The upcoming 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing ultra-high-performance luxury sedan is an exceptionally powerful car, thanks to the 668-horse supercharged 6.2L V8 LT4 engine under its hood. But anywhere an LT4 can go, the closely related yet even more thunderous 6.2L V8 LT5 – as fitted to the 2019 Chevy Corvette ZR1 – can go too, at least in theory. So why is the all-new CT5-V Blackwing not fitted with the LT5 instead?
At first sight, the case for the LT5 is compelling. As found in the CT5-V Blackwing, the LT4 makes 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque, which gives the car a 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of around 200 mph. “Adequate,” as Rolls-Royce used to say of its motors in countries where it was not compelled to publish power figures.
But the LT5 is something else again. It’s the most powerful engine that General Motors has ever created for a passenger vehicle. The lower of its two outputs in the ZR1 was 755 horsepower and 715 pound-feet of torque.
Well, 755 horsepower is better than 668 horsepower, right?
Not exactly, according to Mirza Grebovic, V-Series Blackwing Chief Engineer. “When we initially started working on this project, obviously we were super excited to shove any engine in there and make as much power as possible,” Grebovic told GM Authority executive editor, Alex Luft, in an interview. But using the LT5 would have created several issues, one of which was visibility.
The Corvette ZR1 had a shaker hood, but “we couldn’t put a shaker hood on the CT5,” said Grebovic. “You would have to make it so high that you can’t see out of the car, and we wouldn’t have met regulatory requirements for vision.”
This would have been less of a problem if the engine had a dry sump oil system, which would have allowed engineers to mount the engine lower in the bay. But the GM Alpha platform used by the Cadillac CT5 is very different from the dedicated sports car architecture used by the Corvette ZR1 and all Corvettes. In fact, all C7 Corvettes with the exception of the base Stingray (without the Z51 package) featured a dry sump oil system, which was never the plan for any version of the CT5. Converting the Cadillac so that it could accept a dry-sump setup would have meant adding significant levels of complexity and expensive engineering challenges.
It would also have led to another problem. Like all C7 Z06 and C7 Grand Sport models, the C7 ZR1 ran on 335-25-20 rear tires. The maximum tire width for the CT5 is 305. That makes a big difference when it comes to the tire footprint, and how much friction is available to withstand the torque of the engine.
“So yes, we considered the LT5, but aside of just engineering issues, let’s say this car did make 760 horsepower,” Grebovic explained. “We wouldn’t have the right chassis for it. It would have been a powerful car, but it probably wouldn’t be any faster at the track or the quarter mile, because 305 [rear] tires with that much power would be very tough to manage.”
That issue, in turn, could be resolved by making the CT5-V Blackwing all-wheel-drive, but then there would have been yet more complexity to deal with. And Grebovic has already said, as exclusively revealed in a recent GM Authority interview, the policy for both the CT5-V BW car and its less powerful sister, the 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, was that they should be available exclusively with rear-wheel-drive.
All of that goes to show that, despite what many of us would like to believe, sometimes there really is such a thing as too much power.
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Comments
They should drop the LT5 in the 2022 ZL1 to bring some more attention to the camaro. I’d love for them to drop it in this model year.
Looks like someone didn’t read the article. The LT5 won’t fit in the CT5, it definitely won’t fit in the Camaro without major investment. And the Camaro is going to be canceled here shortly.
That would make the ZL1 cost a lot more.
What they should do is make a Camaro ZL2 (call it anything but Z/28 because that is supposed to be a lighter less focused on power track car) with the LT5 in it. Then they can charge $80,000 for it and recover development costs and put in in league with its rivals. Hellcat GT500
What about the real blackwing engine….
Cadillac should have it’s own engines, it’s a Luxury car.
Cadillac did have it’s own engine (BlackWing V8) and we see how that played out. The brand first has to begin with giving at least 2 cents of consideration about Luxury.
I’m still wondering how they’re writing off the engineering dollars invested for developing the BlackWing engine only to discontinue it.
Sound like a bunch of bean counter excuses to me.. PERIOD. You think the car wouldn’t sell if it had a shaker hood?? Like seriously, you only need to see where your going driving, it already has parking sensors & cameras for everything else. “Oh, We’d have to re-engineer for a dry sump”.. OK! Your point? You’ve already made a shit ton off the platform already, for how many years? what’s a few $ to move some parts around to produce what would be only the greatest pure mid-size performance sedan ever since the segment has been created and finally bring it to Mercedes and BMW.. “but the tires” look man.. Flare the fenders out more, simple fix, it’s just plastic! Would give it a better and distinguished stance anyways. In some circles it’s call a WIDEBODY.. I know right, crazy concept..
GM should be a bit more forthright and just say “we pushed the last CTS-V one generation forward and gave you the choice of a manual. Enjoy! Now we’ve moved on to electric.”
This whole “we couldn’t do an LT5, couldn’t do a shaker hood, couldn’t do a dry sump, couldn’t do AWD, couldn’t do wider tires, not the right chassis” makes me want to pull out a violin.
Amen. The top of GM has been unapologetic about leaving their current customer base behind and courting the 2% who have interest in their vision of an electrified future. Thus, it’s a little ironic to see the middle of GM squirm so much to defend what is clearly a take it or leave it approach to product planning. Its really an unbecoming look- trying to justify an anti-customer attitude. Would be less offensive if they just had the cojones to admit they punted on this generation.
People shopping for this car are probably not the same people shopping for a Charger Hellcat. A shaker style hood, and stick on fenders are probably a turn off for people cross shopping AMG, RS, and M.
The Charger and Challenger are constantly getting flack for the stick on “widebody” FCA came up with. Especially for what Redeye’s cost.
I’m not apologize on GM’s behalf, but you need to realize these cars command a different buyer.
Excuses. Dodge did it.
That’s racist marketing using black identity like that for a car. Black people are people, not cadillacs. Racist psychological identity color marketing targeting car consumers. 3.7 seconds 0-60 and 200 mph is nothing. My Prius does 0-60 in 16 5 seconds and tops out at 110 mph. ICE assisted by electric motors. The ultimate high performance hybrid system. Burnouts are no problem since it’s just the electric motors running alone. Instant torque available
Redbullrb7
This is obviously a coffee reference. Black meaning a pure energy boost not weighted down with cream and sugar. Americans have gained enough weight during covid. Adding cream and sugar to their coffee just to appease the lunatic fringe would end up causing severe health problems for many. So for the health of the nation Cadillac should keep using Blackwing.
You can have cream in your coffee when you’re on the KETO DIET!
Just don’t kiss your Caddy.
No sugar allowed.
GM said for YEARS the 4 valve 3.6 V6 would not fit in the W bodies. Till it did………….
Even if GM made the necessary and “expensive” adjustments to fit a LT5 into the Caddy the car would still likely be less expensive than any Euro competitor so I would say go for it GM. Mind you nothing wrong with the LT4 either. Great problem to have. I love this car already regardless of their decision.
“Policy” that BW cars “should” be available only with rwd? What a load of post failure bad decision justification speak. More like they “should” be available in a configuration that can compete with quattro, x-drive, and 4matic.
A ct4-v BW at 60k would warrant serious consideration but no awd means its a 6 mo car where I live. No deal. Somebody decided to skip the engineering needed to create a robust awd kit and that pansy-ass decision is now being spun as a “policy”. GM, You never fail to disappoint. Back to the Audi catalog we go…..
Totally agree. There’s no need to apologize for a 668hp V8, but not having AWD in a 2022 model luxury car is a serious issue.
If you cannot put power down to the ground what’s the point. This car won’t sell well. Besides, Fiat already occupies this lane and the Charger is a lot cheaper than this.
The AWD performance Trio from Mercedes, BMW and Audi will eat those Caddies for breakfast.
..ia Caddilac with anything more than a V6 is a waste of money. It is a vehicle for grand pa or grand ma…and they are not interested in smokin the tires on the way to church…
Put it in the Camaro? Maybe help save the Camaro brand. I would buy one for sure!
Should have used the BLACKWING V-8 in the “Blackwing”. Pretty simple.
Not for Cadillac.
Not for GM.
Also, I think I read that the Blackwing engine was yet another Cadillac-designed turd.
Be careful, reading doesnt make anything true…
I had such high Hope’s for this car.. smh I just knew I was trading in my CTS-V coupe for a 4 door ZR1. No knock on the LT4, great motor, but if that’s what I want ed, I can just pick up a 3rd gen cts-v and keep $50k+ in my pocket. (sigh) It all could’ve been so simple.. aggressive styling, flat bottom steering wheel, LT5 base motor, big Brembos, auto/manual, Rwd, new Escalade like dash/display, Super Cruise opt, heat/cool/message Recaros w/ heat/cool rear seats, pano roof, auto sunshade, digital rear controls & a entertainment pkg.. a man can dream can’t he? Lol
Should’ve devoted the engineering dollars and gave it AWD.
It’s supposed and less powerful rival (2021 BMW M3) just bowed with AWD, 503 horses and the preliminary performance numbers don’t bode well for the CT5-V BW. And looks even worse up against BMW M5 Competition.
Hopefully the driving dynamics will be its redeeming factor. Otherwise the targets have moved and upped the ante again.
What this article is really saying is that unlike BMW, GM has planned the demise of ICE vehicles and has ruled out any major improvements or changes over the last CTS-V.
That leaves the appeal of the CT5-BW more along the lines of cult status (think Miata, Lotus) instead of best in class. It may win hearts on qualitative measures. And don’t assume it will rule the track against the Panamera Turbo and BMW M crowd until you see numbers.
Look, the Charger/Challenger still sell on musclecar look and feel, and a light update like new Uconnect 5, should give them another few years of appeal.