Is The 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Sports Sedan Better Than The Germans?

In an effort to both showcase its heritage as a championship-winning racing brand and to lure would-be German sport sedan buyers, Cadillac has unleashed the 2022 CT4-V Blackwing. One glance at this new performance sedan, and you can quickly see why it carries the Blackwing moniker. Only 250 of these will be made.

Its exterior is graced with carbon fiber on the front-end, its rear air-diffuser, and that great-looking, functional black wing on the rear trunk lid. The body lines showcase a stylish blend of that classic, Cadillac angular look but have a very modern interpretation. It’s bold, masculine, and has hints of both Japanese and German influences in its overall look.

Powertrain:

Under the hood is a beefy 3.6-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine that’s good for 472 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque. All of that power is sent to the rear wheels by either a 10-speed automatic or a rev-matching 6-speed manual transmission available. The CT4 Blackwing is rated for a 0-60 time in a brisk 3.8-seconds. Three drive-modes provide varying degrees of a driving experience; touring, sport, snow/ice, track, and V-mode. Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, as is an electronic limited-slip rear differential.

Cadillac uses a magnetic ride control system that allows the car to have ultra-fast reaction time while driving. It reads the road up to 1,000 times per second and instantly adjusts dampening on the fly. However, if you put the car into sport or track mode, you’ll see how it stiffens up the entire car, allowing for far superior handling around corners. The CT4-V Blackwing combines agility, power, and crafted details to deliver the ultimate Cadillac driver experience

Look in here:

Stepping inside, you’ll find a very well-appointed interior with top-notch surfaces of stitched leather and carbon fiber. While the front seats are adjustable in a variety of ways, including lumbar support, they are very firm – a bit too firm. Forget thinking about taking the CT4 on a long road trip as the hard seats will wear you out. We’re not sure why they didn’t go with a more comfortable solution from the likes of Recaro.

Driver aids include a heads-up display, a 12-inch instrument display that is customizable, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, front pedestrian braking, automatic emergency braking, parking sensors, and Cadillacs available Super Cruise technology. When on compatible roads, it allows for a more hands-free driving experience — the closest we’ve seen yet, in a GM vehicle to be autonomous.

There is also an integrated performance data recorder, similar to what you’ll find in the Corvette. It has an onboard camera to video your performance driving and keeps valuable data for you, including 0-60 time, ¼-mile time, lap times, etc.

This CT4-V Blackwing is also the first vehicle we’ve seen with an AKG audio system. The same company that was responsible for building studio-quality headphones for decades. 15 speakers deliver solid sound quality with good bass, mids, and high frequencies. However, the fidelity and clarity at higher volumes are not as good as we’ve experienced in other luxury performance vehicles.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard and provide a better navigation experience than the somewhat dated-looking onboard navigation.

There’s no doubt that this is the best interpretation of the CT4-V that Cadillac has ever released. At only 250 units made, it’ll reward buyers with a rare, ultra-performance sedan that will turn heads, smoke tires, and provides tons of tech.6-speed manual transmission with rev-matching.

On the road, you’ll be rewarded with some great-sounding exhaust sounds that really come alive when you opt for track mode. The six-speed manual transmission is one of the best on the road. Its rev-matching technology works flawlessly and really helps give the CT4-V Blackwing a more racecar feel. You’ll also find the 10-speed automatic is ultra-responsive and shifts very fast, in fact, it’s 1/10 of a second quicker from 0-60 – 3.8 seconds vs. 3.9 with the manual.

A few drawbacks are the tiny infotainment screen and the unforgivingly hard, almost punishing front seats. Ironically, it’s designed for a track experience, however, with such a limited run of these cars and the likelihood it’ll go up in value because it’s limited, the question is: Who will actually tack it to the track? Great question. In the meantime, if you have a cool $72,000 to drop on a performance sedan that’ll give you lots of thrills around town, get in, hang on and have fun.