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The $56,000 Cadillac CT5-V can't replace the epic CTS-V — but it could give some BMW sport sedans a run for their money (GM)

Matthew DeBord/Insider

  • I drove a $56,305 Cadillac CT5-V from the 2020 model year, a revved-up version of CT5 sedan.
  • The CT5-V has a 360-horsepower V6 engine — that may not sound like a ton on paper, but it's punchy.
  • The CT5-V is adequately sporty and at times comes off as downright German in its driving dynamics. But what really sets it apart is the overall package, from design to technology.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I'm not going to shake anybody's tree if I point out that the 2020 Cadillac CT5-V is in no way, shape, or form a proper replacement for the CTS-V. I drove the latter several years back and was flummoxed by its versatile brilliance. A four-door Corvette, you say? Why, yes, I'll take at least one!

In lieu of the CTS-V's supercharged V8, the CT5-V has a twin-turbocharged V6. And a near six-figure price tag has been replaced by one that's solid in the mid-fives. So, what we're really dealing with here isn't a V but what Cadillac used to call a VSport — and could just as easily have called the JV version. 

I was recently disappointed by the CT5-V's little brother, the CT4-V, but I was prepared to give the CT5-V the benefit of the doubt. Still, I knew what I was getting into: less power, less power, less power. 

And yes, you notice the lack of oomph from the CT5-V almost immediately. Depression, accordingly, sets in. But in a few minutes, you're driving the peppy four-door, at which point, your mood lifts. This car sneaks up on you! And while it isn't a Caddy V like those of old — a rude, angry, luxury beast — it is the closest thing to a BMW-grade sport sedan Cadillac has yet built.

Matthew DeBord/Insider

My tester cost $46,695 before a decent list of options took the price to $56,305.

The Velocity Red paint job on the fastback was luminous and bold, and it got me an enthusiastic thumbs up from a BMW M3 driver on the Long Island Expressway, as I was on the outbound leg of a 200-mile round trip. The 19-inch alloy wheels were also pretty slick.

The overall styling of the CT5-V is attractive, though a little more on the svelte side than I might have liked; I was a fan of the more angular design of the previous generation of Caddy sedans.



Matthew DeBord/Business Insider

I couldn't approach the CT5-V without lingering memories of the CTS-V, the Cadillac super sedan that stole my heart a few years back

"Cadillac has been working on taking it to BMW's M cars for some time now, and with the CTS-V ... well, it may have taken it past the M's," I wrote at the time. "The CTS-V bears no resemblance to the Caddys of the Carter and Reagan administrations, and it has grabbed the sports-sedan concept and pushed it into new territory. You can now have your midlife crisis without embarrassing yourself."



Matthew DeBord/BI

The CTS-V was a genuine V car, while the CT5-V leans toward the V Sport tradition of jazzed-up, yet not stonking, sedans. I'd only driven one of these, the XTS V-Sport, and I rather liked it. I was especially impressed by the engine, which served up some sneaky speed.

"We're definitely not talking about a modern sedan here," I wrote. "The XTS V-Sport isn't crisp-handling, nor is it breathtakingly quick, although with a 0-60 mph time of around 5.5 seconds, it isn't at all slow. Its mission in life is to tool along the highway in a steady state of speed."

The twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 made 410 horsepower, giving me a taste of what I could expect from the CT5-V's engine.



Matthew DeBord/Insider

Cadillac, of course, has V'd up the CT5, with a badge at the rear and a badge on the flank. The upshot here is that you have to think through what's actually going on with the car and its position not just in the Caddy hierarchy, but in the sports-sedan realm. 

Unspoken in the pondering of runes is that the entire sedan market, sport and otherwise, has come under stress as consumers increasingly favor SUVs. Cadillac has three crossovers — XT4, XT5, and XT6 — in the portfolio, along with the mighty Escalade. So no slouch there, but let's face facts: the Caddy sedans are having an identity crisis, and while the company has renewed the four-doors' lease on life, it isn't clear that the CTs can alleviate that. 

We'll see. I've long been a fan of Caddy's sedans, so I'm counseling patience. And with other automakers giving up on sedans, Cadillac might have its best shot at competing directly with BMW, Mercedes, and Audi (not to mention Lexus) in a market with fewer sedan choices.



Matthew DeBord/Insider

Overall, the CT5-V presents a simplified, less-aggressive interpretation of what a Cadillac sedan with medium-impressive performance can deliver. The car isn't aiming so much for a visceral thrill as it is to make potential buyers think about the complete package: accessible design, good-enough driving dynamics from a rear-wheel-drive platform, adequate fuel economy (18 mpg city/26 highway/21 city), and perhaps most importantly, compelling technology.



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