Nothing short of a revolution in products is unfolding at Cadillac, the elite brand from General Motors. First evidence of the metamorphosis at Cadillac occurred with the debut of CTS -- Cadillac Touring Sedan -- a sports sedan packing the first manual stick on a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Caddy in half a century. Then came the XLR, a sleek two-seat sports car showing edgy body forms in the package of a luxurious hardtop coupe that drops its lid with the push of a console switch. XLR was followed in 2005 by a new rendition of the Seville Touring Sedan -- STS -- conformed as a muscular mid-size sport tourer in bold format.

Yet more powerful engines are planned at Cadillac as this brand develops a series of big-engine muscle cars crafted by GM's new Performance Division, sort of a tuner shop charged with pumping up racy versions of GM production models. Short-range model strategy at Cadillac indicates a tuner-style V-badged version due for several models in the Cadillac line.

First up is the CTSv -- quickest and most powerful production car ever in the line of Cadillac. Cadillac's engineers re-tuned the suspension, added four-piston Brembo brakes and stuffed a Corvette powertrain below the hood with an expansive twin-pipe exhaust system aboard to sing deep-bass tunes.

A V-badged rendition of STS and XLR will appear in Cadillac's Class of 2006. XLRv has a unique long hood and 10-spoke wheels while STSv rolls on high-performance tires. And both machines draw up to 440 hp from a new supercharged 4.4-liter NorthStar V8 engine.