A fast Cadillac sedan usually sounds like an inside joke that got out of hand, but this one’s real, and it’s hilariously overqualified for daily-driver duty. Jay Leno recently took a close look at Parker Nirenstein’s personal Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, a car that already leaves the factory with serious credibility and then gets turned up several notches with a bigger supercharger, headers, and a tune. All in, it's a luxury sedan that still has room for four people, still has a trunk, and now makes the kind of power that starts terrifying more people than not. Jay Leno Thinks This Cadillac Deserves More Respect Jay Leno's Garage YouTubeLeno wastes no time setting the tone. He calls the CT5-V Blackwing one of his favorites and describes it as essentially a four-seater Corvette, which is about as clean a pitch as Cadillac could ask for. The Blackwing already comes with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 from the factory, and in stock form that means 668 horsepower and a rare kind of performance legitimacy for a full-size American sedan.What seems to impress Leno most is the way Cadillac managed to turn its image around. He talks about how the brand used to project golf-course luxury and now builds cars that enthusiasts genuinely want to drive hard. In his view, this thing belongs in the same conversation as BMW’s M cars, and not as some patriotic underdog. He flat-out says it’s faster, more powerful, and a worthwhile rival.Leno keeps coming back to how complete it feels. It’s quick, composed, roomy, and subtle enough to pass as just another Cadillac if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Parker’s Blackwing Turns A Factory Monster Into Something Much Crazier Jay Leno's Garage YouTubeIf the stock CT5-V Blackwing already sounded like enough, Parker clearly disagreed. He fitted a Magnuson 2650 supercharger, added headers, and had the car tuned, pushing output to around 750 horsepower at the wheels. That translates to roughly 850 to 900 horsepower at the crank, which is a deeply unnecessary number for a sedan with massaging seats, and exactly what the people of the internet love seeing. Still Coherent And Potent Jay Leno's Garage (YouTube)What’s funny is how rational Parker sounds while describing something totally irrational. He says the car prior to this was a Tesla Model S Plaid, but the Cadillac offers a completely different kind of experience. That checks out. A Plaid is brutally effective, but it doesn’t come with a manual transmission, a supercharged V8, or the sense that every on-ramp has become an event."It's essentially a four-seater Corvette, which is what I love about it." - Jay LenoHe also explains why the car still works despite the extra power. The suspension remains OEM, the Magnaride setup still keeps the car composed, and the overall chassis still feels happy at this level. Typically, a lot of modified cars get faster on paper and worse everywhere else. This one sounds like it’s still coherent, which makes the whole package even cooler. This Might Be The Last Great V8 Manual Sedan Jay Leno's Garage YouTubeThe biggest takeaway in the video is finality. Parker calls the CT5-V Blackwing the last V8 manual sedan you can buy, and that gives the whole conversation a slightly sad edge. Even Leno, who’s seen just about everything, seems genuinely charmed by the fact that General Motors still offers a stick in something this potent. Reasonable Excess Jay Leno's Garage YouTubeKeep in mind that the Blackwing isn’t nostalgic in the lazy sense. In fact, both men more or less say the opposite. Modern Performance Cars are better built, more reliable, easier to live with, and dramatically more capable. The difference is that this Cadillac still delivers all that without filtering out the mechanical parts enthusiasts actually care about.All in, the CT5-V Blackwing feels like a closing argument for the old-school performance formula, only now it comes with carbon-ceramic brakes, magnetic dampers, heated seats, and a warranty if you leave it alone. It’s absurd, deeply likable, and just practical enough to make its excess seem almost reasonable.Source: Jay Leno's Garage (YouTube).
