This is the end. Cadillac, one brand with a rich history of cramming giant gasoline engines under the hood of luxury sedans, is about to stop internal combustion, but not before going out with a bang. Well, two ponies, one of which was called the CT5-V Blackwing, a 668-horsepower 6.2 liter supercharged V8 sedan with a standard … standard transmission. The other is the CT4-V Blackwing, a smaller 472-HP twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 sedan that also comes with a gearshift, in accordance with the orders of the car gods. Let’s take a first look at these latest whores for high performance Cadillacs.
The auto industry is quickly enter the electric age, so it feels a bit strange for Cadillac to debut two completely conventional flagships. But this is the last stand for performance-fueled petrol Cadillacs, and my goodness is GM’s premium brand going out swinging.
So much power, so many pedals
The CT5-V is a 668 horsepower, 659 lb-ft supercharged V8 sedan with a six-speed manual transmission that sends torque to the rear wheels. On paper it’s epic and fills the entire Maslow hierarchy of automotive needs (except maybe ‘low curb weight’ – the CT5-V Blackwing weighs about two tons). I can’t wait to drive this machine.
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The other car that Cadillac showed was the CT4-V, which also comes standard with a manual gearbox, and also has a beefed-up engine that sends torque to the rear wheels, although that engine is a V6 and the high air pressure in the intake manifold comes is of a pair of turbochargers instead of a supercharger.
Here’s a little tour of these two cars with marketing manager Ken Kornas:
When Cadillac released horsepower figures for the regular CT4-V and CT5-V, the car media pretty much spit out its drink and laughed. “We are sorry to inform you that the Cadillac CT4-V has only 24 hp more than a Toyota Camry“My colleague wrote after Jalopnik’s first article entitled”The 2020 Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V arrive without the great power we’re used to. “
After being spoiled by the 464 hp ATS-V and 640 hp CTS-V, we just weren’t thrilled with the paltry 325 hp turbocharged inline-four in the CT4-V or the 360-HP twin turbo V6 in the CT5-V. “Hey, this isn’t the real V, is it?” my ECreator-in-100Rory Carroll raised asked Cadillac at an event in 2019. The brand responded that a “big V” was in development. Now he is here with his little brother.
The 668-HP CT5-V Blackwing is said to be able to reach a 0-60mph time of 3.7 seconds and reach a top speed of over 200mph. The 472-HP, 445 lb-ft CT4-V Blackwing takes a tenth more to get to 60, and its top speed plateaus around 189 mph, per Cadillac. Both cars are built on the Alpha II platform, the successor to the Alpha platform that formed the basis for the Chevy Camaro and Cadillac ATS. Like the ATS and Camaro, the CT4 and CT5 have MacPherson struts in the front and five-link setups in the rear.
Speaking of the ATS, the CT4-V Blackwing will probably look a lot like the V model of that car, which is a excellent drivers car thanks to the incredible steering feel and sharp handling. The CT4 has essentially the same engine and transmission, with roughly the same power (it’s 8 hp higher). Car A.nd Driver discusses the differences and writes in his story 472-HP 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Is like an ATS-V, only better:
Chassis upgrades include larger front and rear brake discs, a newer version of the standard magnetorheological dampers and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires in place of the old Pilot Super Sport rubber. These tires wrap around 18-inch wheels with a staggered width setting; the magnesium wheels that teased Cadillac before will not be available until later in the production run. The housing for the limited-slip electronic differential is now aluminum, which saves 22 pounds, according to Cadillac. Total curb weight is up 77 pounds.
I’m in conflict here because as much as I love the idea of an improved ATS-V that handles well, the larger, several hundred pounds heavier CT5-V Blackwing has the V8 with a 1.7-liter Eaton supercharger on it , and you know that will sound much, much better. So the question is: do you opt for an agile (ish) handling or do you opt for the glorious sound of an amplified V8?
Maybe I’m a bit basic, but my original primal instinct is to go with option B.
The hardware
Cadillac had no engineers at my preview session at a warehouse in Warren, Michigan, so the brand couldn’t get deep into the technology of the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing. But immediately it was clear how epic the cooling systems are – not surprising, since the ATS-V is a masterpiece in this area.
The cars each have about a dozen heat exchangers, with small outboard motors tilted and tilted inward a little:
My favorite heat exchanger (everyone should have a favorite heat exchanger, right?) On the CT4-V is the flat front, which I’m pretty sure cools the transmission and rear differential.
A heat exchanger whose face is actually parallel to the air flow ?! It seems counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you consider that it is located just in front of the main cooling module, which – because of the limitation – creates an area of high pressure for itself. That high pressure, along with the low pressure underneath the vehicle as air flows at high speed, forces air through the heat exchanger mounted parallel to the car floor:
Speaking of aerodynamics, Cadillac says the new grille design is a key factor in improving airflow over the ATS-V, and the brand is citing a new Carbon Fiber Aero package, which reportedly increases lift by 214 percent decreases on the CT4. -V Blackwing and 75 percent on the CT5-V Blackwing. It goes without saying that there is a towing penalty.
Also exciting are the “airflow-channeling richtes” under the body up what Cadillac calls the “Underwing” – Basically, an under-body airflow strategy Cadillac says reduces drag and improves track performance:
Speaking of the bottom, here’s a V-series ‘Easter Egg’ logo on the bottom of the liquid-cooled electronic limited slip differential:
The Brakes are huge. The CT4-V Blackwing’s rotors are 15 inches in the front and 13.4 in the rear, while the larger sibling has 15.7-inch rotors for the driver and 14.7s in the rear. Both cars have six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear grippers.
The standard manual gearbox is a six-speed Tremec with a LuK two-disc clutch. If you are not familiar with how a two-disk coupling works, it essentially involves screwing a housing to the flywheel, using axial space to create an additional surface for an additional coupling to be gripped. Check out how this Aussie shows you how it works:
Both cars get rev adjustment and ‘No-Lift Shift’, and that’s what it sounds like: you can stay hard on the accelerator while shifting – something that, per Cadillac, helps to keep the CT4-V Blacking’s turbos in a boost.
There is also a 10-speed automatic available if you like that sort of thing.
Pricing
The CT4-V Blackwing starts at $ 59,990, while the CT5-V Blackwing costs $ 84,990. These are higher base prices than the Audi RS3 and BMW M3 with which GM says the two cars are competing respectively. I can’t wait to find out how the Caddies will hold up on the track against their German counterparts. Will Cadillac’s latest combustion engine V series cars go on top?