Quarter-mile times. Nürburgring lap times. The amount of time it takes a vehicle to claw its way to 60 mph from a dead stop. These are the metrics that car enthusiasts exchange like conversational firepower, hoping to prove that their car (or dream car) is that much better than their buddy’s. But there’s one other metric that makes headlines by itself: horsepower. Who has the biggest stable of horses under their hood?For a long time, there was “no replacement for displacement.” Then, energy crises and the march of technology led to more power density in smaller packages. Today, you can get a turbocharged four-cylinder engine with more power than some of the most muscle-bound of 1960s greats. Enter battery electric vehicles. EVs can produce massive horsepower outputs. So, are you out of luck if you want honest ICE horsepower? Not if you know where to look. Like this super-powered luxury sedan. EVs Can Produce Serious Power Lucid Four-figure horsepower. Ten years ago, it was witchcraft reserved for the most outlandish hypercars and wild car builders. Today, you can get 1,000 horsepower in EVs like the Lucid Air Sapphire and Tesla Model S Plaid, both ready to make the school run at a moment’s notice. Paired with all-wheel drive grip, these Herculean EV sedans can hit 60 mph with unbelievable quickness. In some cases, these deceptively heavy electric luxury sedans will dash to that performance benchmark in less than two seconds. And below the four-figure club, there are plenty of EVs that produce well over 500 horsepower. But, even in 2026, an EV isn’t the only way to reach serious horsepower. Not The Only Way To Kick Asphalt Cadillac Love it or hate it, a battery electric vehicle can produce some serious power and instantly available torque. But it's far from the only way to make black top-cracking thrust in 2026. Granted, the horsepower wars of the 2010s are over. Dodge has drawn the curtains on its most hilariously unnecessary muscle cars, like the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody and the Challenger SRT Demon. Chevrolet killed off its Nürburgring-smashing Camaro ZL1 1LE and naturally aspirated V8-powered Camaros. But that doesn’t mean the age of eight-cylinder muscle is completely dead. Take the 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC, for example. Ford says the supercharged Mustang produces 795 horsepower, all without the help of a hybrid system. Fortunately for fans whose hearts beat like a lumpy cam, it isn’t alone. Especially when you take this segment-leading supercharged Cadillac into account. Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing: A Luxury Flex Starting At $102,795 Cadillac When you think of Cadillac’s history, you likely don’t immediately conjure mental images of smoked tires and shouty V8s. It’s more of a “Dr. Jekyll” situation: Robert Louis Stevenson’s educated, intelligent gentleman doctor character, perhaps adorned in a nice suit. Here’s the thing, though. The good doctor’s monstrous side would take over, resulting in hedonistic shenanigans. For the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, it's less of Jekyll's serum and more of a supercharger, razor-sharp track manners, and a delightfully rowable six-speed manual transmission. The result? The 2026 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is quite simply the most potent gas-powered sedan on the market, more powerful than any of its luxury ICE sports sedan counterparts. 2026 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Specs Not Your Daddy’s Caddy Cadillac This certainly isn’t the first time Cadillac has applied V-car magic to a family sedan. Back in the noughties, the American automaker was installing tire-roasting V8 engines in the CTS-V. Now, the brand has two V-car stars in the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing. But only in the CT5-V Blackwing will you get the excellent LT4: a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine. Cadillac says the mill is good for a volcanic 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque.While it’s not up to some of the wild numbers coming from the Corvette side of General Motors, it’s the most powerful 2026 model sedan you’ll find on American roads after Dodge killed off its Hellcat lineup. It’s enough power to outmuscle segment competition like the Audi RS7 and its 621-horsepower V8. So, with firepower like that, you might expect the CT5-V Blackwing to be quick. You’d be right. With the 10-speed automatic equipped, the supercharged Caddy will hit 60 mph in a scant 3.4 seconds. That is, if it doesn’t eat its tires first. Circuit-Ready Composure Cadillac Cadillac’s resident super sedan isn’t just a sprinter, though. Let’s start with the headlines. MagneRide dampers, the brand’s Performance Traction Management system, line-lock, an electronic limited-slip differential, and launch control are all standard features. Performance-oriented Brembo brakes live in all four corners. Needless to say, the V8-packing Blackwing is point-and-shoot when it comes to track work, but Cadillac didn’t stop there. Serious drivers with a track addiction can opt for the CT5-V Blackwing with the Precision package. That adds corner-hungry kit from the dearly departed Camaro ZL1 1LE, including a stiffer suspension setup and carbon-ceramic brakes. Row Your Own Gears Cadillac The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing gets two transmission options for 2026. The quicker of the two? A snappy-shifting 10-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters. However, unlike other posh sports sedans in the segment, you can get the CT5-V Blackwing with a much more analog six-speed manual transmission and that third pedal, which seems to confound so many. The manual transmission is the best way to take in the Caddy’s driving dynamics, allowing the pilot to command every shift in a way that a shiftable automatic simply won’t. That said, even the finest manual transmission rower won’t match the acceleration available with the automatic gearbox. Still, if you can launch it just right, the six-speed CT5-V Blackwing will hit 60 mph in around 3.6 seconds. Yesteryear Made More Power Stellantis The CT5-V Blackwing is a mad chapter in the book of Cadillac. There’s no debating that, really. But it’s also a sad reminder that the days of completely unnecessary horsepower figures in a V8-powered family sedan may be winding down. Back in 2023, Tim Kuniskis and the crowd at Dodge closed the book on the LD-platform Charger. There was plenty of pomp and circumstance, with Dodge rolling out several “Last Call” models. But the end of the Charger meant the end of the hilariously overpowered family sedan. Need a reminder? At its peak, the Charger produced an absolutely bonkers 807 horsepower. And while the CT5-V Blackwing is a scalpel in comparison, some fans may still long for the days of the hammer.Sources: General Motors, Cadillac, Stellantis, Edmunds
+9 others
