Behind me (and my amazing T-shirt) is the new Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, and it's this episode's icon. Ready for this? Go! And before we talk about why the Blackwing is
already an icon, we need to discuss why that is the last gas-powered Blackwing. ...and we're done! So it's over... at least by the numbers. But the Tesla is missing something that the Cadillac has in droves... ...sitting all the way back there. [Oh, Burn!] [Seriously how gorgeous is this logo sequence?] That's right, bishes. Best team in the bidness amirite? 9.3 seconds! This race was over in 9.3 seconds! That's how long it takes a Tesla Model S Plaid to accelerate to 152 mph, covering 1320 feet in the process. If this is all meaningless to you, look over there! The fastest and most powerful Cadillac of all time is a third of the way back towards the starting line. And two-thirds of the way to it is the quickest and most powerful BMW of all time. ...and that is the difference between two
of the quickest cars in the history of the world... ...and a Tesla Model S Plaid. It ain't even close!
[Look at him, using "ain't" like he's cool!] [Distant sounds of Tesla sucking the souls out of the BMW and Cadillac.] And by the way, the slowest Tesla Model S you
can buy right now is about as fast as a BMW M5! That CS is a 627-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V-8, all-wheel-drive monster... ...with the best automatic transmission in the
business. And with no talent required of its driver, that (may I say) beautiful sedan will bang off a 0-60 quicker than an Enzo, a Mclaren F1 or anything produced before the Bugatti Veyron! Hey, Randy! Despite the BMW's ridiculous speed, you could fit six school buses in between it and the Tesla when the Tesla crosses the line. [And no, not short buses.] And that brings us to the Cadillac. It has even more power — 668 horsepower — all of which has to get to the ground via just the rear wheels. So it takes a professional driver to get a perfect launch. And even if you do, it's 2.3 seconds behind the Tesla. 2.3 seconds doesn't sound like a lot, but it is more than a football field behind the Tesla when it crosses the line! ...and this is your fault! You wanted a manual-transmission, rear-wheel-drive sport sedan — of course it's gonna be slower than an automatic twin-turbo launch-control computer-controlled missile with a BMW badge on it... ...which can't even keep up with a 10-year-old electric car with a mild update. But the Cadillac has something that
both of those other cars are completely missing: [Boobies?!] [No, pervert.] Personality! And most of that comes from the engine! The whimsy! The drama! The sound! [Satan passing wind through a toilet-paper roll] While the rest of the world is arguing over CO2 emissions, this is one big, fat, dirty festival of excess American style! And I am living for it! There are two ways of dealing with the sensitivity surrounding fuel economy and emissions: You can add start/stop to pretend you're not a gas-guzzling pig or you can revel in the conspicuous consumption. I know i said this car was "slow" earlier in the
episode. uh let's put that in perspective for a second. This makes as much horsepower as three Volkswagen GTIs... ...more torque than two Porsche 911s... and, according to the EPA, in normal driving, it uses
6.7 times as much energy as a Tesla Model S Plaid. [Blip, downshift, clutch-dump, cackle, and probably also fart.] What more do you need to know?! Here's what! This isn't just a wasteful straight-line rocket. its suspension is both pillow-soft and rock-hard... ...a trick that only magnetic dampers can pull off. These shocks can now adjust a thousand times a second...
...so the Blackwing's computers can slow down body motions to the point that, from the driver's seat, they just don't exist. You would genuinely think this car has no suspension at all — until you aim for a bump... ...and then you don't feel it. I haven't even gotten to the best part... Haha! It's a manual! Aaahhh! And it's not an afterthought! Nobody phoned this in like BMW did on the new M3! It is perfect! But the handling isn't perfect. GM's trademark is performance cars that are physics-defyingly neutral all the time. The Blackwing doesn't like the happy middle. It prefers both extremes. Then a little more understeer than I'd like, and
then you go for the gas and — whoa! Lots of oversteer!
[Listen, armchair warriors, yes, we know you don't have to press the gas all the way down. What we mean is that the transition to oversteer is sudden and hard to manage, even if you're careful with the super-sensitive throttle.] I'm a little afraid of this thing... but i think I'm supposed to be afraid of it it's a 700-horsepower rear-wheel-drive car! You're afraid of a roller-coaster too, right? It's called exhilaration! I'm scared, mommy! This is, after all, the most powerful and fastest Cadillac of all time... ...but there's a problem with that... I don't know what that means. [It means you just spun the thing, bonehead!] I can tell you what that used to mean: luxury. Announcer: This magnificent new Cadillac presents truly thrilling beauty in every detail, and from every angle. Cadillac called itself the standard of the world — and meant it. Insecure Old Man A: "My Town Car — now that's big!"
Insecure Old Man B: "My Cadillac Brougham — it's bigger."
Their wives: "Umm, no, it's really not." Though that gradually came to mean "floaty, cushy land yacht," Cadillac never strayed from opulent luxury." Announcer: "See it today at your Cadillac dealers." It used to be crystal clear what it meant when you
said, "I drive a Cadillac." Look, your car is more than just transportation: it's an outfit. And as much as we all like to think we buy cars for rational reasons, we don't. Or you'd be driving a Toyota Prius. No no, your car is your road-going avatar. it's a costume that you put on to broadcast
a message to the world about who you are and what's important to you. And so my question is: what does it mean when you say, "I drive a Cadillac?" Hello! oh you look quite old!
[Oh just wait, Randy's gonna get Cammisa back.] Ummm can you tell me what Cadillac used to stand for? Cadillac has always meant big, comfortable, luxurious! ...with absolutely no pretense of sportiness, right? Yeah but every Cadillac had a big, powerful V-8.
[Randy floors it.] [Screaming Small-Block] Alright, but V-8 aside, am I right in thinking that the Escalade is the closest approximation to what Cadillac used to mean? You betcha!
So I guess my next question is: have you ever seen a car company do a 180? You want to see a Cadillac do a 180º? [We all genuinely thought Big Bertha was going over.] How's that? Uh, ahem. [Poop came out.]
Allow me to rephrase: um lol, have you ever seen a car company change direction — in that it starts to do the exact opposite of what it was famous for? Like Bentley saying, "we think we would like to make a subcompact $9000 economy car." Or like you, Jason, saying, "Hey Randy, I want to be thin!" [What ABS fuse?] Sorry about that outburst. But Cadillac's problem is one of consistency: what does this brand stand for? Is it full-size, pickup truck-based, body-on-frame behemoths? Or is it turbocharged / supercharged, sticky-tired, hard-riding sports sedans that are poised to break lap records? I just don't know. I'm gonna go hot-lap this. You do that. And don't get me started about the whole name thing: CT4 is the old ATS; CT5 is the old CTS; where the hell does that leave XTS, DTS, and all the other....? This is the M5 and when I say those words you know exactly what I mean. [still ranting]
CT5-V isn't really a V anymore, anyway, because it comes with a 2.7-liter four-cylinder from a pickup truck... This is the [M5] CS, and compared to the [M5] Competition, it's got 20 more horsepower... ...230 pounds less weight... and it only seats four. [He's still ranting]
...although i think you can order a V-6 as an optional engine... although Cadillac's own website seems confused about that... It's also got stiffer springs, a firmer rear anti-roll bar, and oh my god is it fast! [OMG Cammisa let it go!]
...so either they're two different versions of the same V-6 or they're completely different V-6s. Either way, I don't know. The suspension upgrades quicken the car's reflexes... ...and it's very precise in its response, with
strong braking and an incredible all-wheel drive system... ...that's balanced a lot like a rear drive — but one that puts the power down! The M5 CS is all business. And that business is making speed! And is a Blackwing still a Blackwing when no one knows it's a Blackwing? Neither one of those cars have a single Blackwing badge on them in the first place! The fastest man in the world can't get out of a
car.... Hello! You know, I just set the lap record for a four-door in that thing! No shirt! Yeah! You know the blue thing's got a manual right? Sweet! He's so easy! [Oh FFS he's back to ranting.]
Maybe it's a good thing it doesn't have a Blackwing badge on it... ...because then people would think it has a Blackwing engine in it, which neither of those cars do! [Okay, he's got a point. Finally.]
The Blackwing was a 4.2-liter, 4-cam twin-turbo V-8... As usssssual, Randy was right: the M5 CS did, in fact,
break the lap record for a production sedan at Willow Springs. But that record only stood for 15 minutes, because the CT5-V Blackwing immediately beat it by 3/4 of a second. So the car company known for cushy Escalades created a sports sedan that beat the quickest and most powerful
Ultimate Driving Machine ever around a track... and did it without a quick shifting soul-sucking
automatic transmission or all-wheel drive: things that the Germans say are necessary when you're
chasing outright performance. Tires and suspension tuning help... but the single biggest determinant of a car's lap time is power. And while all-wheel drive helps put that power down, all-wheel drive systems often make cars not want to turn. [Coughs in Audi.] But not the M5. Because it sends power to its rear wheels first and always, it still likes to turn under power. The M5 only fades power to the front wheels to the extent that it's needed for grip. And so that it never comes at the expense of chassis balance, the computer can choose not to send any power at all to the front wheels. That means BMW can make a rear-wheel-drive mode sending all 627 horsepower to the rear wheels only, Cadillac style! [Jesus.] Best of both worlds! Cadillac's party trick is the best stability control in the business — which has multiple modes to help you be precise and fast. But you can turn it off completely to let that big V-8 scream at you. Sideways! Nothing sounds like a Small Block! It makes music where so many other V-8s make flatulent noise. And that noise is what we love about gas-powered engines. You've probably never stopped to think about this but it's not just the noise, it's the change in noise. Think about it in terms of a saxophone: if you had a saxophone play the same note for an extended period of time... it sounds like a cross between a game-show buzzer and a bagpipe. It's horrible. However, have the saxophone move around in its notes and suddenly everyone wants to take their clothes off. Dude that sounds so sweet! Ewww. Get away from me. It's the rise... and then the pause... ...and the rise again! ...not just the noise! If that were the case, we would all love the way CVTs sound. 🤮 Yeah, no. Nobody likes that. As these things get faster, you get to listen
to less and less of that music. Part of it is, of course, because you're on the throttle for
shorter periods of time. But the bigger issue is that the gears keep getting longer and longer. This Blackwing does 58 mph in first gear. It does 83 mph in second. ...and 113 in third gear! That may be okay on a racetrack, but it's not okay on the road [especially in school zones] and there's another thing: with all of this torque on reserve, you could keep
up with fast city traffic without ever really going over 1000 rpm. And you could keep up with a well-driven supercar on a back road without ever shifting out of third gear.
All of this power has a drawback: You're flying down a road, but the engine is loafing along at 2000 rpm. Bored. Luckily, Cadillac has a solution to all of this. It's called the CT4-V Blackwing. It's smaller, less powerful, and less expensive. This is the better sport sedan, and not just because it feels so much smaller. It's because it's slower. The CT4-V Blackwing is down 200 hp versus its bigger
brother and it's better for it. The gearing and the power are much more
in line with what you can experience in the real world. Its steering is more communicative, the shifter is better, this is just more fun. But there's a reason we're not doing an ICONS on this Blackwing and it's because of what's under the hood. Cadillac was obviously listening when we all complained about the old ATS-V's passionless, laggy V-6. So, Cadillac fixed the V-6. Genuinely. This is so much better. But it was a waste of time. It's still the wrong engine. Like the ATS-V, the CT4-V Blackwing would be the best sport sedan in the world — if it had the Corvette's naturally aspirated V-8. But it doesn't. So it's not. Remember that consistency in branding thing? This is where GM tripped up. GM is the Small Block company — and forgot to play to its own strengths. That is a mistake BMW definitely didn't make with the M5. Ultimate Driving Machine? Yup. The CS is the best driving, most beautiful, best-sounding Porsche Panamera ever made. It is a near-faultless driver's car. As an engineering exercise, the M5 is almost incomprehensibly capable and predictable. If I told you I was driving a car with four bucket seats, an all-wheel drive system that loved to be sideways, and could keep up with a Bugatti Veyron to 60 mph, you would expect that I would have a big smile on my face. And I don't. About a decade ago we started blasting BMW for prioritizing numbers and speed over the experience. We told them that was a dangerous game. And guess what? They just lost that game to an electric car. This is nowhere near as quick as the Tesla in a straight line. And then, so what we're left with is the experience. And it's not even in the same league as that Blackwing. Ja, I make zee schpeed now. I do zee lap time! I turn in. I have zee beautiful balance. I let zee power go to zee ground. Ja, und now vee make zee sex. Ew? And that is why the CT5-V Blackwing is such a big deal. Sure it can't keep up with an M5 in a straight line... ...to say nothing of the Tesla Model S Plaid. But i have a smile on my face and my clutch leg is sore. [So is your right hand, let's be real here.] At a time where even cars that identify as a "sports car" need fake engine noises coming through the speakers so you can hear them run... ...this thing? You want to shut up! It's a little embarrassing. It's a little much! 660 horsepower is too much for any car. It's way too much for a rear-wheel drive car! ...and all of this has happened way too late. So late that Cadillac has already killed off the gas-powered Blackwing franchise. All future Blackwings will be electric. And if you think electric cars can't be fast around a track, think again. The Blackwing's lap record also stood for only a couple of minutes... ...before that Tesla Model S Plaid broke the record again, beating both the M5 CS and the Cadillac — with non-defeatable stability control and no track pretense whatsoever. We don't need any more proof that the numbers game is over for the internal combustion engine. But to hell with the numbers. The internal combustion engine wins once again, hands down, at whipping up a sea of emotions behind the
wheel. So the CT5-V Blackwing is too much, too late. But it's memorable! And that, my friends, is how you make an ICON. [This montage had better be giving you all the feels.] all right so you're going to keep the
ferrari framed out the entire time right yep perfect i'm not some rich
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Okay Cammisa. That was the best 4 min intro I have seen on any car review/show. The editing and cinematography. On fire. Kudos to the production.
It's not often you get 3 record-breaking laps one after another: screencap
2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, 1:27.78.
2022 Cadillac CT-V BW, 1:28.07.
2022 BMW M5 CS, 1:28.76.
Kind of an interesting contrast with the folks at Throttle House who just did a similar track review, obviously at a different track.
This is probably my favorite Cammisa video. Some really cool film techniques and the jokes in the subtitles are great..
Holy shit, if nothing else, even if the CT5-V blackwing doesn't interest you at all, go to 9:42 and watch Randy do a J-Turn in an Escalade.
Hagerty is so good and this video is on another level.
Blackwing
The closed captions comments is a nice touch.
Wow that's a pretty damning judgement for the M5 CS. Funny to see that a statement like this comes from a reputable car journalist as JC is while pretty much all of the car influencers hyped it up as not only one of the best sports sedans ever but also as one of the best driving BMW's in recent years.
Even I as a German who has absolutely no relation to Cadillac or US cars in general would prefer the CT5-V over the German performance sedans on sale right now.
In a way, I think it is poetic that Cadillac is the manufacturer that signs off the last love letter to the manual transmission and writes the eulogy to internal combustion driving engagement.
81 years ago, Cadillac introduced the two features that enthusiasts today still love to hate - The 1940 Cadillac is arguably the greatest leap forward in automotive history because the 1940 Cadillac introduced the Hydramatic self shifting transmission (aka, the first automatic transmission), and the Saginaw recirculating ball steering gear (aka, the first power steering rack).
In 1940, Cadillac essentially figured out that the average driver doesn't want to shift their own gears, and that they interpret steering feedback as undesirable NVH. Now some people might say that Oldsmobile was first to market with the automatic, but that's because Cadillac wanted to see how well the Hydramatic actually worked. But it was Cadillac who blanked the world in advertisements insisting that not only did Hydramatic work, it was better and more luxurious to have your car shift its own gears.
So if we say that manual transmissions and steering feel died slow death in the last 81 years, Cadillac fired the opening shot.