Cadillac’s reveal of the upcoming CT4-V and CT5-V was met with mixed reviews as the performance-car faithful anticipated at least one if not both of the new models to sport General Motors’ new holy grail V-8 engine: the Blackwing. Instead, they will get twin-turbo V-6 units which, while still potent, fail to place them in direct competition with their expected European rivals. However, Cadillac may have more up its sleeve as it teased two V-Series prototypes during a run around the Belle Isle circuit in Detroit on Saturday—and luckily for us, one of the sport sedans seemed to be V-8-powered.
While Cadillac is remaining quiet on the specs of these two test mules, The Drive was in attendance at the Belle Isle race weekend and heard what certainly sounded to be eight-cylinder grunt coming from the red-camo four-door’s tailpipes.
The Blackwing will make its first appearance in the upcoming Cadillac CT6-V, boasting 4.2 liters of displacement and hot-V-mounted twin turbochargers. Horsepower is said to clock in around the 550 figure, with torque being the real star here at 627 pound-feet. While some speculated that this engine could also find its home in the soon-to-be-revealed C8 Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac said that no other GM brands are allowed to utilize its prized power plant.
As for the official designation, or even production, of the CT5-based super sedan, there’s no news; it’ll stay that way until Cadillac fully decides on whether or not to build it. In the automaker’s press release regarding the event, it explained that these two cars were simply “a sneak peek at the future of Cadillac’s V-Series.”
In the meantime, we’ll put on our tinfoil hats and hope for the BMW M5-fighter we all thought was coming earlier in the week.
