The CT4-V offers "a driver's car for passionate enthusiasts." It looks mean, too.
Cadillac photoThe U.S. car market has turned decisively toward SUVs and crossovers, so Cadillac may be sticking its neck out a little bit to expect great things from the CT4 rear-wheel drive sub-compact luxury sedan.
But Cadillac is already so heavily invested in off-roaders—XT4, XT5, XT6, two versions of the Escalade, plus the slightly delayed electric Lyriq, now to be revealed Aug. 6—that it can risk building a car for the rest of the market.
“This car will be a great entry point into luxury,” Ken Kornas, Cadillac global product manager for future performance sedans, said about the 2020 Cadillac CT4 during an online reveal June 24. “Folks not now in luxury will be moving up. And we expect to see some empty nesters, because they don’t need crossovers anymore. They want the driving dynamics of a sedan.”
The CT4 (which replaces the ATS) is a bit of a throwback in that it’s a rear-wheel drive car in a front-wheel-drive world. Kornas said that the company has BMW’s 2-Series and Mercedes-Benz’s CLA squarely in its sights, and that rear-wheel drive offers the opportunity for near-perfect 50-50 front-rear weight distribution. “There are also powertrain advantages, and we offer a lightning-fast 10-speed transmission and engines that blow away the competition in torque,” he said.
Dave Schmidt, lead development engineer for the CT4, helpfully added that torque is what pins you to the back of the seat when your vehicle takes off. “And in the CT4, you don’t need to mash the pedal to the floor for it to take off,” he said.
For maximum seat-pinning, consumers are going to want the CT4-V, which offers 325 horsepower and a mighty 380 pound feet of torque, yielding a zero to 60 miles per hour time of just 4.8 seconds. While this is not exceptional in a supercar, it’s eye-opening in a car costing $45,490 (or $46,590 with all-wheel drive). The CT4’s chief engineer, Mike Bride, called the V “a driver’s car for passionate enthusiasts.” Blackout trim makes it look kind of sinister. A 405-horsepower BMW M2 runs $58,900, but it sets a high bar.
This is General Motors, so there’s always an abundance of choice in models and engines. But in this case, Cadillac is staying with turbocharged four-cylinders, with 2.0- and 2.7-liter capacity. A great deal of engineering went into these engines, including separate turbochargers for the 2.0T and 2.7T. Active thermal management is onboard to fight weather extremes. A variant of the two-liter engine also appears in the CT5 SUV.
Inside the CT4-V. It's a nice highway car, and Super Cruise autonomy is coming on the model early next year.
Cadillac photoThe 2.0T engine is standard in the Luxury model CT4 ($33,990/$36,590 RWD/AWD), and it produces 237 horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque (with zero to 60 in 6.2 seconds). It’s also standard on the Premium Luxury model (which starts at $38,490). But a 310-horsepower version of the 2.7T with 350 pound-feet of torque is available on that car and was included on our $46,865 test vehicle. And don’t forget the CT4 Sport, which starts at $39,590.
Cadillac’s autonomous Super Cruise system will be available on the CT4, but, because of Covid-19, not at launch—expect it on cars delivered early next year.
Cadillac developed a world-beating 550-horsepower V8 engine code-named Blackwing, but so far it’s only appeared on about 800 CT6-V cars. It gets a little confusing. The CT4-V Blackwing is on its way, somewhat delayed by Covid-19, but it will be powered by the twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 seen in the 464-horsepower ATS-V. So I had to ask if Cadillac is moving away from V8s. “We can’t say we’re walking away from anything,” Kornas said. “We’re keeping our options open.”
All the talk about torque won’t amount to much if the car doesn’t offer a positive driving experience, but in a brief one-day trial, it definitely did. With the 2.7T on board, it yielded world-class acceleration, and yet was very quiet on the highway (where Super Cruise will definitely be appreciated). The CT4, on Continental summer tires, handled extremely well, with some minor sacrifice to a harder-than-normal ride. Opt for the CT4-V and the package includes such performance amenities as the fourth generation of magnetic ride control, a limited-slip rear, performance-traction management and unique chassis tuning.
The cabin is a very nice place to be. The $8,375 spent on options secured the 14-speaker Bose audio and navigation, a climate package with heated and (appreciated) cooled leather seats, heads-up display, and a safety suite. The audio system was simple to use and connect, and it sounded good pumped up. Rear legroom won’t be great if your driver is tall. Fuel economy as tested was so-so, at 24 miles per gallon combined (20 city/30 highway). Photo Captions:
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July 01, 2020 at 11:09PM
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The 2020 Cadillac CT4 is Entry-Level Luxury - Barron's
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