Cadillac CT5 Blackwing Precision Package

[Bumpinjeep]

Well, my buddies new CT5 BW PP (Jesus thats a mouthful) came in last month and I took it for a spin.
Mind Blown.
A 4 door sedan that seats 5, has nearly 670 horsepower, RWD, manual transmission, Carbon Ceramics, Cup2R tires, and pulls like a freight train in any gear at any RPM? Yes please!
Styling:
I really love the color combo here and the exterior is sharp. Looks are subjective but this thing looks mean and for a five year old design, cant be beat.
Interior looks great too. Not as techie as the new Germans but thats okay because the seats are comfortable, heat, cool, massage, and supportive. The screen is really configurable and the contrasting colors are really good too. The only downside is there's no volume controls of any kind outside of the steering wheel, its weird.
The drive train:
This is the jewel of the platform. The car, in any gear, pulls and pulls. The power is almost EV like as it has mountains of torque. A blown V8 makes power at like 1800 rpm, it just hits and pulls. Amazing in that sense.
The 6 speed is great! The clutch is heavy and springy but hell the car has 98 miles on it. The shifter is precise as hell. There is no lag, its really great. One of the best manuals I've driven and I've driven a lot.
Comfort:
This is a Caddy and it drives so well. Very quiet when youre just driving around town with the windows up. Put it in V mode and put the windows down and holy hell. The suspension is supple, the wheel has feedback. Its just a great car.
Overall:
Its an experience. Im really glad that somebody is making a drivers car at this price point. $131K is a ton of money, I get it, but this car has no competition. Nobody is making something for enthusiasts thats touching this thing. Every other sedan is auto this, hybrid that, all wheel boring, no thank you.
TL-DR
Way to go Cadillac for making a car that brings a smile to your face as you shift gears, pull Gs in corners, bombastic exhaust belching, with 4 of your friends along for the ride.

[Alfisti]

Kudos to GM for making cars like this but everytime I see one those tear drop droopy headlights ruin it for me. WOuld love to see a redesign.

[ShocknAwe]

Love these cars for how they feel and drive. I do think it's worth mentioning the dashboard sucks and I'm not on board with the modern infotainment thing.

That said...

This is the car BMW doesn't make anymore.

Too bad Cadillac doesn't really make a smaller version.

[BlkGS]

This is probably going down as the best driver's sedan of all time. Crazy fast, crazy comfortable, and very nice inside, plus a manual transmission. It's the top of the mountain for guys who like to drive fast cars, not just be seen owning an expensive car.

This is one of the like 3-5 new cars I would want. Of note, the smaller CT4 Blackwing is not on that list.

[XutvJet]

This is one of those cars that doesn't photo well at all. I'd take this over any late model BMW sedan, and definitely any Audi or Benz.

[NWH83]

Cadillac makes great cars imo. I had a 2012 ctsv (v2) that was modded to hell, daily drove it every week through San Francisco, then would beat the hell out of it on the weekend. I didn't have quite the mechanical sympathy that I have now, but the car never had a single issue. I drove it 60k miles and then got a 2017 ctsv (v3) and only slightly modded it, and that was a great car as well (although I will say the 8l90 trans left a lot to be desired). Admittedly, the build quality (panel gaps) on both cars left a lot to be desired as well, which bugged my ocd.

I think Cadillac's main problem is in their marketing. To most people it's still "an old man car". The general population has no idea what a v series is, and then to make matters worse, they started putting v badges on everything. Just like M and AMG, they diluted the brand. There's a ct5v in my neighborhood, and at first I thought it was a blackwing, but no, it's just a ct5v. Anyways, I'd gladly pick up a blackwing, just still haven't warmed up to it's looks. Regardless, I'm sure it's a great car, as are most V series.

[Elderado82]

Better have an air hose, because if not, that front end is going to be hell to dry after a wash. Beautiful car, by the way.

[Phillies8008]

I'm not a huge fan of the styling, but there's no denying that it's an absolutely amazing car. I honestly wouldn't have believed that Detroit had it in 'em.

Of course, what's sad is knowing that they can, but choose not to most of the time.

[freakystyly]

Just wanted to say I appreciate the colour.

Making me green with envy.

We need less grayscale on the roads.

[eliphil]

It is an amazing car. Corvette engine w 4 doors. If I could deal w a stick for my daily I would have considered at least I have its 2 door cousin in the garage

[BlkGS]

Cadillac 's main problem is that they don't recognize that most German car buyers are buying the badge and the "flex". Caddy has been building V cars since like 04 that were better driving cars than the Germans and way more reliable... But people want the BMW badge, because "German cars are more money and so have to be better".

A big part of me thinks it's the naming convention. When you tell someone you have a CT5 V Blackwing, you will inevitably hear "cool my neighbor has one of those" and it will be a base 4 cylinder. If you tell someone you have an M5 or an RS7, people who don't know about cars will say "what's that?" and not just assume it's whatever car that they know about.

Personally I still think they need a Chevy version of this car at a more reasonable price point.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Cadillac 's main problem is that they don't recognize that most German car buyers are buying the badge and the "flex". Caddy has been building V cars since like 04 that were better driving cars than the Germans and way more reliable... But people want the BMW badge, because "German cars are more money and so have to be better".

A big part of me thinks it's the naming convention. When you tell someone you have a CT5 V Blackwing, you will inevitably hear "cool my neighbor has one of those" and it will be a base 4 cylinder. If you tell someone you have an M5 or an RS7, people who don't know about cars will say "what's that?" and not just assume it's whatever car that they know about.

Personally I still think they need a Chevy version of this car at a more reasonable price point.

Maybe that's your reason, but it certainly isn't mine. I don't buy my cars for anyone but me. Ever. Cadillacs, while perhaps good cars (the Blackwing certainly is), are ugly and have fairly chinzy interiors, IMO. That's a large part of the reason I have no real interest in them.

[QUiKSR20]

Sad to say Cadillac is more like the BMW we grew up with than BMW is today.. Thats an awesome car!

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

Maybe that's your reason, but it certainly isn't mine. I don't buy my cars for anyone but me. Ever. Cadillacs, while perhaps good cars (the Blackwing certainly is), are ugly and have fairly chinzy interiors, IMO. That's a large part of the reason I have no real interest in them.

That may be the case for you. But the vast majority of people buying German are buying branding. I can confidently say there is not a single way the G90 5 is "less chintzy" than a CT5.

I'm not gonna defend their looks. The Caddy's are ugly. It's a shame, they need new designers to make things that aren't ugly.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

That may be the case for you. But the vast majority of people buying German are buying branding. I can confidently say there is not a single way the G90 5 is "less chintzy" than a CT5.

I'm not gonna defend their looks. The Caddy's are ugly. It's a shame, they need new designers to make things that aren't ugly.

Maybe that's why someone is buying a BMW, maybe it's not. We really don't have any way to know, other than complete supposition. But yeah, I'm sure a significant number are, but that's hardly unusual – people buy Gucci bags just because they have a Gucci logo, and a lot of people over the years have bought Cadillacs simply because they have a Cadillac badge. People are weird.

I disagree about the interior – I think pretty much all American brands' interiors are chintzy and cheap feeling, but that's obviously subjective.

All that being the case, I sure as hell wouldn't say no if someone wanted to give me a Blackwing!

[eliphil]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

Maybe that's your reason, but it certainly isn't mine. I don't buy my cars for anyone but me. Ever. Cadillacs, while perhaps good cars (the Blackwing certainly is), are ugly and have fairly chinzy interiors, IMO. That's a large part of the reason I have no real interest in them.

I agree with you caddy has a reputation for sub par quality and reliability I don’t think it’s about the badge

[ZTK_M240i]

I had a '22 CT4-V Blackwing before my current M240i. Great car, had it almost four years with no issues except for a exhaust flap that needed to be replaced. I put about 25K on it, overall I would recommend it.

Pros:
Awesome chassis.
MagRide blows away BMW adaptive by a mile.
The M6 is great.
Fantastic dealers I dealt with.

Cons:
Resale value is not great.
Interior isn't that great (except for the optional front seats).
Doesn't sound that good.
Chassis needs more rubber (mainly in front).

I sold it as it was just too close (same chassis) performance/feel wise as one of my other cars ('17 Camaro SS 1LE), and the 1LE is better setup and quicker for me to road race and autocross. Also, as it was my daily driver, I didn't have to have a 4 door anymore (one kid is a teen, and the other doesn't need a big child seat anymore). So I wanted to get a sporty 2 door Euro car.

[Bumpinjeep]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Cadillac 's main problem is that they don't recognize that most German car buyers are buying the badge and the "flex".

I don't think that's the case at all. Cadillac has two major things going against them and it will take a long time (probably generations) to break it.
1. It's considered a brand for old people. It just is, there's no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. On the way to dinner my wife said "I really like the color of the car, but isn't it mainly for old people?" That stigma will be there for our generation but may not for the next, that's really up to Cadillac and their marketing department to break. I don't think my 8 year old niece has any opinions on car brands and certainly doesn't think they're for the elderly. That's the audience GM has to look at.
2. 10 out of 10 people will sit in a new BMW or a new Mercedes and will pick it over a GM product simply because they really are nicer. Cadillacs feel cheaper than their German counterparts, the interiors are just not where the money is spent.
This is true for all American brands though. I think Stellantis or GM calls it "American Luxury" because they have to qualify it.
I think really the only segment where domestic brands interiors shine is the upmarket truck. Look at RAM, they have solid looking and feeling interiors on their upper end trucks, with the only real downside is the infotainment screens can be a bit laggy. But then again, there is no Euro competition for them.

TL-DR: Cadillac made an amazing car with the CT5 BW. Truly, a world beater. I don't think there's a better car in the segment.
The engineers are top notch, its up to the designers now and the marketing folks to knock it out of the park to get them to where their Euro counterparts are.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by NWH83

I think Cadillac's main problem is in their marketing. To most people it's still "an old man car".

True.
That is EXACTLY how I think about Cadillac.
I have seen zero messaging from that brand to change my mind in the last 30+ years I've had BMWs. All Caddy-branded commercials are of SUVs for women. And maybe their boyfriends, but mostly for single women.

The people I actually see driving non-truck Caddys are all .. retirees. Or taxi/limo drivers in Escalades.
Marketing and brand perception for Caddy is well earned.

Originally Posted by NWH83

The general population has no idea what a v series is, and then to make matters worse, they started putting v badges on everything. Just like M and AMG, they diluted the brand.

True, with an important clarification - Caddy had never stablished "V" as much of a brand.
Car guys, or 0.02% buying public, might know what it is. For the rest of the world it's just another letter in the Caddlic model naming letter soup.

Originally Posted by XutvJet

This is one of those cars that doesn't photo well at all. I'd take this over any late model BMW sedan, and definitely any Audi or Benz.

To my eye, CTS-5V profile looks very similar to Audi RS7:

Originally Posted by eliphil

It is an amazing car. Corvette engine w 4 doors. If I could deal w a stick for my daily I would have considered at least I have its 2 door cousin in the garage

Nice car, though I would not buy it for any reason.
If I needed a fast, luxurious 4-door cruiser I would get a Lucid Air.

BTW, I don't believe the engines are the same.
- LT4 Supercharged 6.2L V8 engine is in a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing or Escalade V.
- LT2 V8 (naturally aspirated, crossplane-crankshaft in Stingray and E-Ray), LT6 V8 (higher-revving, flat-plane-crankshaft in Z06), and the twin-turbo flat-plane-crankshaft LT7 V8 (ZR1).

a

P.S.: I had test driven a few Cadillacs in the past: CT4-something and CT5-something. Cars themselves were decent, but the interiors and ergonomics were 2nd rate. At best, they had shiny "piano-black" fingerprint magnet plastics all over the interior. At worst, interior parts were hard abrasive plastic, and were car rental quality cheap. Seats were decent, but not awesome.
P.P.S.: The only US-made cars I've ever purchased were Teslas. Cars are decent, performance/value proposition is awesome, but the interiors are cheap and sub-optimal. There is definitely a trend in US-designed cars not delivering on interior quality.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by afadeev

To my eye, CTS-5V profile looks very similar to Audi RS7:
Attachment 3833025
Attachment 3833026

I see a ton of current gen Honda Civic in it, especially in pictures. In person, it's a lot better as the fenders are more pronounced, but then I start thinking it looks like a current gen Civic Type R minus a wing.

I agree with the others too, the Caddy interior and build quality is a bit chintzy compared to a BMW. I sure as hell wouldn't pay $130K for a freaking Caddy, regardless of its performance. Same with a BMW. All of these cars are great to buy 3-5 years old and half price.

[25 V8 IS]

Yeah, the car is sweet but I'm turned off for 2 reasons:

1) It costs $130K!
2) Interior looks like a $30K vehicle.

I had an 08 CTS and the build quality of that car left a lot to be desired.

Again...$130K for a Cadillac!

[BlkGS]

I would not pay $130k for one. I would happily consider it at like, $75-80k.

Caddy has this issue where people have their negative opinions on them, about how they're not as good for whatever reason. To fix that, they have to push their cars higher in price for better materials and such. But then people complain they're too expensive.

There is WILD differences.in build quality and materials in German cars. My G05 X5 was super nicer, everything felt great and was put together very very well (lots of really poor engineering designs.on it, but that's besides the point)..but the G90 i5 I had as a loaner? Total junk inside. Everything felt cheap. The X3 or 330i I had as loaners? Total crap, not at all luxurious and materials were worse than a mainstream domestic car. The new X3 is even worse. I get that cheaper Products will be cheaper, but the interiors on these lower level and newer BMWs are just total trash and don't love up to their price points at all, and are ABSOLUTELY worse than a Caddy or Lincoln interior. They're frankly no better than like a mid level Ford.