- With Cadillac’s hotshoe Bill Wise behind the wheel, the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing lapped the Grand Course at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in 2:52.5 seconds.
- At Car and Driver’s annual Lightning Lap, the CT4-V lapped the 4.1-mile circuit in 3:06.2 seconds.
- The CT4-V Blackwing is powered by a 472-hp twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6 backed by a six-speed manual or 10-speed automatic transmission.
Remember in elementary school when paper chain-link countdowns were the buzz? Those simple craft projects counted down the most important days such as holidays and birthdays. For us, they’re used to measure how many rotations around the sun remain before we arrive at the greatest days of our year: Lightning Lap. Cadillac just dropped a video of the CT4-V Blackwing lapping our home track, giving us 172 reasons to get excited for this year’s event.
With Cadillac hotshoe Bill Wise manning the controls, the CT4-V Blackwing got around the 4.1-mile Grand Course in a speedy 2:52.5 seconds. For reference, we lapped the circuit in the junior CT4-V in 3:06.2. Development drivers have many talents, one of them being, of course, that they’re extremely good at driving. Typically, we at C/D trail their times by a few seconds. Not because we’re slugs, but because the sheer amount of seat time they have trumps the five or six sessions that we might get behind the wheel. The Blackwing’s predecessor, the Cadillac ATS-V, spun a 2:59.8, and we expect to lop a good bit of time off that. What else did Bill Wise beat? Check out the list here.
Though we have yet to drive the CT4-V Blackwing, we do know its details. Motivation will come from the same twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6 that powered the ATS-V. A freer-breathing intake and other engine revisions have uncorked an additional 8 horsepower for a total of 472 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, and a 10-speed automatic (which Cadillac set the time with) will cost an extra $2275. The Blackwing will feature larger brake rotors squeezed by Brembo brake calipers–six pistons up front and four in rear. It will roll on Blackwing-spec Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber, which we’re told will perform more like Michelin’s Cup 2 gumballs.
Watching the CT4-V and Blackwing laps side by side reveals the obvious: More power equates to more speed. At the start/finish line and on the back straight, the Blackwing carries roughly a 13-mph advantage. When the 325-hp 2.7-liter CTS-V runs out of steam through the uphill esses, the Blackwing continues to gain speed. And the Michelins simply outperform the junior V’s Continental SportContact 6s in every dynamic function. More grip grants greater cornering speeds and the ability to stomp on the Brembos deeper into the braking zones.
We’re ecstatic to get behind the wheel of the new Blackwing. It should arrive in dealer showrooms sometime this summer for an intriguing $59,990 starting price. And if the CT4 is capable of this, what about the 668-hp CT5-V Blackwing? There goes another link in our paper chain.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
