in the manual position, so it is a pain to get to the needed engine braking (the lack of paddle shifters underscores this gripe).

From here, the power reaches the road through a good all-wheel-drive system ($1,675). It brings better balance to the drive and limits unwanted wheelspin when the driver mats the gas from a standstill. What does surface is quickly dealt with by GM's advanced StabiliTrak electronic stability control system.