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The 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing gets refreshed with the rest of the CT5 lineup
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A new $18,000 Precision Package upgrades the CT5-V Blackwing’s handling
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The 2025 CT5-V Blackwing arrives by the end of the year, Precision Package cars arrive in 2025
“I’m going to make a CT5-V Blackwing drive like a CT4-V Blackwing.” That was the sales pitch Cadillac’s executive chief engineer Brandon Vivian gave GM management.
Given Cadillac’s original goal of becoming an all-electric brand by 2030, we should presume Vivian’s one heck of a salesperson to get GM’s management to green light even a small engineering budget for this project.
But Vivian did. The result of that engineering effort is a new $18,000 Precision Package available on the refreshed 2025 CT5-V Blackwing. While the Blackwing will be available before the end of this year, the new package will arrive in early 2025.
The question I sought to answer on the twisting roads in northern Georgia and at Atlanta Motorsports Park is whether it’s worth spending $18,000 to tick the Precision Package option box. The answer isn’t simple, and comes down to yes, no, and maybe.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
What is the CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package
In short, the Precision Package is a handling upgrade that consists of stickier tires paired with suspension and chassis tweaks along with software updates to take advantage of the extra grip.
But it’s a lot more than that.
The basis is a set of 275/35ZR19 front and 305/30ZR19 rear Michelin Cup 2 R tires, which are basically street-legal slicks. They are summer-only tires that shouldn’t be driven in cold temps below 40 degrees, and they aren’t going to handle rain, especially standing water, well.
Cadillac’s Chief Engineer Alex MacDonald said owners could skip the $18,000 Precision Package and simply slap a set of the Cup 2s on a CT5-V Blackwing, but they will reach the limits of the car’s chassis before they reach the limit of the tires.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
To solve that issue Precision Package cars get front springs that are 70% stiffer, new front dampers with revised cartridges and rod lengths with 2 mm less travel, an 11% stiffer front sway bar, new front knuckles that introduce 2.8 degrees of negative camper with a track alignment up from the previous 2.5 degrees with a track alignment, new top mounts for the upper spring seats, new spring isolators that are 79% stiffer. That’s just up front.
The rear springs are 57% stiffer, the dampers have a 20.5 mm shorter rod length, the rear J57 knuckles and trailing link bushings are all updated with an increased radial rate of 63%, the new rear toe links are machined in-house, and the new front bushing in the rear cradle is 1,000% stiffer yet not solid.
All this is combined with revised magnetic damper tuning along with updated stability control and traction control calibrations to take advantage of the new grip.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
How does the CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package drive on the street?
The updates all translate to minimal if any change to how the CT5-V Blackwing performs on the street. Taking a sharp left out of the Atlanta Motorsports Park parking lot and then a quick left onto the main roadway outside the track, the Blackwing had sharp turn in response and quick moves.
Hustling through roundabouts and winding backroads proved how livable and adept the CT5-V Blackwing is on the street.
Back-to-back seat time in the CT5-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing equipped with the Precision Package proved that it’s difficult to discern any differences on the street. When pushed hard, the Precision Package car might be ever so slightly sharper near the limit. However, the Precision Package car I was in had a track alignment with more camber and that could’ve accounted for this ever so slight difference. Both rode on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, which are a no-cost option for Precision Package buyers who want to make their cars more streetable.
Taut riding yet comfortable with tight handling, the CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package is no less livable, unless you opt for the Cup 2 R tires, than a non Precision Package car.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
How does the CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package drive on the track?
Quicker. By multiple seconds.
It took only a handful of laps in the CT5-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package (with the Cup 2 Rs) cars to immediately notice the difference in dynamics and lap times.
Cadillac had us running in Track mode with the Performance Traction Management system set to Sport 1, which enabled more sideways action and tire slip. I kicked out the CT5-V Blackwing’s rear end multiple times and never saw a flash of the traction or stability control systems in the digital instrument cluster. The system realized I was in control and didn’t need to intervene to save my butt.
The Precision Package cars were able to stick and rip through the esses of turns 2 and 3 easier while carrying more speed. I didn’t have to dig into the carbon-ceramic brakes hard until heading up into the turn 4 tight lefthand carousel. But to Vivian’s point about the Precision Package turning the CT5-V Blackwing into a CT4-V Blackwing, the CT5-V Blackwing is still a larger, heavier car. The CT4-V Blackwing would likely be as agile naturally through these turns without the ultra-grippy tires, but the bigger car did a good impersonation of its little brother thanks to the Precision Package.
Non Precision Package cars had more power than grip and I had to back off the power more going around turn 4, whereas Precision Package cars entered the corner faster, carried more speed through the corner, and were more than willing to let the rear end slide a bit in a controlled manner. The front end stuck as Cup 2 R tires dug into the pavement for sharper turn in. And while the front end stuck better with the revised suspension bits and sticker tires, a CT4-V Blackwing exhibits sharper turn out the gate than a standard CT5-V Blackwing and its lighter weight would help the front end stay planted through the sharp corner. Without back-to-backing the cars it’s hard to know how close Vivan came to his goal.
The Turn 6 righthander really sorts out what a car’s made of with an off-camber dip at the apex and an uphill exit. Here, it was easier to stick and launch out of the corner with the Cup 2 R tires and updated suspension. Non Precision Package cars simply couldn’t put down the power on corner exit and took longer to recover as the body sorted itself out. A CT4-V Blackwing carries 263 less pounds than a CT5-V Blackwing, which would make a difference as Turn 6 unsettles everything in a car. The Precision Package makes up for that with immense grip.
But it was the Turns 13-16 complex, which involves a blind uphill lefthander, a long and fast bend to the left, and a high-speed right onto the front straight, where the Precision Package really shined. Aiming left through Turn 13 the Blackwing without the Precision Package struggled to keep the rubber planted as the car understeered a bit on the downhill exit. This led to lower speeds heading into the Turns 14 and 15 carousel, which made it difficult to carry as much speed into Turn 16 heading into the straight. I could only hit about 116 mph going into the Turn 1 left hander in this scenario.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
Hopping into a Precision Package car I immediately noticed the Blackwing struggled less when exiting Turn 13, was able to see carry 84-85 mph consistently at the Turn 14 apex, and would exceed 100 mph through the Turn 16 transition heading onto the straight. That front straight? I hit up to 126 mph before digging deep into the carbon-ceramic brakes to slow for Turn 1. Cadillac had IMSA pro driver Jordan Taylor on hand, and he hit 130 mph heading down the straight.
The extra speed through all these turns translated to meaningful lap-time improvements. The quickest lap I ran in the Blackwing with the Precision Package was a 1:34.19, which was 2-3 seconds quicker than my best laps in a Blackwing without the Precision Package. Jordan Taylor hit a 1:29.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
Refreshed CT5-V Blackwing injects tech and lighting updates
One glance at the 2025 CT5-V Blackwing and it’s easy to spot the updates inside and out.
The front end has been updated with new headlights. I’m not sold that they look better up close as they seem to add visual vertical heft, but from afar they look cool. The full-length vertical light pipes give the CT5-V Blackwing a menacing and more distinctive look. The CT5-V Blackwing’s outgoing headlights had poor performance in wet and misty conditions as the light would scatter with an unfocused pattern. MacDonald told me the new headlights with their projector lenses are more focused to provide better performance. We didn’t drive the cars at night and I look forward to testing this at some point.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
Inside, the dashboard is revised like it is in the rest of the CT5 lineup. The digital gauge cluster and touchscreen have been wrapped into one curved 33.0-inch 8K display that feels less like a tablet rising from the dashboard. It’s well integrated and is still augmented with buttons, knobs, and toggles for the climate controls and infotainment system. Blackwings equipped with an automatic transmission also gain the Super Cruise hands-free driver-assist system as standard equipment, which means they get a different steering wheel that doesn’t have the Performance Traction Management (PTM) system dial. That buries the PTM settings in a convoluted sequence that requires hitting the V Mode button twice to bring up a menu, then moving up and down the menu via the drive mode toggle switch on the center console. The rest of the interior is carryover, and the highback Recaro front bucket seats hit in all the right places of my average 5-foot-10 frame, but the leather and cabin materials are a full step behind what’s found in the far more expensive BMW M5.
2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
2025 CT5-V Blackwing heralds next-gen PDR
Cadillac took advantage of the CT5-V’s updated screen and software technology for the available Cosworth-supplied Performance Data Recorder system.
What once required a computer or smartphone app can now be done on the touchscreen in real time. After finishing a lap on the track, the system can now provide lap-by-lap comparisons, driver coaching, and more driver data wrapped in a new interface.
There’s also a new lap timer and lap-time delta timer. The screen will glow green if you’re beating your previous lap times or red if you’re moving slower. It’s a bit addictive, and it’s much easier to glance at a color than a lap time number while flying down the track at 100-plus mph.
On paper it’s great. In reality the system’s responses are a little laggy. It’s unclear if it’s a processor issue or a software programming issue. Multiple instances had me tapping the screen too many times to execute a command. The system would lag, then catch up. Worse, heading out for a hot lap I tapped the record button and it didn’t register. I didn’t realize this until halfway through the lap, which wasn’t being recorded.
At $96,990 including a $1,395 destination charge the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is a relative bargain compared to the heavier, more complicated BMW M5. It’s raw, unapologetic, and an all-American assault on what a world-class luxury sport sedan can be.
Adding $18,000, which notably includes the $9,000 carbon-ceramic brake option is a steep ask.
Is it worth the money? The answer is simple. For buyers looking to actually hit the track the package is the real deal and will meaningfully shave lap times. For everyone else, if you must tick every option box feel free. This package won’t detract from the Blackwing’s streetability, unless you opt for the Cup 2 R tires, but it won’t feel like $18,000 of difference and no one at Starbucks will realize you spent the extra money.
The Precision Package does make the CT5-V Blackwing drive more like the CT4-V Blackwing, though with the advantage of a 662-hp supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 rather than a 472-hp twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6. It’s absolutely quicker around a racetrack and now drives smaller than its size. It may not be quite as nimble as its little brother, but this is one car that benefited from a good salesman.
Cadillac paid for travel and lodging to bring you this first-hand review of the 2025 CT5-V Blackwing.
Read the full article here
