First Drive: Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing 2022 Review

For those familiar with the V performance branding of Cadillac, the CT4-V Blackwing and its CT5 sibling will at first be somewhat confusing. Where V once stood as a flagship, it now sits akin to M-Sport. Blackwing is the new top of the tree, though it continues an M-challenging lineage that began with the original LS2 small-block V8-engined CTS-V in 2003, taking over directly now from the ATS-V. As such, to spec sheet appearances, the CT4-V Blackwing is Cadillac’s answer to the BMW M3, with a 472PS (347kW) twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre V6 putting power to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or ten-speed automatic transmission.

The ATS from which the CT4 builds was considered a promising start but not one to seriously challenge the German establishment. For the Blackwing, what Cadillac confesses is its joint-last gasoline-powered flagship super saloon, it’s pulled out all the stops. The result is a car we’re very sad hasn’t reached UK shores, given the bloody nose we reckon it’d be very capable of giving to some obvious rivals.

Initially as with the name, the design of the CT4 is polarising and confusing, especially compared with the rather handsome ATS it replaces. The same goes for the CT5 compared to the CTS and in fact, to varying extents, is the case for most new-generation Cadillacs. They had a really good thing going on with their 2008-2018 design language. The CT4 pairs a strange droopy rear end with a front headlight treatment that ditches the concise upright units for horizontal main lamps with vertical day runners. While the latter are distinctive, some identity has been lost with this change.

As ever, however, the frippery of high performance does wonders for what is at a distance a bit of an odd duck. A large DPI prototype-inspired carbon splitter is complemented by aggressive dive plains, which are claimed to generate real downforce and pressure-relieving vortices around the side of the car. At the rear, four trapezoidal exhausts are nestled within a relatively subtle diffuser, while a very not-subtle carbon ducktail spoiler sits atop the droopy boot lid. It’s all optional but we’d argue, near essential. Standard happily are the recognisable-from-DPI 18-inch wheels with thick-sidewalled Michelin 4S rubber.

There’s no fakery either, with real exhausts at the back entirely complementing a nose spattered with very real, very functional vents. A refreshing sight if you’re familiar with the blank jobs some European and Japanese manufacturers have been trying to slip past us over the last couple of years. 

Add it all together and in combination with the 18-inch polished wheels, gold Brembo calipers and Shadow Metallic paint, it’s a rather purposeful and at least somewhat handsome beast. We certainly grew to like it over our four days exploring Northern California’s Pacific coast.

We’ll start with small complaints with what is fundamentally a dynamically excellent car. This V6 engine, while effective and brimming with performance, isn’t a sparkling character. It’s a monster mill and sounds good for a V6, going as it does without particulate filters, but there’s little in the way of a crescendo or high-rev theatre. This is an engine you extract performance from rather than play like an instrument. Of course it’s a question of emissions but this car would be far better-served as an American M3 alternative with the fantastic LT2 small block found in the new C8 Corvette. The steering also isn’t flush with feel, perhaps due to a wheel rim that’s a bit too thick.

And that’s about it. Everything else is genuinely way up there. What world are we living in now where the very best six-speed manual transmission available in a sports saloon comes from America? The gate and throw are perfectly judged, with just the right amount of notch and distance. You won’t find better manual shift quality and feel in anything else this side of a Porsche or a Honda Type R. 

Though not fizzing with feel, the steering is on par at least with most European rivals and perfectly ratiod for a mountain drive. Every input area just feels correctly calibrated, from the steering, to the pedals, to the gearshift. The Blackwing is enjoyable simply to operate. 

Happily, it’s all to an end of conducting what is a fantastic chassis. There are two custom settings for GM’s latest fourth-gen magnetic dampers, with the softest best-suiting bumpier roads. Either way they contribute to a beautifully-judged suspension system that feels genuinely expensive and sophisticated, at least on a par with the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV. That the CT4-V Blackwing feels some 300kgs shy of its 1,870kg claimed kerb weight when pressing on is perhaps the highest complement we can pay, a feeling reflected when you lean on the capable 380mm brakes with six-piston calipers. That agility is no doubt informed too by what is an eager limited-slip differential – drifts ahoy when on track.

The engine, noise, suspension, steering and braking feel are all controllable via a manetino-style Performance Traction Management switch on the steering wheel with modes from Track 1 and Track 2, through Sport, Tour, Wet and Individual modes. A V button on the left-hand side lets you swap between the most aggressive and the softest modes with one push. Most San Francisco mountain roads were fine even in Track 2, though on smashed UK back roads an individual setup with the softer suspension setting could be the move. Likewise, the Track steering adds a bit too much artificial off-centre weight.

When bimbling along the highways, the big Cadi settles down into a pleasant cruiser, riding well and in relative quiet, with little but the expansion joints of the interstate rattling through. This is a car you could use every day, with the joy of that manual shift action far outweighing the inconvenience when in the stodge of San Francisco traffic.

That brings us neatly onto the cabin of the CT4-V Blackwing, which has a feeling of quality that most of us Europeans simply would not expect of an American car. In terms of touch points – the wheel, most of the buttons, the doors, the seats, the shifter – it’s all weirdly nice. The most obvious let-down is the dull plastic buttons on the steering wheel, which to their credit do at least have a quality click feel. A metallic look, per the buttons right below them, wouldn’t have gone a miss. Likewise, some of the lower-level plastics aren’t as nice as materials you’d find in a BMW but at least matches Alfa Romeo and even the latest Audis for overall perceived quality. The carbon touches are a little gaudy but happily, not in excess – just enough for some performance pretence, along with the steering wheel’s 12 o’clock stripe and the bucket seats. 

The driving position and adjustability is good on the whole though what is a slim glasshouse means a nice low driving position can feel a bit claustrophobic, with slim pickings for a view out. That’s happily abated when manoeuvring by the now US-mandated reversing camera. The bucket seats themselves are excellent – as supportive during aggressive driving as they are comfortable on a long haul.

What isn’t so nice is the rear seat practicality, which is wanting in terms of legroom and headroom if you’re four-up with anyone of average height or over. Cadillac knows it too, given there’s a token furrow in the roof structure at the rear to give a splash of extra headroom for taller folks. The seats are nice though, with proper performance stylisation and support rather than an afterthought bench.

Generally, it’s a surprisingly lovely place in which to find yourself, as a daily driver or an enthusiast.

Jumping from a Tesla Model 3 into the CT4-V Blackwing does not help initial impressions of the latter. In a market of monster screens and minimalism, the Blackwing’s cabin on the surface smacks a bit of last-gen. Yes, there’s a digital instrument display but the eight-inch infotainment screen is more iPad Mini than iPad Pro, more 2012 than 2022. 

Happily, that’s far from the case when you switch the car on. The instrument cluster is crisp and clear, as is the media display, with a responsive touch screen and common-sense UI. We’ve heard horror stories of Cadillac user interfaces of old. Happily, we can confirm reports of the night-and-day better CUE system in the latest models. Android Auto works perfectly, even when jumping in and out of it. Fundamentally, easy to use means safe to use and that’s the most important thing.

Thoroughly excellent too is the driver’s cluster, which pulls off the difficult trick of being distinctive as a digital display. The three display modes are ‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Track’, with sport the best compromise with revs, local speed limit and the car’s speed clearly shown. Normal shows the revs too small while the aggressive race-style track setting dominates with revs and removes local speed limits. All of it is complimented by a fantastic head-up display, also configurable in terms of what it shows.

This carbon-clad Cadi doesn’t ditch luxury for performance in terms of equipment, either. Those (optional) figure-hugging seats are as feature-laden as they are comfortable and supportive, with heating, cooling and massage functions. Likewise the wheel can count heating alongside the adornment of performance controls. Unfortunately a lot of this is optional but the standard Blackwing is so competitively priced, the not unreasonably priced options are easier to swallow. All up our car had $14,000 worth of options, including over $4,000’s worth of carbon fibre and it still only just topped the M3 Competition’s US starting price, by less than $1,000.

All in all, it’s difficult to find really meaningful faults with the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing. We’d fully understand if you can’t abide the looks. Likewise the lack of a star-spangled V8 at first seems like a missed opportunity for a car that feels like it should be an American hero. But that’s the secret of this car. It’s by far the New World’s best caricature to date of the very best bits of modern European performance saloons. 

Everything about it eggs you on when driving fast. Then when you’re not, the cabin is a comfortable, intuitive, cleanly-designed, nicely-trimmed and well-equipped place to find yourself with a few hundred miles to cover. If it were on sale here, it’d be a tough call next to an M3, even without the traditional monster American price undercut, which is the highest possible praise.