There was some speculation surrounding the powerplant hiding underneath the hood of those 2016 Cadillac CTS-V prototypes we’ve seen running around Milford, Michigan and putting in hot laps at the Nurburgring in Germany recently. Some thought its V8 would be twin-turbocharged, while others believed a supercharger was in order. Those rumors were put to rest yesterday when a video proved the latter, but does this come as good news or bad news?
Last year when we asked whether Cadillac should supercharge or turbocharge the third-generation CTS-V, the votes were overwhelmingly in favor of the twin-turbocharger route, taking 56 percent of the vote. Only 29 percent were in favor of the blower, so most of you will be a little disappointed by General Motors’ decision. The good news is it will most likely be a slightly reworked version of the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 to be found under the hood of the upcoming 2015 Corvette Z06, which makes a striking 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque.
The only real downside is the CTS-V may be less efficient than some of its twin-turbo its competitors, such as the Mercedes E63 AMG and BMW M5. The CTS Vsport variant of the car is much lighter than the 4,233 lb M5 however, so if the CTS remains slimmer in becoming a ‘V’ model, it could counteract the potentially thirstier engine. The LT4 V8  makes use of GM’s Active Fuel Management system, able to run on four-cylinders with no boost when cruising on the highway, a feature which will likely carryover into the CTS-V.
Either way we’ll end up with an extremely capable performance sedan, but are you happy the supercharger is sticking around for the next-generation car?
Comments
I personally would have prefered twin turbos, but I honestly loved the sound of the 458 in the video.
In truth though, with the ATS-V getting turbos, and keeping with the old CTS-V getting a supercharger, I’m ok with this.
It also wouldn’t surprise me that the LT4 was used here, and a variant “LT?” would be twin turboed and used for the ZR1/higher horsepower options.
All in all, as long as it’s fast, I’m happy.
About the efficiency. Lets not forget that the LT4 can bypass the blower and has cylinder deactivation. It can run 8cyl with boost, 8cyl without boost, and 4cyl without boost. We’ll see if this carries over to the CTS-V.
Exactly what I was going to say. How does someone who writes about GM news (Sam) not know or forget to mention that.
You’re right, that should have been mentioned. I’ll add it in, thanks.
That sounds epic! My CTS-V gets maybe 12 mpg, being able to disable the supercharger and four cylinders while just cruising around would be awesome.
Although it might not sound great running on 4 cyilnders, except to my wallet. 🙂
This is the deal. It is not the max HP or G force but the whole package as it works together.
In years past you could take a economy car or average coupe and just slap a bigger engine in it and make a performance car out of it. Back then they were only intended to go fast for a 1/4 mile and never turn or stop very fast. Also it was not unusual for the engine to be gone in a year or two once it was sold. That is why so many of these cars from the 60’s hold so much value if they have an original numbers matching engine as they are so rare.
Today a true performance car is expected to do all things well and on top of that anymore get good MPG and live long trouble free lives.
The path of the Challanger is it is a very old car in todays market terms. It is in great need of a make over and new platform. the car is a mosh of reused old Benz parts meshed with some new Chrysler parts from 10 years ago, The car as we see it is not do for a refresh for a few more years.
This leads us to what the HellCats mission is. It is to stimulate sales of the model and keep it in the news while Ford and GM release much more advanced cars that do all things well. In other words it is a very good marketing program.
Lets face it there is talk the car may be limited to 1200 units and even if it is not limited most market watchers are expecting only around 5,000-6,000 units to be sold.
While the car will garner headlines for and create a place in history it will never really add much to the bottom line of the present car line at Chrysler. They will not lose money but it will not gain market share or much ground if any on the others.
Life today is more than just 0-60 and 1/4 miles.
I would rather see GM take the proper approach and make a car that does everything well vs. just a couple things.
Note too GM tested the ZR1 engine to 725 HP and met all the dyno durability test and emission test standards. So they could easily do one of these engines if they chose. The fact is would it be worth the investment or work while these recourses could be channeled into just making the next Camaro a much better car than it is today.
What I would like to see is a lot of what they learned on the Z/28 put into the next SS and take the Z to the next level in the new car.
In this game it is the long term gains and not the short term gains that determine the winners and losers. I expect GM and the performance people will do the right things as exhibited by the Z06 and continue to do what is right.
Also bear in mind we have another engine yet to come in a L88 and a car to exceed the ZR1. I expect more power and less weight. A little boost and we could see 725 HP so very easy as I know they have done it and can do it again with DI even easier.
The Hellcat is a cool car but far from what Fiat and Dodge needs right now.
You bet your booty granie… Supercharger any day.
Either one, as long as;
-it delivers the power the best way it should for the specific car,
-it’s reliable and durable,
-it’s easy to work on,
-it’s fuel efficient (avoid gas guzzler tax at least),
-it’s easy to make a lot more power with the aftermarket
-and as long as it’s fast of course.
Love the fact it has a blower, I have a 2014 CTSV and it makes short work of everything that challenges it. It takes the straights and the twists with authority. If the 2016 comes with 650 HP and the same if not better handling and brakes, it is going to be the force to be reckoned with. I drove the V-sport last week with the twin turbo 3.6 and its fantastic but is definitely outclassed by the CTSV. With that being said it gives everyone a flavor, twin turbos for some and the blower for others. Either way they are superb driving cars, and for the money you could buy one of each for less than one overpriced European which can’t outrun either of them.
seen it prototypes and it is fast as stink on the Nurburgring and handles pretty well can’t wait till it is revealed. caddy is on a roll, would love if they put the LT4 in an Escalade.