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)

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Cadillac CT5-VMatthew 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 And a near six-figure price tag has been replaced by one that's solid in the mid-fives.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.




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