Report: Engine Options Shrink to Two for 2020 Cadillac CT6

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Cadillac’s CT6, which remains without a home after January 2020, will shed an engine offering for the upcoming model year.

The report comes by way of AutoVerdict, which got its hands on a 2020 CT6 order guide. Initially offered with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder for the base, rear-drive model, the CT6 range spanned a plug-in hybrid model (utilizing that same 2.0-liter), a 3.6-liter V6, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, and, as of 2019, a 4.2-liter Blackwing V8.

For 2020, only the naturally aspirated V6 and the Blackwing remain.

Last year, Cadillac dropped the hybrid option in America, leaving Chinese customers as the sole benefactors of the green option. In April, news came that the base 2.0L was gone, and with it the CT6’s only rear-drive build configuration.

Now, the order guides state that only the 3.6L and 4.2L will carry on for 2020. Cadillac’s Romulus, Michigan-built 3.0TT, which generated 404 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque in uplevel CT6s, disappears in favor of the more potent Blackwing, though power figures remain TBD. The detuned version of the engine found in the short-lived CT6-V will be standard fare in the range-topping CT6 Platinum.

As per Cadillac’s confusing, metric-centric power badging strategy, V8 models will carry a “800T” on the trunklid, while V6 versions see a “400.” These rounded-up figures signify the vehicle’s torque figure in Newton-meters. It’s possible there’s a better way to make other drivers envious, but Cadillac can do whatever Cadillac wants.

The 3.0TT may be gone from the CT6, but the engine soldiers on in the midsize CT5 — Cadillac’s replacement for the CTS. In that model, due out for 2020, it makes 335 hp and 400 lb-ft. It’s possible the engine will see further use in the brand’s lineup, though we’ll have to wait until the May 30th debut of the CT4 compact sedan, which, like the CT5, carries a V-badged performance variant.

[Image: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Thelaine Thelaine on May 20, 2019

    To me, this is a sweet looking car that does look like a Caddy. With the V-8, it would be a really nice ride. Agreed that dumping the turbo V6 was a terrible mistake. It may be the perfect engine for this car and probably had the potential to be even more powerful. Getting rid of the 2.0 makes sense because offering that engine on this car offended God, which is more risk than GM can afford right now.

  • R Henry R Henry on May 20, 2019

    Given the historically adversarial relationship Cadillac engines have had with reliability, I would be VERY reluctant to purchase a Blackwing equipped car. ....I keep remembering the V8-6-4, the HT4100, the Northstar....and thinking the folks who got the 1976 Sevilles with the Olds or Chevy V8s lucked out.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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