2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing

It was just 3 years ago that we stormed around the nine highspeed turns of Savannah’s Roebling Road Raceway in the then-new Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. We loved everything about that remarkable beast of a sport sedan. Well since then, Cadillac has made the big boy Blackwing even better! So, we’re headed back to Roebling to check it out.

Roebling Road Raceway is a high-speed track that suffers no pretenders, and this 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing gets around about as fast as any exotic hardware we’ve tested here; certainly, faster than anything else you can comfortably haul a foursome to the country club for 18 holes in, and it sounds wicked while doing it.

Media types love to hype “last of the breed” scenarios, and when this Beast from the Midwest rolled onto the scene for 2021, there were many predictions it would be the “last great V8 sedan.” Well, we’re not into doomsday predictions or prepping for that matter, we’re into enjoying every car as much as we can whenever we can, and the CT5-V Blackwing seems to be of like mindset, feeling right at home both overpowering Roebling’s corners and streaking wide open down its long front straight. It’s hard not to enjoy the ridiculousness of it all, as that raucous V8 is sounding NASCAR, but the car is feeling much more like a world-class sport sedan.

It’s a Corvette motor, something that goes all the way back to the original Cadillac CTS-V from 2004. Things got serious in ‘09 when it starting making well over 500 horsepower and breaking Nürburgring records. Fast forward to now and the CT5-V Blackwing’s hand crafted and supercharged 6.2-liter roars to life in a way that seems to overpromise, but when you tap into its 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque, you quickly realize it can back it up. If, for some reason, it’s too much for you, there are quieter exhaust settings.

Our original CT5-V Blackwing test 3 years ago featured the six-speed manual, so in the interest of fairness, we opted for the 10-speed automatic this time around; it’s quicker to 60 by two-tenths of a second, according to Cadillac, at 3.4 seconds. But an unintended consequence of the Blackwing’s Vortex of Awesomeness is that it unexpectedly sucked a winter storm into coastal Georgia and covered the track with snow before we could record our own straight-line numbers.

Fortunately, we did get plenty of laps in before that happened, and the 10-speed provided lightning quick shifts, with noticeably tighter gearing than the manual. It’s always a unique kind of joy to thrash a Cadillac around a racetrack, but this one seems more up to the task than any Cadillac to this point; spot-on steering, solid brakes, and gobs of torque readily available regardless of what number the tach needle is pointing at or what gear you’re in.

Our test car came wearing Typhoon Metallic, one of three new color choices available for ’25. What else is new? Well, the front end gets a tougher look, along with improved aerodynamics from reshaped ground effects and front fenders. LED lighting is upgraded inside and out. There’s an updated Carbon Fiber Package, and new quad trapezoid exhaust tips.

About the only other thing that changes in here is fitment of Cadillac’s 33-inch widescreen display. And while plenty of V performance cues remain, your senses still take in the best of Cadillac luxury. Though connecting with GM’s Performance Data Recorder, which has been enhanced with a better interface and real-time lap delta, reminds you just how serious Cadillac takes Blackwing performance.

Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 13 City, 20 Highway, and 15 Combined. CT5-V pricing starts at $58,390; and that’s for a 360-horsepower, twin-turbo V6 which is pretty incredible in its own right, and you can you even add all-wheel drive to that one. This CT5-V Blackwing just takes it to a significantly higher level and starts at $99,090. Get ‘em while you can.

Predictions of the gasoline engine’s demise over at Cadillac were perhaps a little premature, as there’s plenty of people who still like their sport sedans loud, V8 powered, and supercharged. And while there will probably always be high-performance Cadillacs, it’s doubtful any will be able to deliver the full sensory overload kind of experience found here in the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, a world-class sport sedan that beats with pure American muscle and can hang with any driving machine out there, ultimate or otherwise. If only everything could feel this real forever.