Track Test: 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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It’s a weird time to be a young person entering this industry. Between legislated electrification targets and the undeniable performance advantages they afford, manufacturers left and right are sounding the knell for the traditional powertrains we’ve all held so dear. Fortunately, some automakers are answering that angst with the full, enthusiastic force of  some of the pop-burbliest pops and burbles you can imagine.

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On one hand, this means that I get to drive some fabulous best-of ’s; on the other, so much of what I’ve looked forward to is vanishing. I feel like I’ve missed out on so many greats, and at the risk of sounding like some of this industry’s curmudgeonly journosours, they just don’t make ‘em like they used to .

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Track Test: 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Back to video

But hot diggity, if Cadillac isn’t waving the era off with a flourish. 

In a sentence, the CT4-V Blackwing is Cadillac’s answer to the BMW M3. Picking up a little downmarket from where the ATS-V left off, this compact sedan jazzes up a comfortable family cruiser for weekend thrills. Don’t mistake this for a simple body job, however: Cadillac has tailored this (and its CT-5 mate) from the bottom-up, pressing down against stiff underpinnings with aerodynamic trickery and thrusting forward with a torquey V6. 

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Powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6 L V6, the CT4-V Blackwing delivers 472 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque. Though it’s tempting to compare those to the even raunchier figures put out by the larger CT5’s V8, this powerplant seems well-suited to the more agile CT4 and its market segment. GM is doing that silly Corvette thing again with fudged acceleration times, but the CT4-V Blackwing will do 0-97 (which is not the same as 0-100) in 3.9 seconds with the automatic, or 4.1 with the manual. It sucks a lot of air and routes gases and forces through some fancy titanium bits, but the real takeaway is that it’s loud, holds a predictable torque curve, and will carry you just past 300 km/h. 

The star of the show here is the manual gearbox. Following through on their attention to the enthusiast, Cadillac has routed all of this mechanical delight through a six-speed Tremec. The flywheel is surprisingly light, as I discovered by stalling in front of Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows. Embarrassment aside, this facilites snappy throttle response and reduces driveline judder when your rev matches aren’t perfect. This box is a joy from top to bottom, with a pleasantly-machined cap on the knob, clean engagement as you slide the forks, and clear feel underfoot. 21st century perks include automatic rev matching and self-explanatory ‘no-lift shifting,’ which keeps your foot down and the engine in-boost, and can win a claimed 0.01 seconds per shift. Modern perversions aside, this box feels more honestly mechanical than the manual in the M3. Well done there.

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A ten-speed automatic is also available, but while it is technically quicker, you’d be a fool to take one. Benchmarked against Porsche’s industry-leading transmission, GM says that they’ve managed to make these automatics shift 30% faster than PDK. That’s a pretty big deal, but cheap, gimmicky-feeling digital gauges don’t communicate this as naturally as Porsche’s physical tachometers. And performance shmergormance; a fast-shifting wondertrans isn’t the point of this car. Cadillac says that over 60% of US Blackwing orders have specified three pedals, so kudos to all of you buyers who already know what’s up. 

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From outside, the pops and bangs do feel manufactured. The engineered violence heard in ‘V Mode’ is genuinely fun though, and its programmed nature enables a contrasting quiet in touring modes. As Cadillac has it, this is all part of an effort toward establishing a recognizable ‘Cadillac sound’ across the lineup. More than just marketing nonsense, there is merit to this, and CT4-V Blackwing does indeed sound rather like a scaled down CT5-V Blackwing. This standardization is an odd investment so near the end, but it’s a unique strategy and one that I can get on board with. 

At speed, the CT4-V Blackwing is rather docile. We only got up to a leisurely ~230 km/h, but the Pilot Sport 4S’s offer traction aplenty. Cadillac’s accelerometer-informed Magnetic Ride Control provides smooth running in the straights while propping the platform up through the bends, making still-better use of those Michelin contact patches. Lapping Mosport’s undulating Driver Development Track and high-speed Grand Prix circuit, the vehicle feels stable and thrusts comfortably. Even the engine noise is subdued, to the point where I was tapping the rear windows down in hopes of catching more exhaust sound. It’d be easy to speed without even realizing it. 

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Squeezing further performance from this stability is Cadillac’s Performance Traction Management. Depending on the mode setting, this brings traction control, magnetic ride, and torque vectoring together under one umbrella. Depending on your preferences, PTM can even adjust methods of handling assistance. Traction control, for instance, is usually managed with controlled, individual-wheel braking. Such drag is undesirable for those chasing lap times, however, so this can switch to pure differential control within the Blackwing’s e-LSD.

These systems shone through cloudy skies at the beginning of our test session, repeatedly catching wet-surface oversteer and snapping us back into line on a wet track. It’s a system surely capable of far more than I felt ready to explore, but given more time to feel out its capabilities, this may well have struck as one of the most interesting dimensions to nerd out over. On the other hand, Cadillac will still allow those insolent children who don’t need no nannying to turn those safeguards completely off. It’s an important bit of spice in the Blackwing’s character, and whether explored or not, it’s an appreciated one on this last-of-its-breed muscle sedan. 

You’ll want those on though, because the faster you go, the better it gets. With the carbon-fibre aero kit equipped, the CT4-V Blackwing makes more downforce than any product in GM’s history. Though it’s sure to catch the same sort of flak as the bewinged boy-racer Civic Type R, the Blackwing’s ostentatiousness is purposeful and pays dividends through high-speed stability. Better still, trackday enthusiasts will be able to measure this by reviewing footage from the car’s Performance Data Recorder. The ducktail may look a tad silly, but there will be no denying the high-G readouts on those telemetric reels.

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Collectability and three-pedal nostalgia aside, where does this fit in the current marker? Starting at $67,298 with that lovely manual, the Blackwing undercuts both the BMW M3 and M2. Though it can’t claim the same agility as the latter, GM is swinging on that C8 Corvette momentum with another segment-beating performance bargain. Any prospective M3 shopper would be remiss to overlook this Blackwing, both for short-term value and inevitable long-term collectability and appreciation. 

Driven back-to-back with the 668 horsepower CT5-V Blackwing, the CT4 is certainly more chuckable and less intimidating. Though the latter was a pleasure to unwind on CTMP’s larger, faster Grand Prix course, the CT4 was a greater thrill at lower speeds and through the tighter DDT. Bearing in mind that most enthusiast driving will take place on tighter public roads with lower speed limits, the CT4 is certainly the more usable — and indeed accessible — everyday performer. 

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Cadillac has stated that all future resources are headed into the development of electric vehicles, so this isn’t an experience to dawdle on. I can’t even imagine that they make a ton of sense on the balance sheets, but Cadillac is giving us enthusiasts one last crackly joyride with these Blackwings. They’re special cars built to make drivers smile, and they accomplish this well. 

We’re a few months away from a full-length road test of the Blackwing, but shoppers can expect most of the usability traits already covered in our review of the standard CT4 . But fine as that car may be, the regular CT4 will almost certainly prove itself entirely forgettable. This Blackwing, however, is something special. 

This car’s electric successors are sure to be bounds more competent and capable, but I’m a nostalgist who couldn’t care less. The Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing is a triumphant final volume in the corpus of noisy American performance sedans, and if you’re in the market, you’ll probably want to lasso one of these dinosaurs while you still can. 

It stings to walk in right as the curtain drops, but I still feel privileged to have glimpsed this final act.