Check and check. We're being offered a pretty smoking deal on this car by a guy that I've dealt with quite a bit over the past 10 years. I've got it for the next 24hrs or so to test and see what we think.
A big advantage is that my wife will be able to drive it. She tried to get the hang of the manual trans in the Acura and it just wasn't a good fit for her. No fault of hers; I've been driving a manual for the past 21 years and the Acura's crappy transmission gives me trouble at times.
No, not going to modify it. I've got a other cars for that. This needs to stay reliable, and once you start down that path you inevitably trade some reliability for performance no matter how well planned out the changes are.
I love the CTS-V also, but have not found one in good shape, with low miles at the price point we're shopping within.
Crappy Blackberry pic...