Rumor Mill: A Truly Hotter Cadillac CT5-V Looms?
This is a tidbit we certainly hope is true. After Cadillac was forced on the defensive for debuting a V-badged CT5 sedan widely seen as lacking in the power department, word comes that a wilder variant with a very familiar heart is just around the corner.
The brand is expected to stage a return of the powerplant that made the new model’s CTS-V predecessor great.
Of course, that mill would be the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that churned out 640 horsepower and 630 lb-ft of torque in the loftiest of the Cadillac V clan. With the brand’s twin-turbo 4.2-liter Blackwing V8 apparently without a future, a source tells Car and Driver that the 6.2L will find a home in the CT5-V.
The same source claims the Blackwing just doesn’t fit beneath the CT5’s hood, but the old-school 6.2L does. For its part, Cadillac has teased the possibility of hotter V-badged variants in the past, without providing much in the way of detail. A camouflaged CT5-V prototype videotaped while undergoing testing seems to bear out the conclusion that an established V8 engine could be on the way.
As it stands now, the CT5-V makes do with a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 making 360 hp and 405 lb-ft. Those figures are 5 hp and 5 lb-ft greater than what Cadillac stated during the midsize sedan’s launch. Starting at $48,695 for a rear-drive model, the CT5-V goes on sale early this year.
Just how Cadillac plans to differentiate a hotter CT5-V from the existing one remains to be seen. There’s no aggressive new names (HellDemon, SatanPower, etc) in General Motors’ trademark roster to suggest extra badging on a 6.2L model, though the brand could simply choose to adorn it with a displacement indicator.
[Images: General Motors]
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A sledge hammer taken to the c-pillar on this wretched thing would be an upgrade. And then a match thrown into the interior would resolve the cheap looking stuff that is being passed off by Cadihack these days.
I don’t know a thing about the Blackwing other than they made an all new engine and were all set to go and slammed the brakes? At that point the money is sunk...why NOT release it? But the funniest thing to me is this..... General Motors for how many decades now has been trying different engines. I6 in the old TrailBlazer. Twin Turbo V6. NorthStar V8. Blackwing. And in every single instance it turns out the best engine GM has ever made, some might argue the best engine in automotive history, the pushrod small block V8 always ends up the answer. Every single time. Other engines too tall to fit? Small block fits. Other engines don’t get great economy for their power output? The small block does. Costs way too much in production? The small block doesn’t. Horribly complicated? Small block isn’t. I’m just amazed how every single time GM realizes they need more power or a better engine, drop in the small block. Will just add I have to say I think “Blackwing” might be the coolest engine name I’ve ever heard. Too bad that marketing genius is gonna be wasted along with the engine itself.