Earlier this year, we received the sad news that the twin-turbocharged, dual-overhead cam 4.2L Blackwing V8 engine would not appear in any other Cadillac or General Motors products going forward. This was disappointing for Cadillac fans who hoped the powerful and technologically advanced engine would power the brand’s products for years to come, but it simply wasn’t meant to be.
Now GM is sending out a little gift to owners of the Cadillac CT6-V and Cadillac CT6 Platinum with the Blackwing V8 to remember the engine by. That gift is a 3D printed scale model of the twin-turbo 4.2L V8 engine, allowing them to keep a memento of the short-lived motor on their mantle at home, their desk at work or in their garage.
A card that was included in the customers’ packages reads: “We have worked extensively with Blackwing engineers to create a model that’s based on the original CAD drawings. Note the remarkable attention to detail in this model, which reflects the high level of craftsmanship of your hand-built Blackwing engine. Thank you for being a Cadillac CT6-V customer.”
The 4.2L Blackwing V8 was available in the Cadillac CT6-V and Cadillac CT6 Platinum for the 2019 and 2020 model years. In the CT6 Platinum, the boosted V8 makes 500 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. In the performance-focused CT6-V, however, the engine doles out a significant 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet. The engine was the first dual-overhead-camshaft V8 produced by GM since the Northstar V8 and was thus met with significant fanfare upon its arrival, but alas, the Blackwing was not long for this world.
In addition to the pair of twin-scroll turbochargers, which were arranged in a “hot v” formation within the valley of the cylinder heads, the Blackwing V8 also benefited from a twin water-to-air-charge intercooler setup, direct fuel injection, dual independent camshaft phasing, Active Fuel Management / Cylinder Deactivation, variable-pressure oiling system and engine stop-start.
As of this writing, the Blackwing V8 is still without a future, though an Italian performance engineering company, Manufatturia Automobili Torino, has expressed interested in buying the rights to the design for use in its future products.
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Comments
This is GM marketing!
Yay?
Being 3D printed, shouldn’t the exhaust at least be tubular, maybe with flames coming out of it? 😁
So sad they they have chosen the route of discount luxury. The only hope is the EV models work if they fail Cadillac is done.
“Discount luxury”. Good one!
There’s a school of thought here and it’s apparently prevalent at GM that consumers don’t know and don’t care much about what’s under the hood of their cars. Those whose opinions skew in that direction thought it fine that GM used the lowly 2.0 I-4 Turbo in the entry level CT6. They also felt that GM’s ubiquitous 3.6 V-6 from the parts bin was an acceptable up-level powerplant. If that’s true, why would buyers want a desktop model of their car’s engine.
I am not of the opinion that buyers don’t know and don’t care. That may be true of some folks buying the Chevy Trax or Equinox but with a higher-cost luxury car, I think it matters. The CT6 should’ve launched with the Blackwing V-8. Had that happened, history might’ve turned out differently. The cars launch reviews would’ve been stellar and the headlines would’ve proclaimed Cadillac is back. It would’ve been big news that Cadillac was back building a V-8 powered large RWD sedan, which was their archetypal product throughout the glory years. Instead the reviews were ho-him; good but not great, a nice car in search of a better motor. And the excitement never came.
With this engine model GM seems to be saying the motor matters and people care enough to want to display a model of it on their desks. Maybe that’s progress but if so its all too late. Maybe it’s merely a final monument to the last hurrah of GM’s engine building prowess. I’m not sure what it means but it’s really refreshing and cool and somewhat sad all at the same time. I think the engine mattered but in an EV era, it might never again.
My take is this on Cadillac. It is a given they are going to have to share platforms. But that is not an excuse from being able to bolt in a specific drive train as people do know the difference.
Anything you can do to make that platform different is key, Just bolting a different plastic cover over the engine is not enough for the price difference from a Chevy to a Cadillac.
At the least add more power and better engine trim like they do on the Corvette.
The problem is while the XT6 is a nice vehicle it is not that nice that the price difference adds that much value. I can buy a discounted Denali on the same platform and get much more value on what is paid and see much less depreciation. All while driving on the same suspension with the same engine and the same HP. Sure the interior is better but not $20K better.
I have not desire for any Cadillac at this point. Nice vehicles but I can get a better value on a lower priced model. If they gave me a real reason I would pay more but there is none here.
Now if we had an Omega SUV with the Blackwing I would have paid the price.
To make Cadillac work GM is going to have to take Some realistic chances. Forget this $200k car as few will buy it and even more will ever see one.
Local dealer last year had 4 Blackwings come in. They ordered them to put on the lot. ( Weird because i thought they sold out.) but the sales guy said that all 4 are about to be sold to the Middle East and waiting for transportion issues to be cleared up.
*640 lb. ft. if torque.
So if I bought one and 4 years later the engine goes out how would they replace my engine
A fitting tombstone to display for a nice product that was DOA.