Cadillac has whetted appetites ahead of the launches of its CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings by confirming they’ll both get manual gearboxes to go with their anticipated rear-drive, super saloon powertrains. The boosted four doors, which will go up against BMW’s M3 and M5, are due with turbocharged V6 and supercharged V8 power respectively. The CT4-V is predicted to get 450hp while the CT5-V’s GM 6.2-litre block is anticipated to get an M5-beating output well north of 600hp.
The upcoming V-Series halos will almost certainly fall short of the class leaders for outright performance, due almost entirely to their use of two-wheel drive, but Cadillac is taking a refreshingly driver-focussed approach with its duo. Indeed, it brags that a manual is “a feature most luxury brands no longer offer” and affirms the extent of testing engineers are doing, with much of the work taking place at the demanding Virginia International Raceway.
BMW and AMG will no doubt take those statements seriously; the Germans know as well as anybody how good Cadillac’s chassis tuning can be these days, with PH still holding fond memories of the CTS-V, a car that has already given the M5 a headache as the CT5-V Blackwing’s predecessor. The American firm said that its new pairing will get specifically tuned vehicle control tech, so they ought to flatter – as much as excite – their drivers.
There will, of course, be automatic options for both cars, likely to be Cadillac’s 10-speed paddle shifter. But while it’s true something like 95 per cent of cars in the US are autos, don’t expect the 10-speed to account for the overwhelming majority of Blackwing sales. Turns out Americans do still regularly opt for three-pedal cars when it comes to the proper enthusiast stuff (even if the auto-only C8 Corvette confirms their options are evermore limited), so the USP of these cars over rivals could have a significant impact on their popularity with buyers.
It might even help to encourage more Brits to opt for what would otherwise be leftfield choices in the world of ultra-high-powered super saloons. With the likes of the BMW, AMG’s C63 and even Alfa Romeo’s hardened Giulia GTA to go up against, the Cadillacs will have to put up a hell of a fight. We can’t wait to be the architects of that group battle…
1 / 2
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)