Cadillac News: More Powerful Cadillac V-Series Get A Name

[Drew Dowdell]

Cadillac's newest V-series, the CT4-V and CT5-V, disappointed fans when they debuted on May 30th by being substantially less powerful than their predecessors. The CT4-V gets a 2.7-liter turbo four cylinder producing 320 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, that's a 130 horsepower deficit compared to the ATS-V.   The story for the CT5-V is similar with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo making 355 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque compared to the 640 horsepower of the CTS-V.  GM President Mark Reuss called the previous cars "hammer" and that they intimidated customers. Thus, Cadillac responded by extending the V-series badge down to be more accessible to more customers. 

Cadillac fans wouldn't have it, and Cadillac was quick to respond saying that more powerful versions of the CT4-V and CT5-V would be on the way, even bringing out higher potency test cars for the Detroit Grand Prix. The CT5-V was rumored to be running with the Blackwing V8, and that car getting the 4.2 Twin-Turbo V8 is not a new rumor. 

The controversy comes down to what to call the higher powered models when they do arrive. Some fans felt that the models already shown should be V-Sports and the more powerful versions get the V moniker. However, it seems that Cadillac has settled on Blackwing as the name for the high power versions of their V-series, and that name may not be limited to just models with the Blackwing V8, making Blackwing more of a sub-brand for Cadillac like Denali is for GMC.

What do you think? Is Blackwing a good name for the true high-performance versions of the V-series cars?

 

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[smk4565]

I agree you need a more accessible sport trim and 640 hp is not really usable on regular roads.  But if you spent 15 years on the “V” name brand I don’t know if I would throw that away in a reboot.  Although Cadillac threw away SRX and CTS for reboots so I guess it doesn’t matter.

If Blackwing is the top trim and you are going with a word name there, why not use word names for the models too and throw away the awful alfa-numeric names in favor of word names.

 

[Drew Dowdell]

I agree, it gets cumbersome say something like CT5-V Blackwing 

Just drop the V for the Blackwing trim.... maybe that's what they're doing....

[riviera74]

50 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I agree, it gets cumbersome say something like CT5-V Blackwing 

Just drop the V for the Blackwing trim.... maybe that's what they're doing....

Ideally, the Blackwing sub-brand would be not just the Blackwing V8.  It would also include interior upgrades to go along with the performance upgrades that should accompany the Blackwing V8.  In other words, better than Denali.

[Drew Dowdell]

XT4-V Blackwing....

 

oops... I just ordered a dishwasher part instead. 

[Paolino]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I agree, it gets cumbersome say something like CT5-V Blackwing 

Just drop the V for the Blackwing trim.... maybe that's what they're doing....

I'm cool with learning yet one more moniker--I'd be okay with just that... CT5 Blackwing, CT6 Blackwing, etc.  You only see "CT#" in one spot on the car... Blackwing (or perhaps some logo) can be on the trunk, seats, dash, when you start it up, engine cover, etc.

[Frisky Dingo]

So unbelievably cartoonish and stupid. They are as bad at coming up with names as they are designing a car, and putting together a nice interior.

[daves87rs]

Sadly, I’m not impressed with either.

How about back to the drawing board for a better thought out name.....

[smk4565]

They could bring back Eldorado, Fleetwood and Seville, and throw a V or Blackwing after that.  Sounds better than CT4 Blackwing.

Problem with the CT-4-5-6 naming scheme is that makes "Cadillac" the most important part of the name and "Cadillac"  the image of the product, and the Cadillac name doesn't carry much weight anymore.  Also why the big SUV is "Escalade" and not XT8 because "Escalade" has way more cache than "Cadillac."

Although you also have to wonder if CT4 and CT5 don't sell well, will Cadillac just give up on sedans for the most part, and everything be an SUV in which case you don't really need a V or Blackwing sub-brand.

Edited July 2, 2019 by smk4565

[ocnblu]

6 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

CT-4-5-6

You've just given me a BRILL idear!  They should amend their naming scheme just a TAD... to  CT-8-6-4!

[ccap41]

Is it CT5-V Blackwing or CT5 Blackwing? One flows off the tongue better than the other.. 

[Drew Dowdell]

22 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Is it CT5-V Blackwing or CT5 Blackwing? One flows off the tongue better than the other.. 

We don't know yet. 

[ccap41]

52 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

We don't know yet. 

I sure hope they drop the V as CT5-V Blackwing is a mouthful. CT5 Blackwing sounds good.