Luxury means different thing to different people. For instance, if you’re behind the wheel of a Cadillac, you’re experiencing the pinnacle of American luxury—decidedly different in many key ways from European or Asian counterparts. And if you haven’t experienced that certain yankee opulence on the open road, it may be time to expand your horizons.
Not that the 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the sort of slow-riding luxury one best experiences in the back seat—far from it. This is a vehicle with the heritage of a race car, and that heritage is first and foremost. Cadillac bills it as its most ‘track capable’, and with only a short time behind the wheel we found that to be an obvious truth, as it’s packed with the sheer power of a sports car, but with comfort that Cadillac is known for.
Once you put your foot on the pedal, what’s under the hood should come as no surprise—a 6.2L supercharged V8 engine on the CT5-V, with a 3.6L Twin-Turbo V6 on the CT4-V Blackwing, it’s counterpart in the line, along with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The whole car is built to handle that power and size, with Electronic Limited Slip Rear Differential enhanced to improve on-track reliability, suspension refinements that give it a more agile feel on the road, along with the largest-ever factory installed brakes for the brand to balance out that power.
The car also comes with what the brand calls ‘Magnetic Ride Control 4.0’, which is billed as the world’s fastest reacting suspension technology. Put simply, that means that the car automatically adapts to whether you’re in for a comfortable ride or a high-performance ride on the track, enhancing both for the best of both worlds.
Honestly, we can’t say enough about that power, and boy, can it perform. It’s rated at a staggering 668 horsepower with 894 Nm of torque—making it the most powerful production Cadillac ever made by the brand. That can get you to a top track speed of 321.87 km/h—a near-overwhelming speed threshold. There’s a lot of care and craft that goes into that power too, as each engine is hand-built in Kentucky, with a signed engine builder’s plate.
Speed and power are all very exciting, and as much as track performance might catch your attention—it certainly caught ours—we must remember this is a luxury car, and one that we’ll primarily spend doing everyday activities or getting stuck in traffic. So—does this feel like a European luxury car? No. If that’s what you want, that’s what you should get. But there is still a comfort lingering under this power, offering small features, such as a vibrating seat when you’re in danger of hitting anyone or anything, that make it clear this is a car that was meticulously crafted for all scenarios. And yes, it excels at them.
Still, with a car this powerful, make sure you get it on the track every once and a while, eh?
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