Test-Driving The 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing's New Precision Package

Forbes

3 days ago

In the modern automotive industry, Cadillac's gob-smacking CT5-V Blackwing represents a blast from the distant past. This hardcore sport sedan, with a boisterous engine and a manual transmission, simply seems out of place in an era when sedans, big gasoline engines and stick shifts are all going extinct at an alarming rate.
After a steady string of Cadillac's admittedly impressive EVs, I recently revisited this behemoth as equipped with the new-for-2025 Precision Pack, which adds higher-performance suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes and optional track-focused tires. My loaner arrived wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires, as befitting time spent on public roads versus the available Cup 2 R rubber. And even after first impressions, I repeatedly blessed Cadillac's heart for keeping this bombastic dreamboat alive.
At the heart of the CT5-V Blackwing, regardless of trim and options, lurks a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 familiar from previous applications in the Escalade V, Camaro ZL1 and the previous Corvette generation's Z06 package. For this sedan, Cadillac stuck with a respectable 1.74-liter supercharger, versus the larger Escalade's 2.65-liter unit (itself borrowed from the C7 'Vette ZR1).
Output therefore slots in as 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque, absolutely absurd figures for a luxury car—even if nobody will ever think of this as an economical commuter sedan. In fairness, the manual transmission might just help with fuel economy. A 10-speed automatic is also available, but the fact that Cadillac still sells a stick shift, with rear-wheel drive no less, stands far apart from the entire rest of the automotive industry.
Sticking with the Stick Shift, Against All Odds
Most manufacturers these days tend to tame big power with all-wheel drive and dual-clutch gearboxes, in the name of safety, performance and reliability. Instead, Caddy wants owners to row through gears—and this six-speed shift knob's crisp and short throws, with perfectly weighted responsiveness, helps to impart a sense of substance to the powertrain beyond just the borderline unbelievable power figures.
Meanwhile, from the tail end, a raucous exhaust soundtrack almost borders on egregiously loud. Even in the quietest mode with valving closed down, the engine and exhaust and supercharger whine go barking mad with the lightest blip of throttle, making the temptation to heel-toe through every downshift almost inescapable. So much so that I decided against using the automatic rev-matching feature immediately on every drive, even if the Precision Package's carbon-ceramic brakes do provide so much bite that the pedal travel reduces enough to make heel-toeing at anything less than full pressure somewhat awkward.
Ripping up through gears at anything near full throttle, on the other hand, produces the kind of acceleration typically reserved for high-performance EVs these days. Make no mistake: The CT5-V Blackwing can burn rubber solidly in third gear with traction control off in V Mode. I played with the various drive modes a fair amount, including the adjustable ESC intervention of Race 1 and 2, to explore the Blackwing's multifaceted personality. And kept winding my way back to full insanity with all the nannies switched off.
But absurd hooliganism isn't the only point here. More importantly, the MagneRide suspension can adjust to span the wide gap from smooth luxury to hardcore sportiness. Want to cruise in calm comfort between stints at the edge of sanity? No problem. Even the steering feedback absolutely nails the frequently challenging dichotomy of pleasing resistance and precise placement when pushing hard in full attack mode.
A Canyon Carver Crammed Full of Creature Comforts
Combined, the Blackwing and Precision Package make hustling this big four-door through canyons and corners a thrilling experience very nearly equal to childish fun playing around with ridiculous power. But though I can't get onboard with the two-tone yacht-spec interior, the plush seats and crisp touchscreens and premium materials throughout also leave lower-spec Caddies in the dust. Only the Escalade V, in my experience, matches this level of quality—though the sedan's fuel economy almost matches that of the large SUV, at an abysmal 15 mpg combined from 13 city and 20 highway.
A CT5-V Blackwing equipped with the Precision Package can also almost meet the Escalade V on equal pricing ground, too, at $134,605 as tested. That's up from $95,595 to start including the $18,000 Precision Package's add-ons, plus the two-tone interior's $8,090 upcharge.
Unfortunately, GM's industry-leading Super Cruise cannot come with the manual transmission—you need the 10-speed automatic to allow for semi-autonomous driving, a crying shame given that skipping the stick shift simply misses the point of this model in the first place. Super Cruise might just make the manual Blackwing take the all-rounder cake, but a week spent with a full-size sedan so big and yet simultaneously so engaging made me start to wonder about similar options on the used market.
Maybe an E39-generation BMW M5, for example, or a B7-generation Audi RS 4. Even a Lotus Carlton, as a true blast from the past. But at this late date in the internal-combustion age, I still marvel at the fact that Cadillac insists on clinging to bygone era by cranking out the CT5-V Blackwing at all. Think of this stupendous creation as a Hellcat for buyers with actual taste, those rare few who appreciate design and luxury while simultaneously harboring an insatiable penchant for pure performance.