2009-2011 Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon by Hennessey

year:	2009-2011
Horse Power @ RPM:	813
0-100 time:	6.2 sec.
0-60 time:	2.6 sec.
Quarter Mile speed:	136 mph
Quarter Mile time:	10.5 sec.

The Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon is already a car that can get most enthusiasts drooling. Just about all of the boxes can get ticked off instantly with just a quick look. Luxurious leather interior? Check. Enough space to haul the wife, the kids, the dogs, and all of the useless knick-knacks they decided to bring on the family road trip? Check. A 556 HP supercharged, Corvette-sourced V8? Check.

For many enthusiasts, the Caddy wagon is just about all they could ask for in a car. Ludicrously fast, reasonably priced, and practical all at once. What more could they possibly want? Well, as Jeremy Clarkson would say, “MORE POWERRRRRRR!”

That’s right, folks. In true tuner fashion, Hennessey Performance near Houston, Texas decided that the CTS-V Sport Wagon needed just a tad more power.

UPDATE 05/07/2011: Here’s another tasty treat from the guys over at Hennessey. Their latest video for the CTS-V650 shows the Cadillac doing a few burnouts at Lonestar Motorsports Park. You may want to pump up the volume for this one.

Exterior

The Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon’s exterior is much the same as the standard CTS-V wagon. The Hennessey CTS-V650 Sport Wagon has the same handsome Art and Science design scheme that all CTS-V’s come with. As a matter of fact, at first glance one would probably not be able to tell the two apart. Aside from some black-chrome aftermarket wheels, and the addition of a Hennessey badge on the hatch, there really isn’t much difference. There’s no special paint or go-fast stripes found here either, because this CTS-V650 is still wrapped in the same Radiant Silver Metallic paint that it left the factory with. That’s part of the Hennessey’s allure: making sleeper supercars. Because as the folks at Hennessey know, it’s much more fun beating fast cars when yours looks slow.

Interior

Just like Hennessey hasn’t changed much to the exterior of the CTS-V650 Sport Wagon, the interior of the car shares a similar story. Inside, the only difference between the Hennessey and the standard Cadillac is the addition of Hennessey embroidered headrests, Hennessey premium floor mats, and a serial-numbered dash plaque. While the Cadillac CTS’ interior was last updated in 2008, and looks somewhat more dated when compared to its Germanic rivals, Hennessey’s specialty is performance, not interior re-upholstery, so it was a smart decision for Hennessey to (for the most part), leave it alone.

Engine

Under the hood is where the Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon gets interesting. Stock, the Cadillac CTS-V makes 556 HP and 551 ft/lbs of torque out of its supercharged 6.2L V8. Impressive numbers, sure. However, the Hennessey CTS-V650 Sport Wagon makes an astonishing 658 HP and a frankly quite monstrous 718 ft/lbs of torque. That’s a power-to-weight ratio of 15 HP per pound– in a station wagon. The Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 does all of this with the optional 6-Speed Automatic transmission. There aren’t any fancy double-clutch gearboxes found here.

How does Hennessey do this? Quite simply actually, Hennessey installs their own cold air intake, upgrades the supercharger pulley and snout, as well as the intercooler, and they install long tube headers together with a stainless steel mid-pipe with high flow catalytic converters. This, combined with Hennessey’s ECU upgrade and dyno-testing, results in the CTS-V650’s impressive numbers. In fact, Hennessey has been so impressed with the results that they’ve released two YouTube videos pitting the CTS-V650 in a ¼ mile drag race up against two AWD titans, a Porsche 911 Turbo and Godzilla itself, a Nissan GTR. While both races are close, the Hennessey edges ahead and emerges victorious in both races. While it must be kept in mind that these are Hennessey produced videos, and that the CTS-V650 is wearing a set of drag tires, the results are nonetheless quite remarkable.

While Hennessey hasn’t released 0-60 times for the CTS-V650, based on the upgrades and the stock CTS-V Sport Wagon 0-60 times, the Hennessey can be expected to hit 60 MPH in between 3.5 and 3.9 seconds. Top speed should be up too, and can be expected to be in excess of 196 MPH. MPG on the other hand, will absolutely be lower than the stock Cadillac’s 14/19 (City/Highway) EPA rating. But let’s be honest here, someone buying a Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 is not going to care about fuel economy.

Prices

The Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon can be had for just a $16,115 premium over the standard Caddy CTS-V Wagon. For just $79,580, you too can get your hands on a Hennessey CTS-V650, including installation. If do it yourself projects are more your thing though, the V650 kit is also available by mail for a relatively reasonable $5,950.

Competition

The Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon is in a unique spot in the American marketplace because there is currently no direct competition for this supercharged family hauler. Sure, one could get a BMW M3, or a Mercedes Benz C63 AMG, but neither of those are station wagons. The Hennessey’s closest competitors in Europe are currently no longer in production. Both the BMW M5 and The Audi RS6 Avant went out of production in the past couple years as both manufacturers revised their cars. That means the Hennessey’s only real competitor would be the 2012 Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Wagon.

The C63 AMG Wagon however, is down on power compared to the Hennessey CTS-V650. Hell, it’s down on power compared to the stock Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon, too. The C63 AMG Wagon makes 487 HP with the “performance package” (without the package, it makes only 457 HP), out of Mercedes’ naturally aspirated 6.3L V8. While the AMG Wagon is down on power, it’s also a lot cheaper, costing $58,200. That’s a $21,380 difference between the two. While the AMG might be a touch more luxurious, it’s not in the same league in terms of performance, as the Hennessey CTS-V650. Also, since it’s not yet (and probably won’t ever be) available as a wagon in the United States, it won’t be able to haul as much as the CTS-V650 sport wagon. And ultimately, it also won’t be capable of embarrassing a smug doctor in his 911 at a stop light drag. You’d expect an AMG Mercedes to be quick, but never a Cadillac station wagon. The key factor here is the sleeper factor: the surprise. For us, the decision between the two, even with the $21,380 difference, would be an easy one.