If the 3.6 is sufficient, the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 is decadent. With 404 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, it is 16 horsepower and 30 lb-ft short of the larger twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6 that helped keep the , but the blown 3.0-liter nonetheless has more grunt than most CT6 drivers will ever care to exploit. But we did—and it’s terrific. Bury the accelerator and the CT6 launches like a ground-bound missile. Even better, the power is omnipresent, with nary a whiff of turbo lag. Oh, and it sounds good to boot.
While the CT6 never felt small on the twisty two-lanes on our drive route, the well-balanced, communicative chassis gave us confidence to take some corners at speeds that might send any number of its competitors careening into the weeds. Road textures are transmitted loyally through the steering and suspension, yet the ride remains serene. Even with the standard suspension, the CT6 charged through the curvier sections with stunning accuracy and remarkably little body roll. In those same slow, 20-to-30-mph corners, however, the ACC system’s rear steering made a case for itself with its quicker response and greater sense of steering precision, especially in Sport mode. Our only dynamic misgiving involves the brake pedal, which felt tuned more for “limo stops” than crispness, although the brakes themselves are strong.
The modes also shift the torque split on all-wheel-drive examples from 40/60 front/rear in Tour mode to 20/80 in Sport and 50/50 in Snow/Ice. In some cars, driving modes are a gimmick but the CT6’s are legit: In the default Tour mode the CT6 is genteel and smooth, but Sport mode sets the powertrain into a considerably more excited state, with the transmission especially eager to play, holding gears and summoning throttle-blipped downshifts more readily than a number of so-called sports sedans we can think of.
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