One feature shared by the Cadillac Blackwing ultra-high-performance luxury sedans as well as all exceptionally-powerful Cadillacs throughout history is that they have all been rear-wheel-drive. Neither the 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing nor its even more powerful sister car, the 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, is available with all-wheel-drive even as an option.
It seems reasonable to wonder why this is the case, especially when many ultra-high-performance German rivals, which have traditionally featured rear-wheel-drive, have begun to switch to all-wheel-drive. Cadillac Society executive editor, Alex Luft, did exactly that in an interview with Mirza Grebovic, Cadillac performance variants manager, who has engineering responsibility for the Cadillac Blackwing super sedans as well other Cadillac V-Series models.
This was not the first time Grebovic had been asked the question. “All-wheel-drive obviously always comes up,” he said. “The stance we took as a team is that we really wanted to make [the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing] drivers’ cars. V-Series was born from motorsports, from our motorsport experience and us wanting to be in motorsports, and we don‘t have any motorsports applications with all-wheel-drive.”
Grebovic added that the increased weight and complexity of all-wheel-drive relative to rear-wheel-drive leads to other issues.
“With all-wheel-drive, there are mass hits, there are cost hits and more engineering challenges. With the 668 horsepower [CT5-V Blackwing] or 472 horsepower [CT4-V Blackwing], we really wanted to celebrate – as I like to call it – the art of driving.”
“What does that mean?” you might ask. The engineer defines that as “driving in good weather, dry weather, on the track, on canyon roads,” adding that “nobody is going to take a 668 horsepower car and drive down a canyon or go to the track in snow.”
But that’s not to say that either of the Cadillac Blackwing models can’t be driven in the winter, with the proper rubber.
“We do hear customers who live in some areas saying that all-wheel-drive will help them. I‘m in Michigan. It‘s been snowing quite a bit here lately, and I‘m currently driving an early Blackwing car on winter tires with no problem.
“The cars do have snow and ice modes, they are rear-wheel-drive, and one will have to be cognizant that these are high-power cars that are not meant to be tracked or driven at the limit in the snow.
“But we do have all-wheel-drive on the ‘base’ Vs. Many wonder, why we made a V-Series and a V-Series Blackwing. Well, this is why. We listened to the customer. Some customers fall in the group of, ‘I drive this car enthusiastically on the road and I want to take it to the track, but I don’t want to go all nuclear with the Blackwing option’. And we do offer AWD [on the non-Blackwing CT4-V and CT5-V] with some good power on those vehicles.”
So, there you have it: for those looking to drive the Cadillac Blackwing models in snowy conditions should know that a set of good winter tires and some common sense outta do it.
As a reminder, the CT4-V Blackwing features a twin-turbocharged 3.6L V6 engine (production code LF4), which is good for 472 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque. The larger CT5-V Blackwing is powered by the supercharged 6.2L V8 (production code LT4), which produces a stout 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque. Both models come standard with a six-speed manual transmission, setting them apart from many rivals that only offer paddle-shift automatic transmissions.
Both 2022 Cadillac Blackwing super sedans will go into production this summer at the Lansing Grand River assembly plant in Michigan.
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Charles Rondeau
If you can afford a production supercar, this makes sense. I give Cadillac a lot of credit for sticking to their guns on these vehicles. You still have options if you’re inclined to go with AWD.
Scotty Keen
Although I’m ok with RWD even in the snow, a part of me feels that they just didn’t want to invest the time or money into AWD.
Johnls_39
I think they should offer AWD as an option for those that really want it, particularly sport AWD. I’m not an engineer and have no way of telling if AWD would make a difference around the track from RWD on paper and testing.
Also, these ultra high performance machines share another vehicle in the household, I bet. Maybe it is one of the reasons why Cadillac did not offer it since the shared vehicle have AWD/4WD.
Bill Samson
Too bad that Mirza Grebovic doesn’t realize that drivers’ cars in winter demand AWD. And if complexity is an issue, then get rid of all the electronics. Get a brain Mirza. The art of driving shouldn’t force aficionados to abandon safety and common sense.
Bill Samson
Too bad that Mirza Grebovic doesn’t realize that drivers’ cars in winter require AWD. And if complexity is an issue, then get rid of all the electronics. Get a brain, Mirza. The art of driving shouldn’t force aficionados to compromise safety or common sense.
John Rostoff
You do realize that “all the electronics” are what enable these cars to perform at the high levels that they do, right?
I’ve driven by 18 CTS-V with no problem in Ontario year-round with never an issue. It gets Michelin X-Ice winter tires during the snowy months. From where I sit, my car doesn’t compromise safety or common sense. To the contrary, it is YOU Bill that seems to be lacking in the common sense department.
Bill Samson
Thanks for your comments John. Electronics have indeed improved performance, but they do add costly POFs (point of failures); that’s a price most of us will gladly pay. However, you cannot really compare RWDs with winter tires (even if you add sand bags to the trunk) with AWDs with winter tires in winter, if performance is your goal. They out-brake and out-handle RWDs in winter because of the laws of physics. As well in winter, FWDs with winter tires are clearly superior to RWDs with winter tires (although this advantage is mitigated in the summer). Find yourself a really steep hill with black ice and see for yourself.
Mark hicks
These “new” Cadillacs are a
big disappointment.
1/10 of second between the Ct5 B and Ct4 B ?? Cadillac has said it’s too complicated and expensive to make AWD an option? Please! Why does the CT5-V & CT4-V have AWD as an option?? I guess they are not “driver’s cars?”
How did the Germans manage this issue? These dismal 0-60 times with all this HP/Torque is due to the fact they cannot put the power to the road. Just like the ZL1. I think the reason there is no AWD is because these “new” vehicles have a short life expectancy.
The top brass at GM said to Cadillac there is no way are you spending additional money for a vehicle that won’t be around in three years. Electric is where these Cadillacs are headed.
So if you want to spend an additional $20K to $50K on a four door ZL1 with the same times….. that will be blown away by the Germans, that’s your choice.