A Little-V Blog: The ATS-V purchase and ownership experience

[Tuna]

Yea Ha!
ocker:

 

[Pie R Squared]

Hey Hib, what happens to those press cars after they are done? I sure loved that V Sedan in the red and black color combo.

 

[Hib Halverson]

No doubt, the red and black was killer, 'specially on a V. They couldn't have loaned me a better body color/wheel combination for a photo shoot.

Most of the time, they go to auction or are purchased by dealers. Once in a while, they go back to GM in Michigan and are purchased by GM employees.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Still Lovin' the Look.

To me, ATS-Vs are just so damn much eye candy. The car's exterior design is one reason I'm hooked on the littlest V.

For the last couple of weeks, my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, has been driving the Blue BMW Buster while our dealer has had "Pearl", her 8-speed Sedan, trying to figure out why its engine is a wanna-be diesel. More on that in next week's post to the Little-V Blog.
The other day, her girlfriend went into the hospital for few days. We had to go retrieve the woman's car. On her way to work; the Wife dropped me at the hospital to drive her friend's car back to our place.

She was driving the Triple-B, headed back to the freeway and I was about 50 yards behind her in the next lane over. That gave me one of my favorite views of an ATS-V: the "7/8ths" rear". I freakin' love the car from that angle. How the wheel wells are filled, the fat 275/35ZR18 Pilot Super Sports on the back, the car's rake, the carbon package's big deck spoiler and the big pipes out the back–all get my juices flowing. And then, there's visual impact of the Vector Blue Metallic paint. The car just looks completely bad-assed.

Check it out…



Let me know what you think.

 

[LAROKE]

Ahh! The view Bimmer and Merc drivers see most often.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Last week and, again, this week, my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, is driving my ATS-V Coupe because our other ATS-V, the four-door sedan with the "wanna-be diesel" engine, is back at the local dealer, Bunnin Cadillac, to have both turbos replaced. There's a story to tell about that, but before I write about that. I'll wait until GM can get the car to where it does not expel an oil smoke screen after every cold start.

For another several days, I'm stuck driving my old hot rod Camaro–I hope you feel my pain going from my cushy Blue BMW Buster back to that 16-year old, retired magazine/Internet project car.

My 2001 Camaro is a Sport Coupe with the base V6 and a five-speed manual transmission. It was ordered with only two major options, the Y99 "Performance Package" and the "Monsoon" sound system. Y99 added a Torsen limited slip to the rear axle, higher rate springs and stabilizers and dual exhaust. The Monsoon system? Well...if you like your music loud (which I do) the Monsoon stereo was a must-have in a 4th Gen Camaro.

In 16 years of ownership and 135,000 miles, that Camaro has been a great car and a good platform for modification–oh...did I mention it was a hot rod? The engine began life as a 200-hp 3.8L pushrod V6. It's now a 300-hp 3.8. During that car's tenure as a magazine/Internet project vehicle, I often got the question: "Why a V6 project?" My answer? Anyone can build-up a Camaro with a V8 and lots of people have done it, but a hot rod V6? That's unique and was far more of a challenge, in part, because there is not near as much bolt-on performance parts for the 3.8 V6.

I gained that 50% more horsepower with engine "top end" work. It has a Comp Cam, ported heads with bigger valves, Katech valve springs, higher ratio rocker arms, extrude-honed intake manifold and plenum, RC Engineering injectors, a low-restriction air filter assembly, tube headers, a high-flow catalytic converter, a Flowmaster exhaust system and my own custom tuning work. The engine makes 300-hp@5750-rpm.

I also added a lot of aftermarket parts intended to improve the car's handling. To stiffen the car's structure, I had Global West Suspension install a set of subframe connectors.The car has a coil-over-shock conversion in the front with control arm bushings from a 1LE Camaro. It, also, has Z28 stabilizer bars and QA1 double-adjustable shocks all around. From an at-limit handing perspective, the 3-and-4 Gen Camaro's weak spot is how the rear suspension works (or doesn't work) exiting turns. I fixed that with a bunch of parts from Global West–constant rate rear coil springs, tubular steel lower control arms, tubular steel adjustable track bar and Global West's famed Trac-Link system. Even with all those mods to stiffen all the suspension links and optimize the rear roll center and rear suspension geometry, the fact remains, a 4 Gen Camaro still has a live rear axle.

I finished off the package with Baer drilled-and-grooved brake rotors, Porterfield R4S brake pads and 265/40ZR17 Goodyear F1 Supercar tires on Fikse Profil 5S, 17x9.5-in aluminum wheels.



If you want all of the nitty-gritty on how to build a hot-rod V6 fourth-generation Camaro, you can go to - Tom Henry RS V6 Camaro Project and read all six parts of the "long" Camaro Homepage version of the project.

My aftermarket-enhanced Camaro and an ATS-V are worlds apart. With 164 more horsepower, Cadillac's littlest V as a lot more fun to drive in a straight line. With independent rear suspension, modern suspension tuning, MagnaRide and stability enhancement and ATS-V is a lot easer to drive at the limit than is my Camaro. There really are only two advantages to that Camaro: 1) it gets better gas mileage and 2) it's cheaper to insure.

I'll be glad when I can be back driving the Blue BMW Buster. As for the decreased fuel economy and higher insurance premium? Time to work some O.T.

 

[Hib Halverson]

It's been two months since I've blogged about the eight-speed ATS-V four-door my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, drives. We named it "Pearl" for its Crystal White Tincoat exterior. Regulars here at A Little V-Blog know Pearl has the engine that was expelling clouds of oil smoke after cold starts, a unpleasant customer satisfaction problem which plagued the car for almost a year.


This is what we lived with for almost a year.
Image: Author.

To get a warranty fix for this, General Motors' Technical Assistance Center (TAC) made my dealer, Bunnin Cadillac in Santa Barbara, California, jump though a bunch of hoops–some of which just wasted time and made painfully :smash: obvious the mere lip service General Motors pays to customer satisfaction.

First, in spite of having been given video footage which clearly showed numerous instances of clouds of oil smoke after cold starts, GM required a 2000-mile oil consumption test. After it learned I was using Joe Gibbs Driven LS30 5W30 synthetic engine oil, it demanded a second 2000-mile oil use test with the engine full of GM's Dexos 1 5W30 semi-synthetic and that was in-spite of my giving GM still more video footage of the smoking cold starts. This took months–every single day a smoky cold start–and was a huge a waste of my time. In fact, with the engine on Dexos, smoke after cold starts was incrementally worse–no surprise there. In the end, both oil use tests were inconclusive because the engine's overall oil consumption was well within limits. Only for a few seconds after cold starts would the engine put out a smoke screen that could fill a garage and put an old worn out diesel to shame. The guy up the street who owns two 3-Series BMWs would drive by our house in the morning laughing his ass off.edface:

After 4000 miles of oil consumption tests, next, TAC instructed Bunnin Cadillac to pull the spark plugs for inspection–no easy task on an LF4. Getting them out requires removal of most of the turbocharger compressor plumbing. A couple plugs showed some evidence of oil use, so TAC, next, ordered Tony Espinoza, Bunnin's Lead Service Technician, to borescope the engine.

The first borescope session showed a couple of pistons and some combustion chamber walls with a modest amount of burnt oil residue. I did not expect a lot of oil residue on pistons or walls because the engine's overall oil use was low. Bunnin's ace service tech, Mr. Espinoza, did a second borescope session with a different end on the 'scope which allowed him to view intake valves once the engine was manually turned until the intake valves on the cylinder in question were open. What he saw was alarming: some intake valves with significant coke deposits. Tony's boss, Bunnin Fixed Operations Manager, Chris Williams, told A Little V-Blog that he'd never :nono: seen valves with that much coke on them after only 26,000 miles.

Williams and Espinoza sent TAC digital images from the bore scope and suggested that the heads be replaced. Technical Assistance decided there might be a valve stem sealing problem and agreed (perhaps reluctantly?) to the head change.
Once Tony had the heads off, we had a better view of the problem. Puzzling all of us was that not all the intakes were equally coked–some were heavily deposited, but others were fairly clean.


Some intake valves were badly coked.


Others were not.
Images: Author

Additionally, some piston tops showed modest indications of oil use. It was clear the engine was ingesting some oil and and, at the time, we all figured there was a valve stem sealing problem, but regardless of the source of the oil ingestion, currently, at the field service level, a method of "de-coking" intake valves in LF4 engines does not exist; so the heads had to be replaced.


Piston tops had modest oil residue
Image: Author.

After an inspection, the first pair of heads from GM's parts network was rejected because one had been damaged during shipping or packing. It had a large "dent" on an intake port flange such that the intake manifold would not seal. A second set was shipped direct to Bunnin's Parts Department from the LF4 engine assembly plant at Silao, Mexico.


Oopsee!


The drive-side head from the second set of heads.
Images: Author

After tearing down Pearl's LF4 in preparation for the head swap, we got another big surprise. Tony Espinoza observed liquid oil on the left-side turbocharger's turbine wheel hub and blades whereas the turbine wheel in the right turbo was dry.

Uh-oh. :


The two turbos off Pearl's LF4.


The turbine wheel in the driver-side turbo was wet with oil.
Images: Author.

Espinoza suggested a turbo change. Bunnin Cadillac's Chris Williams advised the Technical Assistance Center of his top tech's findings and recommended the turbos be replaced. The Technical Assistance Center rejected Bunnin's recommendations and told them to only replace the heads.

Big mistake. One of many TAC makes in sacrificing customer satisfaction on the alter of warranty cost reduction.


Bunnin's top tech, Tony Espinoza
lowers the right-side head into place.
Image: Author.

Heavy engine work on the LF4 in an ATS-V is time consuming because of the tight packaging in the car's underhood, so It took a week to change the heads. Once we had the car back, It only took a day or so for me to determine the oil smoke on cold start problem had not been solved and, if anything, was getting worse. My Wife was pissed that GM could not fix her car. Click here to see video footage of the problem after installation of new heads.

A week or so later, we took the car back to Bunnin Cadillac. They let it sit overnight then started the engine and filled the service drive full of oil smoke. TAC changed its "tune" and authorized replacement of both turbochargers. I, also, asked Chris Williams to request replacement of both catalytic converters because excessive oil burning–in my opinion, 10 months of oil smoke on cold starts qualifies as "excessive"–can decrease cat life. Expectedly, TAC told my Bunnin, "Watch our lips: no new cats". Ok–just kidding on the "Watch our lips..." part. I admit, asking for new cats was a "hail Mary" play, but It will not surprise me if, sometime soon, the driver side cat prematurely fails an emissions test, and then, I'll get to fight with General Motors :argue: over a new warranty claim.

The turbo change took two weeks because of 1) the complexity of working on an LF4 and 2) a parts shortage which delayed arrival of some key gaskets and o-ring seals. Once those seals arrived, Tony Espinoza had the car back on the road.


Tony lifts the right-side turbo into place.


The space around the turbos is is so restricted a borescope must
be used to verify the turbo oil return gasket is installed properly.
Images: Author.

Since we got the car back on Monday, so far, we have a week's worth of cold starts in the books with no oil smoke whatsoever.

Wait–what!? Finally...after all these months, no smoke? Be still, my heart.

I'd like to thank Bunnin Cadillac for their hard work on solving the smoke problem and taking in-stride all the frustration caused by GM Technical Assistance Center. Special thanks to my new BFF, Bunnin's Lead Tech, Tony Espinoza.:bowdown: He's one best service techs I've worked with in a long time and one of the few techs in the western U.S. who has experience with heavy engine work on an LF4.

As for GM's Technical Assistance Center? No love for those people. They make the warranty claim process, once it progresses above the dealer level, unpleasant at best. I spent about 140,000 bucks on two ATS-Vs, both of which had quality problems that required my dealer to fight with TAC over warranty claims. That has made the ATS-V ownership experience really suck sometimes.

Nevertheless, at this point, all is good with our two ATS-Vs. The Coupe is no longer plagued with driveline vibration and the Sedan is oil smoke free.
So...I'm havin' a beerchug: and and the Fairest Sandra the Red is doing her happy dance. :dance:

 

[LAROKE]

Thanx again, Hib, for an excellent report :bowdown:

 

[Hib Halverson]

Thanx again, Hib, for an excellent report :bowdown:

You're welcome. Glad to be of service.

Please, tell your Cadillac V-Series pals about this Blog.

 

[Hib Halverson]

My Dirty Little Secret

When I was younger, I'd never admit to my Mom having taught me to drive in a '61 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty-Special. Actually, even today, I haven't revealed that dirty little secret to many.

Back then, had I a choice, I wouldn't have been caught dead in a Cadillac. Holly crap, what if my friends had seen me driving that humungous four-door, Fleetwood with it's formal roofline and black exterior? It would have been a like a teenager today having an image posted on Instagram of him or her driving Mom's minivan. Nevertheless, it was the only car Mom had, so that big old Fleetwood was my driver training car.


I learned to drive in a car like this one.

My first few, hesitant miles behind the wheel came on roads in "Brookside Park" which surrounds the famed "Rose Bowl" in Pasadena, California. On weekday afternoons after school, roads in the park are pretty deserted and it was a common place for parents to take teens to learn driving basics. Fortunately–for my Mom, mainly–I was a quick learner. She soon had me driving all over town.

Back then, Cadillac claimed it was the "Standard of the World, but I wondered: exactly what world was that? The ponderous bodywork, the sloth-like acceleration, steering response you could time with a sundial and a suspension allowing the body to heel over so far in turns you'd have thought stabilizer bars hadn't been invented yet, all made for a driving experience no one but my matronly Grandmother, who sold my Mom and Dad her used Caddys, would appreciate because, she had a driver and sat in the back seat.

But, there was one feature of that Fleetwood 60 Special that I liked: its big fins. I loved the fins. How they extended from about the C-pillar, all the way back with tail lamps inset in their trailing edges gave the back of the car a futuristic look which I found alluring.


A '61 Fleetwood's fintastic rear view.

Cadillacs were big, ugly (except the fins) and uncool. They were the epitimy of low-performance and uncool. Oh, did I mention they were uncool? But, my parents loved them. They owned a series of big Caddy sedans and, later, my Dad owned a '75 Eldorado Convertible. I remember riding around with him in that Eldo with its baroque exterior and thinking: that hood is so long, there could have been two engines under it and, when closed, be used as a helipad. Thankfully a short circuit induced fire sent that massive Caddy to the scrap yard.

Those '60s and '70s Cadillacs left me with long-term negativity about the brand, so how is it someone who suffered from Caddy acute avoidance syndrome (CADASS) ended up with not just one, but two ATS-Vs?

When the first-generation CTS-V was introduced, it was like somebody from the Star Wars universe stopped by Earth and dropped off a Pod Racer. Amongst Cadillac's vinyl-roofed, white-wall-tired, front-wheel drive luxo-barges, here was a diamond-in-the-rough–GM's rear-drive Sigma architecture with a Corvette LS6, the only transmission a six-speed manual and a suspension which allowed corner entry speeds so fast typical Caddy owners would wet their Depends. I have a friend over in Oklahoma–"Tuna" here on the V-net–who owned a 1G CTS-Vs. I stopped to visit him back in '07 and he let me drive it. I was astonished at its performance. From then on, I decided Cadillac had a fighting chance against some the German performance models and, if it stayed the course, could have benchmark performance in the luxury performance sedan segment.

Fast forward a decade. The CTS-V was an unquestioned success in establishing Cadillac as a company capable of developing mid-sized, high-performance sports sedans which matched the best of Audi, BMW and Mercedes. In late 2014, GM announced a V-Series interpretation of the compact, ATS. As an automotive nationalist who looks at BMW M3s with revulsion, an ATS-V was so appealing, that I–one who formerly wouldn't have touched a Cadillac with a ten-foot poll–considered buying one.

The rest is history. My Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, now own two ATS-Vs. While we've been disappointed with how GM administrated warranty problems we've had with the two cars, the rest of the ATS-V ownership experience, especially the cars' performance, has been positive.


Image: Author

I think back to the Fleetwood Sixty Special of my youth, then consider the ATS-V of today and can't help but to think: whoa, baby...how times have changed. But then, I stare at the rear quarter and tail lamps of the littlest-V and note the abstract,, fin-like styling. They kept the coolest part.
ocker:

 

[Tuna]

I guess my old black CTS V got your attention.

Let's just hope Cadillac doesn't start using the old Oldsmobile tag line of 'not being your father's car.'

Glad to read that both your ATS Vs are performing as they should now. It's a shame it took so long.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I guess my old black CTS V got your attention.

I totally remember that car and the little "test" run we took.

Let's just hope Cadillac doesn't start using the old Oldsmobile tag line of 'not being your father's car.'

I guess that would be even worse than the silly "Dare Greatly" campaign they are currently using.

Glad to read that both your ATS Vs are performing as they should now.

Right now, I'm holding my breath with fingers x'ed.

It's a shame it took so long.

"Tuna" gets a Friday afternoon "Beacon of Reality" Award.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I've been thinking about brake pads.

While I don't having any significant complaints about the OE pads on ATS-Vs, other than brake dust making me either wash the wheels more frequently or, if I'm lazy, living with dusty wheels, based on my past experience with Porterfield R4-S pads on my hot rod 4th Gen Camaro, I'm considering swapping the stock pads for a set of Porterfields.

I contacted Tim Gray at Porterfield Enterprises for some information about what he offers for the Brembo calipers used on ATS-Vs. Here what I found out. For high performance and heavy duty street duty, the Porterfield R4-S compound is a top performer. With the R4-S compound offering a friction level of up to .41, this is an amazingly fast stopping brake pad. Simply put, they offer an impressive increase in stopping ability with little change in pedal effort. The R4-S is perfect for everyday street driving while also being capable of enduring the most severe use without fade.

Am I going to put a set of R4-Ses on the Blue BMW Buster?

Stay tuned....

 

[Hib Halverson]

Another cool little upgrade I did to my ATS-V Coupe the other day is install a Continental Elite Poly-V Belt on the LF4s accessory drive. I've been a fan of ContiTechi's premium serpintine belt product since before it owned the brand. The design was pioneered by the old Goodyear Engineered Products Division back in the mid-90s and was sold as the "Gatorback" Belt. The name came from the unusual helical cogged back side. These belts ran cooler and lasted longer because the "helicog" pattern on the back allowed it to flex easier. With any rubber product, flexing generates heat so, if you make it easier for the material to flex, less heat is generated.

In the late '00s Goodyear spun off Engineered Proeducts. It became "Veyance Technologies" but was acquired by ContiTech which is part of Continental AG, the German auto parts congolmerate, in 2015. ContiTech relaunched the product as the "Continental Elite Belt" and it features a revised, variable helicog design which, not only is cogged in a helical pattern but the cogs vary in size which tends to reduce accessory drive noise.

The Elite Belt I installed (PN 4060787) is a 78.7-in, 6-rib belt and, using a GearWrench Serpintine Belt Tool Kit (PN 89000), I had the Elite Belt on the accessory drive in the Blue BMW Buster in all of ten minutes.

Frankly, it was hard to say if the noise level from the front of the engine changed. I'd need some special equipment to measure that, however, ContiTech supplied some test data they developed from a test of an Elite belt against those from the three leading aftermarket belt suppliers which seems to indicate these Elite belts are quieter. To view that noise data, click here.

So, for a new V or an old one, if you need to replace your serpintine belt, take a look at the Continental Elite Belt.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Besides writing this ATS-V Blog, another task I've taken on for the V-Net is producing product evaluations. Several weeks ago, I submitted a story on Sylvania's aftermarket headlight bulbs for ATSes and ATS-Vs built without the HID headlamp option.

I've written headlight bulb tests in the past, but have been careful to avoid the cheap junk headlight stuff sold at low cost seemingly all over the Internet. A lot of that stuff exists only to give cars "blue" headlights so others will think the car's owner has HID or LED lighting which, in some factions of the automotive enthusiast community, is some dumb-assed status symbol :lol:.

Problem is: a lot of those products, while they may emit the coveted bluish color, really suck as headlights because of poor design or substandard materials. The attitude of some of the vendors who sell that stuff is: so what if these bulbs don't improve the car's lighting in night driving situations? So what if they emit tons of glare which, at best, annoys oncoming driver and can be unsafe? Your car has that HID/LED look. Everyone on the road will know you're cool. What more do you want?

Well...first, I want lights which work well and don't present a problem to other drivers. Aftermarket headlamp bulbs which do that cost a lot to develop something none of the operations which sell cheap blue bulbs on eBay can afford. As a result, it's been pretty rare that I've done articles on headlight bulbs and, when I do, they are about products which come from aftermarket companies with adequate product development resources as well as a long-standing reputations for quality lighting products.

Last Spring, the people at Osram Sylvania sent the V-Net a couple sets of their "Silverstar" bulbs and I spent a month or so testing them in the "Blue BMW Buster" our '16 ATS-V Coupe. Of the two, the "Silverstar Ultra" and the "Silverstar ZXE", both had better "downroad" lighting compared to the stock headlight bulbs, which is the most important feature of an aftermarket headlight upgrade. Both had color temperature shifts more towards the blue end of the spectrum which improves the clarity with which the driver sees at night. As for that "blue look" oncoming drivers see? If that's important, then the ZXE is the way to go because it is just a little "bluer" than the Ultra and has nearly the same improvment in downroad lighting. If you want the best downroad lighting performance, however; the Silverstar Ultra has a slight edge. There's more about these bulbs in the product review on these bulbs elsewhere on the V-Net.

With our testing complete, I left the Silverstar Ultras in the Blue BMW Buster and put the ZXE's in our other ATS-V, "Pearl" our white four-door.

But...one thing which just irritates the hell out of me is that, while the Silverstar headlights work really well, I hate the job of changing headlight bulbs on any late model car which uses aerodynamically- and/or astectically-styled headlamp "capsules". Getting at the back of the Cadillac ATS headlight assemblies to change the bulbs is a PIA job!

You have to get the front end up in the air and on jackstands. Then you remove the wheels. Next, you have to unscrew a ton of fasteners and pop loose a couple of those infernal plastic rivets that seem to be all over new cars. Once you have the fasteners out, you have to pull back the front half of the inner fender, remove a dust cover and–finally–replace the headlight bulb.

Bottom line?

I love Silverstar Ultra bulbs but I freakin' hate :frown: changing them!

 

[Hib Halverson]

Octane Booster

I keep in touch with Lake Speed Jr. who runs Joe Gibbs Racing's "Driven Racing Oil" division. Driven's Racing Oil's latest product development is a pour-in octane booster designed for a specific purpose: improving the antiknock rating of 91-oct. gas so it will run virtually free of knock-retard in GM high-performance engines–such as the LF4 in an ATS-V–which are calibrated for 93-octane fuel. Other Cadillac engines like this are the CTS-V's LT4 and LS6 and the LGW in the CT6's and the CTS V-Sport.

That convinced me to do a little testing on my own because, here in California, 91-oct premium unleaded is all there is.

I drove my ATS-V to a nearby long, uphill stretch of four-lane highway where I do calibration testing. My "test pulls" are uphill, in third gear from 1500 rpm to the rev limiter, which, in the LF4's case is 6540 rpm. It was warm out, about 80°F ambient temperature. Burning 91-octane premium from a 76 station, on each of the four uphill runs I made, I saw knock retard of up to 3°.

The next day, I mixed 1:3 "Rocket Brand Racing Fuel 100E" which is a 100-octane, unleaded gasoline with 10% ethanol to 91-octane pump fuel. That resulted in gas with an octane of just a hair over 93.

Then I went testing again on my uphill calibration test hill. It actually was a little warmer out that day. I made five passes up hill in third gear, again, running from 1500rpm to the rev limiter. In two of the five passes there there was virtually no KR at all. In two others, there still was KR, but it was 40-60% less. On one pass, #3, there was 2.8° KR.

Bottom line: for an LF4 to run KR-free or near so in warm weather, you need at least 93-octane gas.

Now, back to what Mr. Speed and my pals at Driven Racing Oil are doing. The octane booster they have under development will be specifically designed such that, when added to 91-oct fuel in recommended mixes, the resulting octane of the treated fuel will be about 93-oct.

If the product comes to market, it will be marketed mainly to those who drag race or do track day events in places where only 91-oct fuel is available.

The active ingredient in this proposed new Driven product will be the same stuff that is the active ingredient in many octane boosters, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl which most folks call "MMT". It's one of few substances which can reduce a gasoline's tendency to detonate. In the United States, MMT in gasoline is limited to 1/32-gram or .031-g per gallon of gas. This limitation is intended to allow a small MMT component but not enough to damage catalytic converters. Admittedly, that's not very much MMT, but it could be enough to add two octane numbers to 91-oct. gas.

MMT has a bad reputation for leaving a post combustion residue of potentially harmful deposits on combustion chamber walls, piston tops, exhaust valves and exhaust system parts. Lake Speed tells us that Driven has an interesting strategy to deal with this problem. It's working to develop a package of detergents which may be able to mitigate the deposit problem.

Testing of this as-yet unnamed octane booster is continuing. If Driven comes to market with such an octane booster, the Little V-Blog will test some of it and publish the results.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Two weeks ago, I was in Michigan on business doing research for an article I'm doing for Corvette Magazine. During my visit, I got a tour of GM's new Performance and Racing Center, a $200,000, 111,240-sqft addition to GM Global Propulsion System's "Pontiac Engineering Center.

When you first walk into the "PRC" you see a mobile hanging from the ceiling of an exploded LF3.R engine out of one of Cadillac Racing's ATS-Vs. I'd love to have that in my home. Well...on second thought, I'd need a 20-foot ceiling, so...maybe not.



My tour was guided by Dom Lester one of the PRC's CSS Engine Systems Manager and who, interestingly, was the Design Release Engineer for the cylinder head used on the LF4 engines in ATS-Vs. He showed us a fully-assembled LF4.R. The engine shares production block, con rods and cylinder head castings, but the induction system...intake manifold, charge air coolers, intake plumbing and (much) larger Borg-Warner turbos...is completely different.

We asked Dom how much power the engine makes. He did not give us a specific number :dunno:
but he did say the engine is capable of, "...up to 600-hp".

Our guess?

The actual number may be less than 600 at times and may be governed by what restrictions the officials of the Pirelli World Challenge might put on the engine.

I also asked him about "his" cylinder head and whether or not the integral exhaust manifolds are ported or extrude-honed for use on LF4.Rs. I was astonished to have him tell me they are not modified at all. But then, I thought about it for a while. I guess with a boosted engine the change in air flow characteristics might not make as much a difference as some people might think.



Pretty cool that some of the stock LF4 pieces can support up to 600-hp.

 

[Djason]

VERY cool Hib!

 

[Hib Halverson]

Cold Start Oil Smoke v2.0

It's time to check in with one of the V-Net's product evaluation cars, Pearl, our Crystal White Tincoat ATS-V, four-door, automatic.

Unfortunately, the news is not good. The car is having a second round of oil burning after cold starts.
The characteristics are like before–the exhaust outlets emit oil smoke for a short period after every cold start. As was the case before, the smoke is definitely oil burning and not due to the normal rich fuel mixture during cold starts.

This began a few thousand miles after both turbochargers were replaced late last Spring. By early September 2017, it was obvious the engine was blowing oil smoke, again. To see the evidence, click here.

The oil put in the engine in Dec. 2016, Mobil 1 5W30, when the second oil consumption test was ordered by TAC prior to the cylinder head change, was still in the engine after the turbocharger replacement in April of 2017. Concerned that the head change followed several weeks later by the turbocharger replacement (both of which "opened up" the engine oiling system) might have affected the engine oil or oil filter, a while after the turbo work was done, I changed the oil. Knowing that an oil change before 0% oil life would not be covered by Cadillac Premium Care, I did the work myself. Rather than using Driven LS3, I use a Dexos 1 Gen 2 licensed 5W30 synthetic sold by Valvoline. The filter is an ACDelco PF63E.

During the last couple of months, I've been searching the Internet for other instances of this problem and I now have read anecdotal information about two other cases of this smoke-on-cold-start problem with LF4 engines in ATS-Vs making, a total of five cases: 2 different incidences with our car and problems experienced by three other ATS-V owners who are members of the Cadillac Forum.

I'm starting to consider the possibility that GM has a problem with the shaft seals in the turbos used by the LF4.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Wandering Around SEMA

Last week, I was at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas for two of its four days. The "Specialty Equipment Market Show" is one of the two big trade shows for the racing and performance aftermarket. It draws buyers, exhibitors and press from all over the World. It's also one of the two largest trade shows in Las Vegas filling all Las Vegas Convention Center show venues, drawing between 160,000-175,000 people and–it's not open to the public. Only the LVCC's International Consumer Electronics Show is bigger and that's because it is open to the public.

Actually, I wasn't really "wandering" around SEMA for two days. I went looking for products for ATS-Vs and first was TurboSmart's "Kompact Series" replacement blow-off valves for the LF-4, but, I never found them.



Turns out "TurboSmart" is a brand of turbocharger parts from Australia but their SEMA Exhibitor was "3pConnect", a company which facilitates U.S. sales of Australian performance parts. Because they were not listed as "TurboSmart" in the "SEMA Guide" which media receives when they pick-up their creds, I couldn't find them. Turns out, they were listed as "3pConnect/TurboSmart" and, because the Guide is alphabetic, I couldn't find them.

It was TurboSmart's Kompact series blow-off valves (BOV) for the LF4 which I wanted to discuss with the TurboSmart folks. They are a popular modification amongst performance-minded owners of the littlest -V because of their all-metal construction, a sealing system which makes them less prone to leakage and that they have some adjustability of how much air is vented to atmosphere or bypassed back to the intake tract.

In any event, TurboSmart's products won six awards, all for its new, "V-Series" wastegates, in SEMA's "Global Media Awards" program which has a "jury" of writers, editors and producers from offshore media judging new products from offshore manufacturers. Just so there is no confusion: TurboSmart's new V-Series Wastegates are not specifically for the 3.6L twin-turbo LF4 engine in a V-Series ATS but could be used on one with appropriate modifications to the turbocharger plumbing and ECM calibration.

Next, I stopped in at K&N Engineering's booth to check out the company's new "AirCharger" kit for the ATS-V (PN 63-3093). In talking with Bert Heck, K&N's Manager for Performance Kits, I learned that he has filed a request with the California Air Resources Board for an "EO number". If CARB issues K&N an EO for the 63-3093, it will become "street legal" in all 50-states. I also asked Heck about the substantial performance increases K&N is claiming for this product. K&N data cites a 36.5-lb/ft increase in torque, SAE-corrected, at 3223-rpm and a 34.42-hp increase, SAE-corrected, at 5800-rpm. He told me those improvements came with the stock ECM calibration. While it might be possible to get more out of K&N's kit for the LF4, I suspect doing so will: 1) require recalibration and 2) not gain much. The Little-V Blog looks forward to being able to test one of these ATS-V AirCharger kits.






K&N, also, has an OE replacement, oiled-cotton-gauze filter for the stock paper filters for the LF4. Two of them (PN E-0650) are required.



Following my K&N visit, I stopped in at CORSA Performance and learned they have both an exhaust mid-section and an axle-back system for ATS-Vs. The mid-section uses mandrel-bent stainless steel tubing and is a "double-X-pipe" design. The axle-back is one of CORSA's "Sport" level muffler systems which the company says has, "...a high performance sound, district rumble at idle, aggressive sound though the gears and no drone during cruise." I should add that "cruise" is not defined, though we assume it's in high-gear at highway speeds. Sport systems are somewhat louder than stock and are CORSA's most popular sound level.



Next, I went over a few aisles to Kooks Headers and Exhaust. They had a new product for the ATS-V they announced at SEMA. It's a set of downpipes with Kook's "Ultra-High-Performance Green Catalytic Convertors" along with a non-X-pipe mid-section. Kook's so-called "Greencats", are made in USA and can support up to 450-hp or, with a V-type engine and two cats, 900-hp. They are 49-State legal and are perfect for turbocharged applications in that Greencats are durable at up to 1500°F exhaust temperature.



As for the mid-section, Meghan Kennon, the media contact at Kooks, told us, "The mid-section is a straight-back connection to the axle back. We originally were doing an X-pipe, but with the turbos there was no need for an X, as the exhaust is able to flow freely with a good sound in this exhaust system." Currently, Kooks does not offer the axle-back portion of the exhaust but is working on that. Right now, the Kooks downpipe/mid-section combo is intended for use with the stock ATS-V muffler. The Kooks ATS-V system is all mandrel-bent, 304 stainless pipe, either 3-in or 2.75-in. diameter, and has O2 sensor bungs in the OE locations.

From there, I walked over to Driven Racing Oil to talk with Research and Development Manager and Certified Lubricant Specialist, Lake Speed Jr. Over the last year or so, Speed and the rest of the folks who develop Driven products have been working on engine oils formulated specifically for high-performance, gasoline-directed-injected (GDI) engines, such as the LF4. Driven Racing Oil's new "DI" series engine oils are available in four viscosity ranges: 0W20, 5W30, 0W40 and 10W60, but the only one suggested for use in the LF4 is "DI30", the 5W30.



Mr. Speed told the Little-V Blog that all Driven's new DI engine oils start with a lower volatility base stock. Less volatility reduces the amount of crankcase oil vapor flowing though the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system and into the intake charge air. A reduction in oil vapor in the intake charge means less "coke" deposits on the backsides of intake valves. Also, because oil vapor can increase the engine's tendency to detonate, less vapor is a detonation hedge. Those two features, alone, are a good reasons to switch an LF4 to DI30. The Driven engine oils for directed-injected applications, also, have an advanced additive package with better soot-suspending properties to reduce soot-induced wear and improved resistance to oil-driven abnormal combustion events such as detonation or low-speed-pre-ignition. Driven Racing Oil DI30 will be available from Driven Racing Oil dealers in January 2018.

After Driven, I dropped in at Forgeline Motorsports which manufactures made-to-order, lightweight, forged aluminum street and race wheels for discerning customers and demanding applications. Forgeline is my favorite high-end wheel maker because: 1) it's a family-owned company, 2) the wheels are totally made in USA, 3) they are very strong and durable and 4) the company has some really cool wheel designs and colors for Cadillac ATS-Vs.



One of the more interesting visuals at Forgeline's booth was a display of the three stages of a Forgeline wheel. Company President, David Schardt, told the Little V-Blog that the start of one of his aluminum wheels is a raw forging which weighs 110-lbs. and comes from Aluminum Precision Products, a foundry in California which specializes in high-quality, aluminum and titanium forgings. From there, they are shipped to Foregline's manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio where, after several hours of CNC-machining, they become one of the company's premium aluminum wheels. After that, depending on the customer's taste, the wheel can be powder-coated in any number of colors and finishes by Forgeline's in-house coating department. In early December, I'm going to visit Forgeline in Ohio and tour its factory. I'll post about that near the end of the year.

All Forgeline Wheels are custom made-to-order. They are available in 17-,18-, 19-, 20-, 21- and 22-inch diameters. There are scores of different styles and colors. Not every wheel is made in all those sizes. For specific sizes, styles, colors and bolt patterns, see the Forgeline Motorsports web site.

At SEMA this year, Forgeline showed its new "Carbon+Forged" wheel. Dave Schardt told the Little-V Blog that the C+F wheels, "...combine a very light CNC'ed aluminum center with Emergent’s revolutionary carbon fiber barrels (the "barrel" is the rim part of a wheel) for the ultimate in advanced technology, exclusive styling, and lightweight." Schardt went on to say, "If you appreciate a technologically-advanced wheel, you want your car to stand apart from the crowd and you have the means to afford the very finest; then our made-to-order 'Carbon+Forged' wheels are for you. They come in 20- and 21-inch diameters and are engineered for exotic sports and luxury car applications."

Interestingly, Schardt went on to say that wheels with carbon fiber barrels are not the best choice for road racing applications because of the problem racecars often have with small stones and rocks getting trapped between the inside of the wheel and the top of a brake calipers. Wheels with forged aluminum barrels are much more tolerant of the damage a "trapped rock" can cause than are CF barrels, so generally, Forgeline does not suggest CF wheels for racing applications.

To date Forgeline has sold its Carbon+Forged wheels to people owning Ferraris, Corvettes and even Tesla P100Ds. After looking at the the example Dave Schardt showed me, I thought: well s**t...wouldn't a set look just ducky on my ATS-V, the "Blue BMW Buster"? On a Vector Blue car, what do you think–silver, gray or black centers? Or, what about white? Then I found out, with tax and shipping, they run about 15-large a set. Ok. I guess I'll leave the CF wheels to wealthy tree-huggers with Teslas.

My last stop was to visit the folks from the "Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club" the organization which runs the Cadillac V-Performance Academy. Some V-owners may think that's just a "racing school"–and, indeed, the Resort is the home of the "Spring Mountain Racing School" where you can get the kind of instruction you need to become an advanced amateur or even a professional road racer.



In talking with both Mike Weeks, Vice President of Sales, and Todd Crutcher, Director of Marketing, we learned that the "CV-PA" curriculum was based on the successful Ron Fellows Performance Driving School, the official Corvette school. While the Cadillac V-Performance Academy does teach some skills which can be put to good use on the race track, its main focus is on making ATS-V owners aware of how the car's acceleration, handling and braking can be used to meet challenges one might encounter driving on the street. Examples are: the emergency avoidance maneuvers, maximum braking or car control on wet surfaces. The V-Performance Academy focuses on driving skills such as: proper sight-lines, correct gear shift procedure and controlling understeer and oversteer. The CV-PA also acquaints the ATS-V owner with the car's electronic limited slip differential (eLSD), its various stability enhancement modes, no-lift shift on cars with manual transmissions and proper use of paddle shifters on cars with automatic transmissions.

If you bought a '17 or '18 ATS-V, Cadillac "comps" the V-Performance Academy package for the student and one non-student guest. The package gets you: the two-day performance driving class for the student, transportation to and from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas for the student and a guest, a Cadillac to drive on and off the facility (but not to Las Vegas after 6 PM), two nights in one of Spring Mountain's luxury condos with full use of all the resort's amenities, and catered meals–two breakfasts, two lunches and a dinner. The student and guest have to pay for their air fare to Las Vegas along with incidental charges along with any additional overnights or meals. You must be 21-years of age to attend the V-Performance Academy.

As for those of us who bought '16 ATS-Vs, well...the cost of the V-Performance Academy starts at 2470 bucks. My Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, and I own two '16s so we'd need to pony-up about five large (ouch!) if we wanted to go. I suspect that when the ATS-V first went on sale back in late 2015, Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen was selling every ATS-V he could build. Later in 2016, when sales of the little-V slowed, he had his marketing staff come up with this excellent perk to help move metal, but they did not make it retroactive to the '16 model year. Needless to say Mr. De Nysschen is not on my Christmas card list–nor has he ever been considering all the warranty problems we had with his cars, but...I digress.



If you own a '17 or an '18 ATS-V and have not taken advantage of the Cadillac V-Performance Academy, you need to get real. It's not a racing school. Sign-up and you will learn some valuable driving skills which will make you a better and safer ATS-V driver on the street and might even save your life in situation which demands a high level of driving skill. The Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club is in Pahrump, Nevada about 55-miles outside of Las Vegas. Southwest Airlines has cheap flights into McCarran from lots of places around the U.S.