It's one thing to make an American sedan with a V8 that's fast; it's another to make it ride and handle with class.
The first time I drove the CT5-V Blackwing, it was pouring rain, grey and endless, leaving puddles deep enough to sink a Miata. It felt like a surefire way to hydroplane a RWD car with 659 lb-ft of torque right into the nearest curb before ever grabbing second gear. The ending of this story is boring. It was fine. The Cadillac is totally usable as a street car in horrible weather, happy to be short-shifted through the streets, spitting water from the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires while the heated seats dry your rain-soaked rear.
Of course, it’s even happier on a nice dry track in the California desert, where all 668 horses in the 6.2L V8 can run their hearts out, the shifts done at full-throttle, and the only puddles are molten rubber from burnouts so violent they make their own cloudy skies. The CT5 Blackwing is a rare machine, capable of rolling unnoticed through a parking lot like just another pleasant, but unremarkable four-door. Get on it though, and it’s a stadium rock show, a supercharged scream over big V8 bass. It’s off trend as car companies quiet their fours and sixes with turbos, or move their performance focus to the hum and whirr of electric.
And yet, the Cadillac doesn’t feel like a throwback. (Except maybe in its fuel economy—this car has a vintage thirst.) It’s no lumbering musclecar, it hones in on an apex with the precision of a diving falcon, and returns to a straightaway with nary a wiggle. Even without the added claws of AWD, it digs in and goes wherever you point it. The recipe may be old-fashioned, but the dinner is delicious.
To highlight the CT5 Blackwing’s perfect blend of herbs and spices, I (reluctantly) turned over the wheel to professional racing driver, JR Hildebrand, for not only his driving prowess, but his expert opinion on Cadillac V history. In between shifts, we compared the Blackwing to the legendary CTS-V wagon, and discussed the benefits of automatics vs manual (short version, doesn’t matter, buy the stick in this car). We did come away with one complaint, and it took a long time to come up with it. Here ya go: The Cadillac CT5 Blackwing’s name is too long and you can’t shorten it because if you call it just CT5, or CT5-V, those are other cars, less good cars. You also can’t just call it Blackwing, because that could be the CT4-V Blackwing. Which is a very good car, but not the same car, it’s smaller, V6, turbos. So you have to say the whole thing CT5-V Blackwing, and I just don’t think a car should have a name that you can’t say quicker than its 0-60 time. Everything else about this car is perfect.
Keyword: The 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Is the Ultimate Refinement of the Muscle Car