Cadillac CTS moves closer to its rivals

Powertrain: Direct-injected, twin-turbocharged, DOHC, 3.6-liter, V6, 4 valves per cylinder, continuously variable valve timing, 8-speed automatic transmission with magnesium paddle shifters, rear-wheel drive

Horsepower: 420 @ 5,750 rpm

Torque: 430 lb.-ft. @ 3,500 to 4,500 rpm

0 to 60 mph: 4.6 seconds

Top speed: 170 mph

Wheelbase: 114.6 inches

Overall length: 195.5 inches

Curb weight: 3,616 pounds

Weight distribution (front/rear): 50/50

Manufacturer-estimated fuel economy: 17 mpg city, 25 mpg highway

* Including $925 destination fee

Lincoln could stand to learn a lesson from Cadillac: Reimagining an American legacy brand doesn’t only require more money than God. It takes patience, innovation and a pope-like faith that the plan will eventually pay off.

It’s been 11 model years since the Detroit luxury brand embarked on the painstakingly slow process of shedding its image as a maker of piggish, shared-parts cars that didn’t warrant the premium price. That process started with the introduction of its CTS sedan in 2003 and continues for 2014 with a third-generation update of its four-door, five-seater that’s determined to exit the No Man’s Land it’s long inhabited as a low-cost and under-endowed luxury vehicle.

The second Cadillac to gun for BMW’s bread and butter, the 2014 CTS is a technologically sophisticated wannabe German that has pushed the brand’s engineering team to the brink with advanced metallurgies that have helped the car shed 244 pounds and groundbreaking, under-the-hood technologies that simultaneously ramp up the fun, the efficiency — and, unfortunately, the price. Starting at $46,025, the 2014 CTS costs $8,000 more than the outgoing model.

During a daylong drive through the Santa Barbara countryside earlier this week, I had the chance to test all three engines now available for the CTS. Those include a higher-torque version of the turbocharged, 2-liter, four-cylinder used in the smaller ATS introduced last year; a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V-6; and Cadillac’s first twin-turbocharged engine, which, making 420 horsepower from its direct-injected six cylinders, also makes it the most powerful V-6 ever designed by General Motors.

Outfitted with smaller turbochargers and an integrated air intercooler that negates the lag between pressing pedal to metal and takeoff, the twin-turbo is only available on the all-new $59,995-plus Vsport. The same engine will be offered in the larger XTS sedan later this fall.

A notch below the unabashedly performance-oriented V-Series, which will continue for the 2014 model year with the second gen CTS, the Vsport is characterized by another Cadillac first. It’s mated with a new eight-speed automatic transmission outfitted with fast-acting, light-pull paddle shifters. Marginally more fuel efficient than the six-speed automatic of the 2-liter base model, the eight-speed is a heck of a lot more fun to drive, with gearing that’s tuned for more rocket-like acceleration and lower engine speeds that make for a quieter drive.

At least in touring mode.

The CTS Vsport is equipped with three drive modes that can be activated with the press of a button. Turn over the ignition, and the Vsport defaults to its least aggressive, more comfort-oriented touring setting, but ratchet it up to sport, then track, and there’s a soundtrack. The more aggressive the drive mode, the more select engine noises are amplified and channeled into the cabin through the Bose speakers.

Quicker to react than the two less-expensive CTS versions, the Vsport’s electronic power steering instantly adjusts to how the car is driven. Drive it like a Clydesdale, and the steering is comfortably firm, but flog it like a thoroughbred, and it stiffens — as does the suspension.

The 2014 model marks Cadillac’s first use on the CTS of an electronic limited-slip differential that really gets busy in the corners, making adjustments faster than Stephen Hawking calculates physics in his head, and summoning the same magnetic ride control system as the V-Series to keep the car hunkered in high-speed turns without throwing its inhabitants into the door panels.

The CTS doesn’t feel like a car that’s grown 5 inches in length in its redo. It adeptly defies its proportions, which have been reshaped with a snub-nosed front, lower roof and longer back end to help with the subliminal conveyance that, yes, this is a true driver’s car that balances its 3,616 pounds 50/50 front and rear, and propels the car forward with its rear, rather than front, 18-inch wheels.

Rated for the car’s 170 mph top speed, the largish, performance-oriented tires do have a down side, however. Grippy as they are, they, and the sport-tuned chassis, transfer more noise to the cabin than I would have liked.

That noise can be overcome fairly easily with the 11 Bose speakers that are on board and operated by Cadillac’s Cue infotainment system and 8-inch touchscreen, which are now standard across all trims.

Any luxury sport sedan worth its salt will, of course, embed the sort of unexpectedly delightful service available at a five-star hotel, and in this regard the CTS has seriously upped its game. It can be had with various packages that up the luxury ante – and the price – with leather, heated rear seats and advanced safety systems, among other things.