While Miami, FL may thrive as a land of excess, particularly following a post-pandemic migration of nouveau riche residents, it’s not an ideal home for automotive enthusiasts. Sure, the scenery is gorgeous, and there is no shortage of exotics or ultra-luxury machines around, but unless a road network designed in the spirit of a spreadsheet is your idea of fun, you’ll have to look for thrills elsewhere.
Yet it’s in this very setting where I find myself behind the wheel of the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, a 668-horsepower super sedan whose output finds its rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. It’s a recipe that promises to prioritize driver engagement. And given this car’s $124,005 as-tested figure, you’ll soon learn why that’s both a blessing and a curse. Still, can what reads like Cadillac’s most exciting four-door to date shine where the roads feel like the work of a toddler with an etch-a-sketch?
The short answer is yes, as long as you buy the right CT5-V. For the 2025 model year, Cadillac will sell you two versions that, at first glance, look nearly identical. The first is the plain jane CT5-V, which utilizes an uprated version of the same 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 you’ll find in the standard CT5. Although the American carmaker markets it as an official member of its V-Series family, it’s far closer in spirit to the base car than it is to the range-topping Blackwing.
Given the brand cache and diehard fanbase established by the discontinued CTS-V lineup, Cadillac slaps that extra letter on the CT5-V’s name with hopes of creating appeal for what otherwise reads like only a mildly sporty sedan. It’s a page out of the BMW M playbook and a surefire way to dilute a subbrand that’s taken over two decades to establish. In short, this isn’t the one you want.
For the full-fat sports sedan experience, you’ll want to step up to the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. From a price perspective, it’s more of a leap than a step, considering the $38,600 premium the Blackwing commands. Add in some optional extras, and that’s how you get to my tester’s $124,005 out-the-door price. More on that later.
The 2025 model year marks the arrival of the Blackwing’s mid-cycle refresh. Aesthetically, Cadillac has focused most of its work on this car’s front end. It sports a redesigned front bumper accented by new vertical LED headlights. The latter will put on a brief light show as you walk up to or away from the car. Is this a gimmick? Sure, but it creates a sense of occasion, and that’s always welcomed in a vehicle focused on delivering a memorable experience.
The rest of the exterior carries over mostly untouched. A set of 19-inch wheels is standard equipment, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber measuring 275/35 up front and 305/30 in the rear. Three new colors join its available palette for 2025, with this tester wearing the best shade: Typhoon Metallic. And should the Blackwing’s look not be quite aggressive enough in stock form, you can option a $5,600 Carbon Fiber 1 Package like my tester to introduce new aero components, or take it even further with the $6,730 Carbon Fiber 2 Package it lacks.
From a visual perspective, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing gets it right. It has a wide and low stance that pairs with interesting but not overdone styling. This is, after all, still a full-size luxury sedan. And despite what it hides beneath its hood, the Blackwing gets away by being somewhat understated. It’s a proper IYKYK car. While its widely circulated German rivals are often overlooked, Cadillac’s flagship pulls in the enthusiast’s eye like few cars I’ve tested over the years.
That said, there’s no denying how eerily similar the Blackwing looks to its lesser CT5-V sibling. The non-Blackwing V sports identical styling cues, equally wide bodywork, and a trapezoidal quad-exhaust setup. I can only imagine that pulling up to one at a stoplight in your six-figure rendition of the same car can’t be a great feeling.
However, as close as they may be from a visual standpoint, they’re worlds apart regarding performance. Like all of the sport sedan greats that came before it, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing centers its driving experience around an engine that is as exciting as it is impressive on paper. It’s a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 developing 668 hp and 659 pound-feet of torque.
As you’d expect from a GM small block with a 1.74-liter blower on top, it sounds fantastic. Its quad tips crackle on a cold start while its throaty note crescendos as you work up the revs. It’s not just loud but musical. There’s still some digital engine noise through its speakers. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound overly synthetic like what you’ll find in some recent AMG or BMW M products. While you don’t get a flood of supercharger wine a lá Hellcat, the Blackwing produces just enough to keep things interesting.
In a world where the latest hybridized BMW M5 develops 717 hp, it’d be easy to underestimate the Blackwing’s 668-hp output. That is until you factor that because it weighs 4,123 pounds equipped with a manual transmission, the Cadillac is 1,267 lb lighter than its closest German rival. That’s thanks to its lack of electrification or an all-wheel drive system. Option a clutch pedal, and the Blackwing sprints to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds or 3.4 seconds if you opt for the automatic.
Regardless of your transmission choice, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing delivers straight-line performance you can get drunk on. With what feels like an endless power reserve available via your right foot, the Blackwing is rapid from a dig or if you’re already cruising at highway speeds.
My tester’s manual transmission sweetens the deal with a precise shifter whose short throws and nicely weighted clutch make quick shifting a joy. However, if you want more speed, you can lean on its No Lift Shift feature, which, as its name suggests, allows you to keep your right foot on the floor even as you row through the gears. On the other end, while Miami isn’t an ideal place to test this car’s $9,000 carbon ceramic brakes, they prove to me more than powerful enough for those moments when the vehicle on the shoulder looks suspiciously like a Dodge Charger with a light bar on top.
Midway through my week with the Blackwing, Florida’s skies predictably turn gray and pour over the city for a few hours. It presents an excellent opportunity to dial back the Cadillac’s traction control settings, which you can adjust independently from its drive modes, and see how it behaves on a slick surface with 668 hp going purely to its rear tires. The results are predictably hilarious, thanks partly to this car’s standard limited-slip differential. The Blackwing swings its tail at the lightest throttle input, but because of its long wheelbase, it’s never a handful to reign in.
In contrast to BMW M’s insistence on fitting all its products with ultra-quick steering racks that feel as authentic as going for a Sunday drive in Forza Horizon, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing employs a far more relaxed ratio. While it’ll pick up weight as you dial up to this car’s more aggressive drive modes, it does so all the time rather than mainly under load where the information is most useful. Simultaneously, it remains relatively light on feedback.
The Blackwing’s party piece is its suspension. If a rear-wheel drive sedan equipped with a supercharged V8 and a manual transmission isn’t convincing enough, learning that it’s also luxury car plush might do the trick. This range-topping CT5-V sports GM’s latest Magnetic Ride Control system, now in its fourth iteration. In short, this setup allows this car’s dampers to react instantaneously to road imperfections, broadening their versatility. They can thus be plush in the chillest Tour mode and genuinely firm in the top Track setting.
While my tester lacks it, the Cadillac allows you to track-prep your Blackwing via its $18,000 Precision Package. Aside from equipping this sedan with carbon ceramic brakes, this option adds even firmer dampers and front suspension arms, providing greater alignment flexibility and the ability to dial in more negative camber. And while it’s great for those looking for the utmost performance, it’s unnecessary if the daily commute is more of your home turf.
Step inside, and you’ll find the second largest update introduced for the Blackwing’s mid-cycle refresh: its massive curved 33-inch LED display. This setup will feel familiar if you’ve ever been in an Escalade. Crucially, it’s a significant step up from the outgoing Blackwing’s dual-screen setup that looked dated from when Cadillac unveiled it. Yet despite integrating a new touch screen to the right of the steering wheel, all of your vital controls remain mapped to physical buttons and switches.
Given that the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is a full-size luxury sedan, its cabin is spacious, with plenty of room in the front and second rows. At the same time, it also sports a sizable trunk. My tester sports an $8,090 set of carbon-backed seats, an option that also wraps the cabin in semi-aniline leather. While pricey, these buckets are a must-have option. They are supportive while remaining comfortable on longer drives and look far sportier than the bland chairs Cadillac offers as standard.
Remember how I said this car’s choice to center itself around the driving experience is both a blessing and a curse? Well, that’s evident the moment you start poking around and feel just how flimsy many of the plastic trim and buttons feel throughout this cabin. Cost-cutting isn’t inherently a bad thing, mainly when it’s hidden well. Still, you won’t feel great about spending six figures for the privilege when you’re left to interact with cheap switchgear and look at a dashboard wrapped in a soft-touch material masquerading as stitched leather.
With a $95,595 starting price, the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing I’m in costs $124,005 once you’ve tallied up all of its optional extras and a $1,395 destination fee. For context, a 2025 BMW M5 starts much higher at $119,500, while a 2025 Audi RS 6 Avant Performance asks for even more with its $126,600 base price.
As I near the end of my time with the Blackwing in a city whose roads are as inspiring as AI-generated art, it’s clear that Cadillac’s flagship will shine regardless of where it is. Thanks to its visual updates, it looks better than ever, even if the lesser CT5-V dilutes its feeling of exclusivity. Meanwhile, tech improvements to its cabin make the user experience feel more cutting-edge than what you got in its predecessor.
However, this sedan’s supercharged V8 remains the star of the show. It’s endlessly powerful, produces an intoxicating noise, and thanks to its manual transmission option, it’s as engaging as it is thrilling. Throw in a versatile suspension setup and a playful demeanor when you want it to be and planted when you don’t, and you get a proper driver’s car.
The Blackwing asks you to make a trade-off. Sure, you can spend up for a BMW M5 or an Audi RS 6 and get cabins with nicer materials. Still, if there’s anything these over-isolated machines teach us through each new generation, this approach leads to a driving experience that’s often disconnected and forgettable. While Cadillac’s flagship won’t win you over with its materials, its focus on delivering thrills over everything cements it as one of the all-time greats.