2022 CADILLAC CT5-V BLACKWING
If you want a new rear-drive sports sedan with a supercharged V-8 and a manual transmission, go get a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing before it disappears forever.
The Norse myth of Ragnarök tells of a massive battle that takes the lives of several gods and destroys the world in a cataclysmic flood. What follows is a rebirth that brings something better. One era ends and a new one begins. Bad things happen, but be hopeful and pass the lutefisk.
You can think of Cadillac’s CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing—the final gas-powered sedans to wear a V badge—as the last of the old guard. Like deities in Ragnarök, they head into a hopeless battle, knowing they’ll be the last of their kind. And in short order, the coming flood of electric vehicles will assure their demise and change the automotive landscape forever.
HIGHS: The pinnacle of sports sedans, as fun to drive as a Porsche 911.
Electrics may be quick, and we might even grow to love them, but they don’t give you goose bumps the way the CT5-V Blackwing’s exhaust reverberating against a pit wall does. There is no doubt that enthusiasts will remember the bigger, badder Blackwing as one of the best sports sedans ever made. Years after it’s gone, its legend will live on.
Before you accuse us of getting carried away, consider that the segment is filled with allwheel-drive sedans with turbocharged engines and automatic transmissions. Cadillac is the exception. It doubled down on rear-wheel drive, the manual gearbox, and sports-car dynamics. The Blackwing offers an automatic, and it’s a performance option, not just one of convenience. We have yet to test the 10-speed slushbox— effectively a $2775 option given that the auto mandates a $900 driver-assist package and carries a gas-guzzler tax of $1700 to the manual’s $2100 tariff—but we’re confident it will be quicker than the row-it-yourself six-speed. We don’t care. The manual shifter glides precisely through perfectly weighted detents and nottoo-narrow gate spacing. It’s the one we lust for, what speculators will hoard and collectors will want.
The enthusiast special starts at $87,090. Skip the heavy sunroof and check all the boxes aimed at saving weight, such as the $9000 carbon-ceramic brakes. Compared with the standard rotors, the optional discs shed a claimed 62 pounds of rotating mass and 53 pounds of unsprung weight, improving the car’s acceleration, ride, and handling. With a full tank of premium, this sedan comes in at 4092 pounds
LOWS: The thirst for premium will get expensive.
Another $9330 gets you (and our test car) the full carbon-fiber aero kit that is said to reduce lift by 85 percent, a great thing for a car that will likely hit 205 mph. (Caddy hasn’t validated the top speed yet, and we don’t have access to a facility