This new engine has a displacement of 4.2 litres and the two twin-scroll turbos and catalyst system are neatly packaged within the valley of the 90° V8.
Detroit, MI: Being GM’s flagship brand, Cadillac needs to stay relevant in order to compete with the German luxury sedans that largely dominate the market.
And over the years they have clearly upped their game with cars like the ATS that demonstrated chassis dynamics and an athleticism never before experienced in GM products.
It was said to have better steering feel and handling than the benchmark BMW 3-series, but was let down by slow sales and a general lack of interest from the public.
There were other niggles, mainly the first few iterations of CUE and a powertrain that was very good but couldn’t quite keep up with the competitors.
But these were small things in a vastly improved product range that includes the stunning CTS, CTS-V and CT6 sedans – a model lineup that can confidently take the fight to Mercedes, Audi and BMW.
The thing is, as good as their products are, Cadillac was lacking a competitive engine. While the LT4 in the CTS-V is an absolute powerhouse, it’s not one usually associated with the words elegant and refined.
But that has changed with the introduction of Cadillac’s new small displacement turbocharged V8.
“We had a lot of requirements for the engine; Ultimately they were extreme quietness, refinement, thrust and performance,” said Jordan Lee, chief engineer for Cadillac’s V8 engines.
This new engine has a displacement of 4.2 litres and the two twin-scroll turbos and catalyst system are neatly packaged within the valley of the 90° V8.
Better known as a “Hot-V” configuration, this is a brilliant way to package turbochargers in V8s and has been proven for years by those aforementioned German competitors.
BMW was the first to introduce this to the world with their N63 engine over 10 years ago.
The competition was without a doubt benchmarked during the development of their new engine, as the engineers were quick to show us their torque curves as compared to the others.
“The emphasis is on low and midrange torque, and not on ultimate power delivery,” stated Jordan.
This motor develops 550 hp in its most powerful spec and a class leading 627 lb-ft of torque. Cadillac says that 90% of the torque is available between 2000 and 5200 rpm.
Low-end torque is good thing as it’s much more usable in everyday situations and makes passing slower moving traffic a walk in the park.
One of the defining traits of automotive luxury is effortless power and I think that’s what they were going for, as this new boosted V8 will power the upcoming CT6 V-Sport.
The new engine will be available with two power levels—500 and 550 hp—with the milder version generating a significantly lower torque output of 553 lb-ft that will power another CT6 variant.
Not really a figure to sneeze at though as I’m sure 553 foot pounds of torque is more than adequate to pin you to the seat on a clear highway on-ramp.
Cadillac tells us that other than the exhaust system they are essentially the same engines running in different states of tune.
External airflow and coolant flow was crucial during development of the engine as the Hot V configuration produces a substantial amount of heat between the valley.
To aid this, two compact aluminum water-to-air charge coolers, one per bank, are employed and are capable of lowering the air charge temperature by 74° C and stuff the combustion chamber with the cooler denser air.
Another first on this engine and a first for GM V8s is AFM (Active Fuel Management), which shuts off 4 cylinders during light load conditions by using the camshaft to essentially decouple the valves.
Even a thousand horsepower would be useless if there wasn’t a way to efficiently transfer it to the ground. Cadillac’s solution is a new 10 speed automatic transmission, which sounds like way too many gears, but Cadillac assured us that it will be seamless in its operation.
By essentially dividing the pie into smaller slices they’ve allowed shorter gears and rapid shifts. This 10 speed is also coupled with what they call intuitive uphill and downhill detection. This according to them should eliminate hunting going uphill and will shift into a lower gear when a downhill section is detected, which in turn incorporates more engine braking and saves the brakes from turning into a smouldering mess at the bottom of the hill.
Some of the best automatics I’ve tried have had 8 speeds. I think that’s a sweet spot and only a few of those 8 speeds deliver what I would call rapid shifts. So I’m curious to see if Cadillac can deliver here.
This new V8, on paper at least, will give Cadillac a world-class powerplant that should allow them to battle the Germans on more even ground.
It would be pretty perfect in the C8 Corvette, even better if that car lives up to its mid-engined rumours.
The engine will be built alongside the Corvette in Bowling Green, Kentucky and similar to AMG, each will be “hand-crafted” by one technician and will bear a plate with his or her signature.
So now you’ll know whom to ring up should anything go wrong.
The new CT6 and V-sport will officially get unveiled at the New York auto show next week and should be available on dealer lots early 2019.
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Keyword: The Cadillac CT6 V-Sport Will be Powered by an All-New Twin Turbo V8