When I bowed down before the CTS-V several years ago, I did so with the understanding that the privilege of ownership would demand $85,000. So the CT5-V, at a mere $56,000 and change, raises an interesting question: Am I getting enough car the new V to make me forget about the old V?
Well, no. To get CTS-V numbers in the revamped Caddy lineup, you have to move up to the CT6-V, with its 550-horsepower, twin-turbo "Blackwing" V8, its larger form factor, and its $95,000 starting price. Even then, you're still down nearly 100 ponies from the CTS-V's supercharged mega mill (really, the full 100, if you consider that the CTS-V's V8 was the same powerplant that propelled the Corvette Z06, but detuned by 10 hp).
A Blackwing V8 is coming to the CT5-V. But until it arrives, I'm dealing with what's in front of me, a 360-hp, non-Blackwinged speed-chariot that notches the 0-60 mph run in a startling five seconds by my timing (and probably a bit less than that, given that my timing is based on the "one Mississippi, two Mississippi" method).
Weird car! With my prior exposure to the now-defunct V Sport limited to the sort of boaty XTS, grabbing hold of the darty, middleweight demeanor of the XT5-V initially left me wanting, until suddenly, it didn't. For all the trouble I had getting used to the car, once I settled in, I almost couldn't get enough of it.
No, it didn't erase memories of the CTS-V. And no, I didn't get mad because the CT5-V lacked Super Cruise, Caddy's fully hands-free highway self-driving tech — I was having much too much fun driving the car myself.
Again and again, I used the term "sneaky good" to define the CT5-V. At times, I churlishly remarked that the Caddy came off as a terrific American interpretation of a BMW 3 Series — something that Caddy has been trying to achieve for years. Of course, I swiftly noted that the CT5-V lacked that V-car muscularity I had come to adore.
The CT5-V didn't really need it. The car might not be mind-boggling in power. But it was a joy to drive, and that's what a sports sedan is supposed to be. With the 2020 Cadillac CT5-V, ask not for what you don't need.
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