Just kidding I already got it.
In the other thread on big guys I mentioned the roundabout journey of how we ended up with an X3M for the wife even though I've always thought that high performance SUVs were stupid because the sedan versions were always better.
We ended up with the X3m because the M3 comp X drive was on the short list for my new car to replace the G37 which has 210k miles and the bottom is all rusted out and leaking every vital fluid.
Well I couldn't stop thinking about the Camaro SS I rented on vacation and how great it was to drive, from the ride to the handling to the power train. I even loved the 10 speed auto.
And so after much deliberation and a lot of waiting for the order to get built I ended up with this.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Wt6ksF4j/080-E173-F-6973-49-C5-873-E-A60278766388.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Wt6ksF4j)
(https://i.postimg.cc/mtm1FvM5/7833-F083-CA24-40-A5-89-E2-9-DC5-FFD720-D4.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mtm1FvM5)
(https://i.postimg.cc/gnz6jzwh/D85-AB790-29-AD-4-A30-BF48-72-E0054-F6-E56.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gnz6jzwh)
I absolutely love that Cadillac. Such an overlooked awesome sports sedan. Plus you can actually see out of it as opposed to the Camaro :lol: Seriously though you can put some people in the backseat of it which you definitely can't in a Camaro.
Cadillac ac ac ac ac ac!
I love this car & you for getting it
Approved!! What model/spec?
Twin turbo?
Congratulations! Beautiful car and I love the color.
There was an impressive 10-speed in the Tahoe I rented. Wondering if, perchance, they're related.
Dope! My C8 will be the same color!
I'm guessing/hoping it's the Blackwing!
I turn the big 5-0 this summer, and need to celebrate of course, and this car (w/6MT) is on the shortlist, as is the Camaro.
How GM pulled this off, esp. via Cadillac, I have no idea.
It's a blackwing but without the carbon fiber packages which ironically means it doesn't have a black wing. I debated for a long time of manual vs auto since I'm not really one of those save the manuals type person. However the blackwing auto doesn't come with supercruise anyway and the adaptive cruise isn't as good as other companies if there isn't supercruise, thus I ended up getting the manual in the end.
The manual feels great, like a more refined version of the gearbox in the old z06 (both Tremecs). Clutch effort is much lighter.
Apparently my engine was built by a woman (I assume) named Kristie. It's a shame this car wasn't number 565.
Washing the car today I noticed the detailer forgot to put the fender V badges back on after PPF. Im now kinda torn if I should get them back on or have them give them back to me in a bag. Looks cleaner without the fender V badges.
(https://i.postimg.cc/QH9wRZbL/0700-EFDC-C74-F-489-D-9347-FA64-FF76-E1-F4.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/QH9wRZbL)
(https://i.postimg.cc/WhBCVYWd/2-DE197-BC-2-FDF-4-E61-B4-CA-DBA8-D459-ED59.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/WhBCVYWd)
(https://i.postimg.cc/DS1DwQHB/482-C477-E-F7-EE-40-A9-BE0-E-2-C3-DD04-ED95-B.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/DS1DwQHB)
(https://i.postimg.cc/PvN9Xgnw/6-D0-FBB01-7264-401-B-8-F79-001549-F8-C6-CB.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/PvN9Xgnw)
(https://i.postimg.cc/dD4JqFrL/A630-C26-F-6-AEA-426-D-859-B-E6-D57-ACB07-E2.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/dD4JqFrL)
(https://i.postimg.cc/6TQDfv4p/BD85-AF9-A-E896-4681-AE50-FC0179-AAE04-A.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/6TQDfv4p)
(https://i.postimg.cc/XGst0VmW/FC26-C9-D0-8-F21-4030-8-FFD-85-A0-B7-CCB948.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/XGst0VmW)
(https://i.postimg.cc/kDhL1gWF/FECA6-FC9-AA2-F-447-B-8370-81754-AFCC04-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/kDhL1gWF)
Do you still have the Z06?
Wow. What a nice color. :wub:
You went from a 2007 CRV and a 210k mile G37 to an X3M and CT5 Blackwing? :wtf: Quite the upgrade. I don't think you have enough horsepower though. 1,100+ across two cars isn't going to cut it.
Quote from: Gotta-Qik-C7 on May 01, 2022, 09:23:59 AM
Do you still have the Z06?
(https://i.postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH/55-A5-D35-B-D732-4-E8-F-910-F-7-BD923-A7-D44-A.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jDG46k26/C6-B25754-B4-F4-4237-BB71-CFE6-A10984-D1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jDG46k26)
Yes still have it. Too many memories in that car to get rid of it.
Quote from: 565 on May 01, 2022, 04:01:15 PM
(https://i.postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH/55-A5-D35-B-D732-4-E8-F-910-F-7-BD923-A7-D44-A.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jDG46k26/C6-B25754-B4-F4-4237-BB71-CFE6-A10984-D1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jDG46k26)
Yes still have it. Too many memories in that car to get rid of it.
Nice!!!!
Quote from: 565 on May 01, 2022, 04:01:15 PM
(https://i.postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH/55-A5-D35-B-D732-4-E8-F-910-F-7-BD923-A7-D44-A.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Hj23G2vH)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jDG46k26/C6-B25754-B4-F4-4237-BB71-CFE6-A10984-D1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jDG46k26)
Yes still have it. Too many memories in that car to get rid of it.
Nice collection. Blue your favourite colour?
Hell yeah man. Couldn't have picked better, it's what I'd do. I love the color too. Congratulations
Wow, beautiful car. Congrats!
Wow, nice choice. Glad you got the manual.
Quote from: FoMoJo on May 01, 2022, 06:13:42 PM
Nice collection. Blue your favourite colour?
How could you tell? Actually if they had like a dark violet or similar color I'd get that. I'm surprised my wife picked the blue for the x3m. I kinda wish this blue was a bit darker and metallic. I've never had a non metallic paint car. The darker blue for the CT5 was wave metallic and that was a bit too dull, something inbetween would have been great.
Quote from: Lebowski on May 03, 2022, 03:52:42 PM
Wow, nice choice. Glad you got the manual.
Honestly if the auto got super cruise I might have gotten the auto. Luckily my car came when it did because it was announced today that the 2023 CT5 blackwing will get supercruise for the automatic. The x3m has level 2 driving assist and it's super useful for just commuting.
How in the world does a manual car get super cruise and automatic does not? Seems nonsensical
Quote from: r0tor on May 03, 2022, 04:17:01 PM
How in the world does a manual car get super cruise and automatic does not? Seems nonsensical
No, for 2022 neither get supercruise. For 2023 only auto gets supercruise. I don't think supercruise would be possible on a manual car since it can slow to a stop.
Basically having supercruise on the auto would be enticing enough for me to go for the auto vs manual.
Quote from: 565 on May 03, 2022, 06:00:31 PM
No, for 2022 neither get supercruise. For 2023 only auto gets supercruise. I don't think supercruise would be possible on a manual car since it can slow to a stop.
Basically having supercruise on the auto would be enticing enough for me to go for the auto vs manual.
Ok - that makes more sense
Quote from: GoCougs on April 30, 2022, 04:19:57 PM
How GM pulled this off, esp. via Cadillac, I have no idea.
Now I've had the car for a little while I think I know how GM pulled it off.
This and the X3M were the only new cars I've ever purchased, only having bought used cars before. They were the only cars I've bought without test drives as none were available to drive. The blackwing was the only car I bought completely sight unseen.
So bascially the only thing I had to go by were car reviews, professional ones by C&D and R&T which all raved about this car as possibly the greatest sports sedan ever. Or youtube videos where people raved that if you could buy this car, buy this car.
Most of those reviews touched on the fact that the interior wasn't the best, but honestly having owned a GM product for 17 years that supposedly had one of the worst interiors, I didn't think it would bother me.
What I didn't realize was how decontented featurewise the CT5 v blackwing is compared to not just its peers, but even its predecessor the CTS V.
Things that last gen CTS V had that the CT5 V blackwing doesnt:
Heated rear seats (disappointed my wife)
Rear climate controls
Rear manual baby shades for side windows
Rear power window shade (these last 2 disappointed the wife too)
Unique carbon fiber hood
Soft touch lower panels
Power opening console lid
Various outlets
B pillar AC vents
Rear view camera washer
Adaptive headlights
Various other things probably
Doug video on the CTS V
https://youtu.be/MuqMjucmMqk
Compared to the one for the CT5 V blackwing
https://youtu.be/G0eYIuTCEuA
This is all because GM moved all trims of the CT5 to be decidedly downmarket compared to the CTS to avoid direct competition to the 5 series and E class. The ongoing CTS started at 48K while the incoming CT5 started at 37K, and the CTS V sport started at 62k while the CT5 V started at 48k. Forget competing with the 5 series that starts at 55k, the CT5 starts at less than the 41k 3 series.
These savings didn't apply to the top level as the BW auto and the CTS V both start around 89k.
So is the BW more different from its lesser base cars? Not really.
For the CT5, all of the exterior panels rearward of the front fender are identical the the CT5 V non blackwing, none of the rear body work is any wider or different. The sills are the same. The exhaust tips are the same, only painted gloss black. I think the only panels that differ are the bumper and front fenders. The hood is the same, and not standard carbon fiber.
I hope that extra 10k of savings all went into chassis tuning but as the CTS V supposedly also drove amazingly well, I wouldn't know if there is a clear improvement without driving them back to back. I think bringing back the manual was product planning genius and changing the name to Blackwing and announcing this was the last ICE car was marketing genius. If it was auto only and called the CTS V (4th gen) with this amount of decontenting and similar price, I think people would have largely dismissed it.
I can't be the only one who gets CTS and CT5 confused.
Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on May 14, 2022, 12:15:15 PM
I can't be the only one who gets CTS and CT5 confused.
The CTS is the GM luxury sedan that originally competes with the 3 series, but then got larger and kinda sorta competes with the 5 series on size and price but not quite, while the CT5 is the GM luxury sedan that GM moved 10 to 12k downmarket to undercut the 3 series in price and isn't quite as large or luxurious as the prior CTS, and now wears a badge that refers to torque in NM rounded to the nearest 50 cause Mercia, and the Blackwing is now the new V series except there is no blackwing engine and no actual black wing badges.
Easy enough.
And it apparently all worked cause the 5 Blackwing is a review and media darling and GM got my money (again!)
Quote from: 565 on May 14, 2022, 03:22:16 PM
The CTS is the GM luxury sedan that originally competes with the 3 series, but then got larger and kinda sorta competes with the 5 series on size and price but not quite, while the CT5 is the GM luxury sedan that GM moved 10 to 12k downmarket to undercut the 3 series in price and isn't quite as large or luxurious as the prior CTS, and now wears a badge that refers to torque in NM rounded to the nearest 50 cause Mercia, and the Blackwing is now the new V series except there is no blackwing engine and no actual black wing badges.
Easy enough.
And it apparently all worked cause the 5 Blackwing is a review and media darling and GM got my money (again!)
FWIW, pretty much all that stuff you listed as being removed I couldn't care less about. If I was looking in that market I'd be happy to save 10-12k to not get all that stuff but still have the same driving dynamics.
Quote from: SJ_GTI on May 16, 2022, 05:40:54 AM
FWIW, pretty much all that stuff you listed as being removed I couldn't care less about. If I was looking in that market I'd be happy to save 10-12k to not get all that stuff but still have the same driving dynamics.
I would too, but I saved 0K because the 10-12k savings applies to every trim but the Blackwing, which costs the same as the outgoing CTS V, while missing all those features.
Okay got it past the break in and put some miles driving it hard now.
Most striking thing about the 5 blackwing is how refined it is pretty much all the time. Reviews would have you think it's some raw animal all the time. It is not. It is very quiet even in the most aggressive setting, controls are very light. I suspected it would be rather refined based on how refined the 6th gen Camaro SS I rented on vacation was, but this is even more insulated. It's quieter than the X3M. The ride is firm, and at first it was as firm as the X3m but as the springs must haven broken in a bit, now it's a bit softer than the X3m.
Another surprising thing is how well the rear end sticks. From all the youtube videos you'd think it breaks loose all the time. It doesn't. 1-2 hard shift in the z06 will have the car spinning through alot of 2nd gear and also break traction in 3rd. The blackwing stay hooked up all the way through 2nd gear. The tpc spec PS4S tires with alot of R compound rubber in it definitely helps.
Finally the car is fast, but it's deceptively not fast due to the smooth power delivery and how isolated it is compared to the z06. By feeling from the driver's seat alone, the z06 would feel the fastest being so low to the ground and being so raw, followed by the X3m due to the huge turbo lag and then turbo punch of the s58, followed by the blackwing last, but the numbers show it's the other way around.
On an interesting note I found out from the BMW forums that all the M cars with the 8 speed ZF transmission are limited to 50 to 100 full launch control starts, afterwards they default to a more neutered launch control shift algorithm to preserve the transmission. It's not just how hard they launch that changes but more importantly how fast and hard the 8 speed shifts during the run. When you put the car into launch control mode, the transmission goes into a hidden even faster shifting mode that it can only access 50 to 100 times (probably based on various computer controlled parameters). Basically after you use up your 50 to 100 of those starts the cars will be about 0.3 to 0.5 seconds slower through the 1/4 mile due to the slower more gentle shifts. So this may be why the BMWs tested by the magazines have such incredible acceleration numbers.
ZF8 launch control limit makes the rounds on the Audi forums too. Some claim a limit of 200, but I have never seen an official doc or the like. If it existed, I'd think there'd be a blurb in the manual for legal reasons (and there isn't). Plus, there are tuner bois with B9/B9.5 SQ5s and S4s with HUNDREDS of launches on the ZF8 at the strip and they claim no limitation or reliability problems. The only limitation I've noticed is if you run up against the converter for more than ~5 seconds when in LC mode, RPMs are cut to idle and launch control is unavailable for a good 10 minutes. Since there is no no error code shown on the dash my bet is this is a mitigation of Toyota/Audi 5000S-esque "unintended" acceleration" (which was due to driver error of pressing the wrong pedal(s)).
I don't find LC very useful. At least in the Audis, there's two button presses, a lever shift, and a narrow window of brake torquing (too little and not enough boost builds and we know what happens after ~5 seconds). The 1-2 and 2-3 shifts are comically aggressive.
Very nice!!!
Got an OEM carbon fiber spoiler so the blackwing now has a black wing. CF packages were on constraint and because my order didn't have any, I jumped the guy on the list in front of me. To date my CT5 blackwing is the only one my dealer got allocated. OEM carbon fiber spoiler showed up on the Cadillac parts site and many owners jumped on it. It's the part of the CF1 package that makes the most visual change IMO.
(https://i.postimg.cc/xJ0Bn8JZ/26063-ED6-3-A73-4698-892-D-CDE0-F7205112.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/xJ0Bn8JZ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/QKCPKzqk/4725-C237-D27-E-44-D2-9-A9-D-31-F192-CE1-E6-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/QKCPKzqk)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jwZm5TyS/4-DCE42-DC-0-D15-4-DE0-9762-A68-CFA5995-CD.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jwZm5TyS)
(https://i.postimg.cc/7ff855s8/74-AA3255-F509-4077-BAEC-45896239-E265.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/7ff855s8)
(https://i.postimg.cc/B85RrH6D/F4073073-54-FC-41-B6-A72-B-EED3-A65-A0-B21.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/B85RrH6D)
CT5 V blackwing, year in review. Long read. Cliff notes are it's great.
I've put about 5000 miles on the car and really gotten a feel for it. I've now parked it for the winter, mostly because I don't want the salt eating it to nothing and this is a car I plan to keep for a long time. The G37 really had a number done on it due to road salt corrosion. The G37 is back on winter duty. The leaking transmission finally lost enough fluid to stop working but a pan change and refill actually brought it back to life, at least temporarily. I will need another winter car when this fix stops working (also leaking due to corrosion is the oil pan and a front brace is completely disintegrated, but it seems to drive fine without it and the rwd g37 versions don't have it.)
The Blackwing wasn't a car that instantly blew me away like the X3M comp did. I was immediately impressed with what a feral beast that SUV could be despite its body shape and weight. I had the X3M Comp for my wife for about 2 months before the Blackwing arrived so it was an immediate point of comparison. All the reviews talk about what a beast the CT5 blackwing was. I was naturally surprised by how civil and refined the Blackwing felt, to the point of being subdued.
Going hard on a backroad, both vehicles will thrill and excite. There is so much power and grip in both vehicles. The X3M would probably be faster in my hands on a back road given the AWD putting down the power well, the amazingly fast ZF 8 speed and the superior visibility. A good driver would definitely be faster in the Blackwing, but there is definitely a greater sense of fear and danger there too. Both cars are talented opera singers on the open road, stirring the right emotions and captivating the soul. The Blackwing hits higher notes here and there but the X3M is close enough that it's shocking.
The difference is when you come up on a car doing sensible speeds on that back road. The BMW falls silent, frustrated that the fun is over. The Blackwing seems to do the same at first. Listen closely however and one realizes that she is still there, singing that same wonderful tune as before. Now, instead of belting it out at the top of her lungs, she's whispering it sweetly into your ear. The steering still communicates with light tugs in your hand. The body motions are still perfected controlled. The exhaust still rumbles with perfectly rev matched down shifts (by the car not me) like distant thunder. It will do this even at 1500 RPMs coming off the throttle. How aggressive you are the revs merely determines how far that tempest sounds, but it is always there. At legal speeds the Blackwing shows off its greatest talent, it's ability to entertain at 2/10ths. Driving the Blackwing requires so much more of my attention. Occasionally I drop of my wife at work and use her car to make the commute to even out the miles between the cars. I'm always flabbergasted about all the extra roadside stuff I notice in the X3 that I just never paid attention to while driving the Blackwing. Was that church always there? I don't ever remember seeing this overlook. It's not just the higher vantage point, because it's all stuff visible from any ride height.
At the end of the day, the X3M feels Iike a vehicle that a large team of people allocated some of their time and resources to, while the Blackwing feels like a vehicle that a small team of people devoted all of their effort and passion to. When asked to perform, both the X3M and Blackwing will sing beautifully. However when doing the banal every day chores, the X3M becomes a perfect domestic, and you nearly forget that it's anything other than another X3. The Blackwing can nearly those same chores, but she is always humming that melody while she is working. Even when doing the most boring of tasks, she never ever lets you forget that she was, is, and always will be, an absolute superstar.
(https://i.postimg.cc/NFZm6D3M/IMG-5958.jpg)
If you ever quit your job, you could always fall back and write for a car mag. :cheers:
Quote from: veeman on January 01, 2023, 08:15:03 PM
If you ever quit your job, you could always fall back and write for a car mag. :cheers:
My thoughts as well.