Car and Driver - USA (2019-10)

56. CARS, CARS, CARS. CAR AND DRIVER. OCT/2019

Dead Man Sprinting

TESTED With production slated to end in January, the Cadillac CT6-V is a

dying host for a new 550 -hp overhead-cam V-8. _by Eric Tingwall

¦PVNYYfaUR0NQVYYNP0A#CμSNaR is undecided. At the same time, General Motors has no plans to build the CT6 after the Detroit-Ham- tramck assembly plant ends production in Januar y 2020. That leads us to conclude— b[\¦PVNYYf±aUNa aUV ""U] ]\_a
sedan is a dead man sprinting.
AUNaμ N QNZ[UNZR ORPNbR 0NQVY- YNPμ &$& 0A#C V aUR \[Yf ½NTUV]
sedan to cut a corner with any sharpness,
and its twin-turbo V-8 is the closest the
brand has come to giving this chassis the
R[TV[RVaQRR_cRAUVV[\af\b_SNaURμ small-block—or his Northstar, for that matter. Known as Blackwing, the all-new engine brings GM into the 21st century by nestling two twin-scroll turbochargers in its valley and spinning four PNZUNSa`\cRVaPfYV[QR_URNQ6aUbßb]a\]V\SO\a shoots fuel directly into the cylinders, and channels as much as 640 pound-feet of torque to the transmission through forged connecting rods and a forged crankshaft. The Blackwing replaces the small- OY\PXμY]RfVQYRN[Q\PX`aNU\badVaUQVT[V¼RQUVTUR[Q]\YVU
AUR0NQQfμ!YVaR_C%_RcZ\\aUYfN[QdVaUNQRR]ObaQ\ZR-
aVPNaRQT\dY.aNZR/YNPXdV[TZNXR"U\_R`N[Q"$!]\b[Q
feet of torque in the CT6 Platinum.)
The only impoliteness appears when the engine runs on just four
cylinders, which can excite some occasional bad vibes as the throttle
is initially opened, creating shudders when the remaining four cylin-
ders return to work. Despite a 3 .8-second run to 60 mph and a
12 .2-second quarter-mile time, the all-wheel-drive CT6-V never feels
aggressively quick. The Blackwing makes its peak torque relatively
late for a turbocharged engine, at 3400 rpm. Power tops out at 5000

20 19 Cadillac CT6-V

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, all-wheel-drive,

5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $99,215

BASE PRICE: $92,790

ENGINE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled

DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads,

direct fuel injection

DISPLACEMENT: 256 cu in, 4192 cc

POWER: 550 hp @ 5000 rpm

TORQUE: 640 lb-ft @ 3400 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic with

manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS

WHEELBASE: 122.3 in

LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT: 204.0/74.0/58.0 in

PASSENGER VOLUME: 107 cu ft

TRUNK VOLUME: 15 cu ft

CURB WEIGHT: 4556 lb

C/D Test Results

ZERO TO 60 MPH: 3.8 sec

ZERO TO 100 MPH: 9.1 sec

ZERO TO 130 MPH: 15.4 sec

ROLLING START, 5–60 MPH: 4.7 sec

1/4-MILE: 12.2 sec @ 116 mph

TOP SPEED: 149 mph (governor limited)

BRAKING, 70–0 MPH: 155 ft

ROADHOLDING, 300-FT-DIA SKIDPAD: 0.90 g

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)

EPA COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 18/15/22 mpg

O

DRIVELINES

Refined

power

delivery,

effortless

acceleration,

a chassis that

keeps up with

the engine.

Low

redline,

plasticky

interior,

uncertain

future.

revs, and the limiter shuts down the party

at just 6000 rpm. Combining this narrow

power-delivery window with the 10 -speed

Nba\ZNaVPμ` aVTUa _NaV\` ZRN[` aUNa aUR

0A#C Q\R`[μa `]R[Q ZbPU aVZR V[ N[f

one gear. All that shifting interrupts the

drama of the engine gaining speed. A gov-

ernor caps the pursuit of speed at a very

b[CYVXR!&Z]U

6S Vaμ` N /YNPXdV[T 0A#C f\b dN[a

f\bμYY [RRQ a\ NPa ^bVPXYf DUVYR aUR_Rμ`

still time to put your name in with the

roughly 600 others who have preordered a

/YNPXdV[T]\dR_RQ0A#aUR_Rμ`[\aRYY-

ing what fate holds for this sports sedan, or

this engine, after January.

CT6-V and Q3 photography by MARC URBANO