this guy ^^^ knows what he is talking about. About 18 years ago I owned a 65 pontiac lemans that I dumped an easy 10k into the motor, 2-3k in a built trans and drive shaft, another 2-3k in the interior, 3-5k in chassis work, exhaust, paint, trim, emblems, etc etc. It was a fucking monster. It would pull the front wheels off the ground and set off peoples car alarms at an idle. Almost every time I drove that god damn car something on it would break. It was fun but a very very labor intensive hobby.
I paid 53k for my 2011 CTSV wagon from a dealership in Michigan. It was a certified pre-owned with 3400 miles on it. Some one bought it and brought the fucker back because they were afraid of it. I thought that story was bullshit too until I drove it. I ordered my first stage of mods based on the easiest cheapest most reliable way to milk 100+ more horsepower out of a 550hp stock supercharged LS motor and now I could not ask for more.
There is absolutely nothing else I would do to the thing. You have more power than you can use, more luxury than you can stand, more speed than any sane person could want. I ran this thing up to the rev limiter in 5th gear at 179mph. In 6th gear...who knows. I turn into a pussy around 187-188 and let up. If you have the bug to mod a car these things have the potential to run 9s in street trim if you have the cash and the desire to make it happen. I got the wagon for 2 reasons. No one else has one (well maybe 3-400 in the us) and It makes people feel really bad when a station wagon runs and hides from their hotrod.
I do concur the back seat sucks. It has room for an adult no problem. Getting in and out of the back is a bitch. The angle of the back portion of the door / pillar is fucking horrible. Looks cool that way but watch your head. My only other bitch with the car is the fact that you have to plug your I phone / pod in to the thing with a cord. A fucking cord???? in 2011 a cord? wtf in a Cadillac?
oh yeah. It handles just fine. I have pulled a 1.0 g lateral in mine to the left and a .9g to the right. I can photo the g meter (ya it has a fucking g meter in the dash) if anyone doubts it. I have also turned the traction control / stability control completely off and nearly killed myself in this thing too. It is definitely not for kids.