If you’ve been anxiously waiting for high performance variants to properly replace the Cadillac CTS-V and ATS-V, we now know they will carry the “Blackwing” name. Last year, as GM announced two separate versions for the brand new CT4-V and CT5-V, the company referred to the higher-performance versions as “Plus” models. With the CT6 out of production, these two cars will now be the pinnacle of Cadillac’s performance brand.
Cadillac executive chief engineer Brandon Vivian spoke of the name’s significance in an official statement. “The Blackwing name has come to represent the very best of Cadillac performance engineering, craftsmanship and technology. The new CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing build on the brand’s respected legacy of ultimate-performance driving experiences and elevate them even further.”
To achieve that performance goal, Cadillac says the Blackwing models will have specially tuned chassis and engines. Their statement did not mention official specs — just that both were seconds faster on the Virginia International Raceway than their forebears. On the engine front, it’s not immediately clear which powertrains Cadillac plans to use in its top-end performance models. GM has a few V-6 options to use in the CT5-V Blackwing, or they could build an apples-to-apples CTS-V successor and put the 6.2-liter V8 in the new CT5. As for its smaller sibling, that will most likely get the turbocharged V-6 treatment, albeit with a lot more horsepower than we see in the standard V model.
How big a power bump can we see?
For reference, the old CTS-V packed a whopping 640 horsepower while the ATS-V offered up 464 horsepower. Cadillac didn’t mention how many Blackwing units it would build, nor did it say anything of the former engine used in the CT6-V. While that promised to be an M5-killing powertrain, it only saw limited use before GM shelved it. The 4.2-liter twin-turbo V-8 may find a home in time, but for now the engine is totally dead.
More information on these two Blackwings should be coming soon. Check out more on the cars’ namesake below (formerly called the CT6 V-Sport):
