LEO PARENTE: We're here in Belle
Isle for the IndyCar,
Grand-AM, and World
Challenge racing.
Racing's back to Detroit,
first time since 2008.
But we're here focused on the
World Challenge event,
production-based racing.
You love that stuff.
We're here with Cadillac
Racing.
80% of their car is production
based or production derived.
So we're going to talk to
everyone involved in Cadillac--
the drivers, the engineers
and technology people--
to find out how this race car
works, how it transfers to the
CTS-V road car, and how this
thing works on a race
environment like Belle Isle.
[CAR ENGINES]
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MARK REUSS: Cars are
still exciting.
It's still a big reflection
of who you are.
I think that's very important.
Every time we race, it makes
our engineers better.
[CAR ENGINES]
LEO PARENTE: Let's talk a little
bit about what World
Challenge is.
I think you know it, but let's
cover the details.
There's a diversity of different
type of cars in this
series, from the all-wheel drive
turbo Volvo, obviously
to CTS-V V8 powered Cadillacs,
Audi R8.
There's a Ferrari in the
series, but not here.
A lot of different cars
competing in that GT class.
And then in GTS, Mustangs,
Camaros,
things like the Acura.
It's a sprint race format.
And that has an effect on the
design of the cars, different
from and endurance racing, the
Corvette racing cars and the
Ferraris that run at Le Mans.
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LEO PARENTE: I'm going to spoil
the tease a little bit.
We got a chance to go for a
ride in two of the World
Challenge race cars, the Volvo
all-wheel drive and the
Cadillac racing CTS-V coupe.
And it was very interesting
to feel.
First impression, they're
real race cars.
Even though 80% production based
or production derived by
weight in the Cadillac, there's
no question, this is a
race doing race car things.
[CAR ENGINES]
LEO PARENTE: Mark Ruess,
earlier, for General Motors,
in particular talking about
Cadillac, talked about the
technology connection between
production and race car.
And it's really easy to kind
of dismiss that as just a
marketing claim.
But what we're going to get a
chance to do is dive into the
facts and look at those
direct connections.
MARK REUSS: Every time we
compete, it breeds that
competitive edge into
our products.
So that's very important
for us.
But there's things like direct
injection and some of the
sophistication of the thermal
systems that go into Cadillac
in particular.
STEVE COLE: For sure there's
electronics, items from ABS to
traction control, and
aerodynamic situations that
certainly present themselves
that we learn with a race car
that can be transferred to the
street car and vice versa.
They have volumes of knowledge
about the CTS-V, as an
example, in wind tunnel
conditions.
ANDY PILGRIM: Well this
particular-- it has the same
wheelbase as the street car.
The unibody starts at
the same place.
So the car has the same
basic characteristics.
When you turn in with a
longer wheelbase car,
you've got a nice--
you can feel the car turn in.
It's not the shorter
wheel-based car.
It feels more like a go-cart.
This thing, if you're slow
with your hands,
the car will respond.
And it does drive very similar,
in a sense, to the
street car.
LEO PARENTE: Now, I heard this
morning, on the web session,
you guys were tuning the
traction control maybe even a
little to the ABS.
And I learned that those same
adjustments are possible in
the road car.
ANDY PILGRIM: Oh absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
You've got adjustment in
the street car as well.
It's slightly different, but
you've got adjustability
between sport and non-sport
in the street car.
Yeah, the street stuff now is
for many manufacturers.
But in particular the V, because
of all that power, you
have to make sure that
you can control it.
But the guys that want it a
little more sporty, they want
to be able to turn
some of it down.
And that's a big benefit.
ED PIATEK: One of the things
you have to do when you're
designing a high-performance
car is make sure you've got
enough powertrain
cooling airflow.
And the fact that we're able
to use pretty much the same
front end and same grill
openings on the race car as
the street car tells you the
attention to detail we
actually had.
ANDY PILGRIM: It's actually--
for a race car, it's got
pretty good compliance.
The compliance, we put softer
springs in, very, very heavy
anti-roll bars so it
stops it rolling.
And we've got a great
shop package.
But the springs themselves
are reasonably soft.
[CAR ENGINES]
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MALE SPEAKER: One of the things,
when you have sort of
a fast back, is you have to
make sure you manage the
airflow off the car.
And if you have too fast or too
slanted a roof back there,
you end up having
a lift issue.
So one of the ways we balance
that on the production car--
and you see something similar
on the race car--
is what we call CHMSL, center
high-mount stop lamp, is
actually working also
as an air spoiler.
And we get about 50 pounds of
down force from that spoiler
at 150 miles an hour.
Again, helps keep
the car planted.
LEO PARENTE: You must be
managing the air around the
side of the car as well?
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
You'll notice that on the
production car we've got sort
of a splitter on the front end
that helps keep air from
getting under the car.
That helps prevent lift.
And then we carry that
length of the car.
We've got lower rockers.
And the actual ride height of
the car is lowered about 15
millimeters from a regular
CTS, all in the intent of
keeping air from getting under
the car and causing lift at
high speed.
[CAR ENGINES]
LEO PARENTE: Tell me if
I'm right or wrong.
It looks like the car is
pretty balanced as it's
transitioning.
MALE SPEAKER: Well--
and again, that's due to a lot
of the work done by Cadillac
racing over the last winter.
Last year was the first
year running this car.
We learned a lot.
Over the winter we did a lot of
work in the wind tunnel and
looking at a lot of data.
So the guys have given us a
better package this year.
LEO PARENTE: You've driven
the road car.
You've driven the race car.
Give me a dynamic that's
comparative.
MALE SPEAKER: Oh god, yeah, I
got to-- as a guy that drove a
Corvette for 10 years,
I love my street car.
The CTS-V is--
and it's also wild because in
all those years, when I was in
my Corvette, maybe twice a year
people would say, hey
man, I like your car.
It is literally every week in
my CTS-V that somebody comes
up to me and says, dude,
I love your car.
So what I like about it is the
athleticism of it but still
being very comfortable.
And you know what?
I can get more than
four people in it.
LEO PARENTE: I'm liking driving
race cars again.
You like when I drive
them as well.
I appreciate that.
But I can't do it
all the time.
Here at World Challenge, I've
got a chance to ride in two
race cars, Cadillac CTS-V World
Challenge car and the
Volvo all-wheel drive turbo.
And around the Belle Isle
street course is an
interesting and different
experience with each car.
Cadillac, much more refined--
frankly, a closer connection
to refined road car.
It just did the transition
better and went through the
ripples of the pavement in
a much more balanced way.
The Volvo, a very, very abrupt
and rough race car--
quick transition, settling
itself in a mega-turbo boost
coming out of the corners.
But the connection to the
road car was wider.
This was a real harsh
road race car.
This is a refined road car.
But at the end of the day,
they're both really, really
good race cars, production-based
or not, and
really carry speed around
this track.
[CAR ENGINES]
LEO PARENTE: So one thing
hopefully we're all learning
about the essence of a good
production-based race car from
this World Challenge experience
is just that.
If the roots of a road car are
good, it makes for a much
better, much more successful
race car.
All of that translates to a
driving feel and dynamic that
everyone wants in their
enthusiast car.
That's pretty much what
production-based
racing is all about--
why you like it, why it seems to
work for the manufacturers.
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