2025 Cadillac CT5

There aren’t many new sedans left on the market – and most of the ones that are still on the market are front-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive and hybridized sedans.

The Cadillac CT5 is one of the few that’s still rear-wheel-drive as it comes (AWD is available if you want it) and that just has an engine rather than an engine and an electric motor(s) and a battery pack.

It also offers some other things that may surprise you – such as a V8 engine with a supercharger. And a manual transmission.

What It Is

The CT5 is a mid-sized luxury-sport sedan that competes with other mid-sized luxury sedans such as the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class and (arguably) the Audi A7, even though the latter is much more expensive.

It is the only one of these models that doesn’t come standard with a mild-hybrid drivetrain – or a base price over $50,000.

MSRPs start at $47,595 for the Premium Lux trim, which comes with a 2.0 liter, turbocharged four cylinder engine and rear wheel drive; all-wheel-drive is available as an a la carte option for an additional $2,000 and you can also upgrade to a twin-turbo 3.0 liter V6 for another $3,500. This trim comes standard with real leather seats, a nine speaker stereo and an enormous (33 inch) digital dash.

The $48,595 Sport features a larger (19 inch) wheel/tire package, 18-way bolstered front seats, paddle shifters for the standard 10 speed automatic and a rear spoiler. The twin-turbo V6 and AWD are both available optionally.

The $56,995 V-Series comes standard with more powerful version of the twin-turbo V6, along with launch control and more aggressive “summer” tires.

Cadillac also offers a Blackwing version of the CT5 that comes standard with a supercharged V8 engine paired with a manual transmission. This ultra-performance iteration of the CT5 is rear-drive only and stickers for $95,595.

What’s New For 2025

In addition to some minor styling changes to the front and rear end, there’s a new panorama-style flatscreen display that encompasses the main instrument cluster and the secondary screen for the infotainment system.

What’s Good  

Priced thousands of dollars below rivals like the BMW 5 Series ($57,900 to start) and Mercedes E-Class ($62,400) and tens of thousands below the Audi A7 ($72,000).

You don’t have to buy a more expensive trim to get the larger/more powerful twin turbo V6 engine.

Standard engine isn’t paired up with a hybrid system, keeping the buy-in cost down (vs. rivals like the BMW 5 and Mercedes E) and probably also the long-term maintenance costs, too.

What’s Not So Good

The manual transmission is only available with supercharged V8 and both are only available in the $95k-plus Blackwing.

Very tiny (11.9 cubic foot) trunk.

New all-flatscreen display looks hi-tech today; may look cheesy in about five years from now.

Under The Hood

One of the very nice things about this Cadillac that’s also a point of difference vs. its rivals is that it is available with a four, a six and an eight. And – as regards the six – you don’t have to move up to a pricier trim to get it.

The standard 2.0 liter turbo four makes 237 horsepower and it isn’t paired with a “mild hybrid” system that shuts off the engine as often as possible to (ostensibly) improve fuel economy, as is the case with the BMW 5 sedan’s standard 2.0 liter four and the Mercedes E-sedan’s 2.0 liter four – which probably accounts for the much higher starting prices of those two.

You can go rear-drive (standard) or (optionally) all-wheel-drive.

Either way, this version of the CT5 takes about 6.5 seconds to get to 60.

Interestingly – given that the 2.0 liter engine isn’t paired with a mild hybrid system – it rates 23 MPG in city driving and 32 MPG on the highway. The BMW 5 Series – with a mild hybrid system – rates 27 city, 35 highway, which isn’t much of a difference given the $10k-to-start difference between the base 530i ($57,900) and the base CT5 ($47,595). It’s a similar story vs. the Benz E350, which also has a standard mild hybrid system and rates 24 city, 33 highway and costs $62,300.

But it does come standard with AWD. Meaning you can’t have it with rear-wheel-drive.

The Caddy is also available with a twin-turbo 3.0 liter V6 that makes 335 horsepower – as a $3,500 a la carte option, which means you do not have to buy a higher (and typically much more expensive trim) to get it. It’s is also not paired with a mild hybrid system. The Benz E also offers a turbo six, but it is paired with a mild hybrid system and you have to buy the $68,100 E450 to get it. AWD is also standard.

The Caddy offers it.

But if you prefer rear drive with the V6, you can go that way, too. There’s also an amped up (360 horsepower) version of the V6; it’s standard in the V-Series.

The Audi A7 comes standard with a six, but it only makes 335 horsepower and it’s paired with a mild hybrid system and it costs $20k more than a CT5 with the twin-turbo V6.

There’s one more thing. Two things, actually.

The CT5 Blackwing comes standard with a 6.2 liter supercharged V8 that makes 668 horsepower and 659 ft.-lbs. of torque and it comes standard – and only – with a manual (six speed) transmission. You can’t get the latter in a Corvette anymore.

The bad news is that both are only available in the Blackwing; the other engines in the other trims are all paired with a ten speed automatic transmission. There’s a reason for this, too – and it’s not because most people prefer automatics. It is that manuals can’t be programmed to perform optimally on government fuel-efficiency (and “emissions”) certification tests; in other words, they are a liability in terms of complying with federal regs. So GM – and it’s not just GM – deliberately restricts manual transmission availability to a very few, very high-end models in order to not sell too many of them (which makes complying more difficult) while still being able to offer them, in the manner of that diamond ring your girl wants but you can’t afford.

On The Road

There was a time when all luxury cars were rear-drive cars, in part because the layout has a certain feel to it that’s hard to convey unless you’ve felt it and so already know how it feels. Also, because front-wheel-drive was the layout of an economy car – and when you paid luxury car money, you expected your car to not feel like an economy car.

Then along came all-wheel-drive, which practically every car (including many luxury cars)  now comes standard with, erasing most of the feel of either FWD or RWD. AWD gives you more traction, certainly. But it takes away much of the feeling (and feedback) you used to get with a rear-drive (or a front-drive) car. The rear (or the front) wheels don’t slip when power overcomes traction, which may be desirable to people who don’t like such feedback.

This car is for those who do.

You can load the rear wheels with the accelerator pedal, keeping the brake pedal down so as to keep the rear wheels from turning. A little more throttle. Ease a bit off the brakes. Feel the rear wheels start to spin. Hear the sound. Smell the rubber. See the smoke! Let ‘er rip!

Some will say that’s juvenile. No. It’s fun. Remember when driving used to be primarily about that? Some will say it’s not safe. They’re fags. And this car is not for them. Especially not the Blackwing. Holy Mackerel! It’s a Corvette in drag and in a good way. In a better way. Because this Caddy lets you shift for yourself, greatly enhancing how it feels to drive it. The Corvette feels less because there is literally less to feel. Because there is literally less to do. It feels boring, after awhile, to just floor the accelerator and let the electronics accelerate you. In the Blackwing, you have to feel the clutch engaging and apply just enough left leg pressure to engage it smoothly and smartly. You feel the engine through the gear shifter you’re holding in your right hand – as opposed to feeling nothing when you move a range selector from Park to Drive.

Most of all, you feel safer – from cops – because the CT5 doesn’t look like a Corvette, even though it is nearly as quick and almost as fast.

It is expensive, though. Even more so than a Corvette.

The good news is there’s the twin-turbo V6, which can be had in a CT5 for about $25k less than the price of a new Corvette and thousands less than a BMW 5 or Benz E with a four. And you won’t feel or hear nothing – as you often will in them – because the Caddy’s engine stays on. Because there isn’t a mild-hybrid system constantly shutting it off to “save gas” (and cost you money).

At The Curb

Cadillacs were – traditionally – both huge and loud (visually). Some  – like the Escalade-  still are. The CT5 isn’t  – and that’s good if you don’t want or need a massive vehicle that makes a point of its massiveness, like the Escalade.

At 193.8 inches long, the mid-sized CT5 is slightly smaller than a Benz E350 (194.9 inches) and several inches shorter than the current BMW 5-Series sedan, which at 199.2 inches long is just shy of being a full-sized sedan. Yet it manages to be slightly roomier than both of these two, with 42.4 inches of legroom up front and 37.9 inches in back – vs. 41.5 inches up front and 36.2 inches in the Benz and 41.3 inches up front and 37 inches in the back of the BMW 5.

But the Caddy’s got a tiny trunk (11.9 cubic foot) trunk for its size. The BMW 5 has 18.4 cubic feet. The Benz has 12.7.

On the other hand, the Caddy has a huge new LCD display screen – all 33 inches of it – that encompasses the main instrument display and the secondary display for the infotainment stuff into a single, one-piece display that looks a lot less afterthoughty than the previous layout with a Pop Tart-like secondary 10 inch screen at the top of the center stack. Not everyone likes these LCD interfaces but at least this one isn’t a half-way measure.

It’s also standard – and speaking of that: Because it’s more affordable than most of its rivals, you can afford options, such as the available Technology Package ($2,695) that bundles  adaptive LD headlights, a Heads-Up Display, power folding exterior mirrors and illuminated door handles, among other extras. There are also Onyx, Radiant, Bronze and Blue Accent packages that you can order and still be well under the base price of a BMW 5 or Benz E350 with less equipment, a smaller engine and the mild-hybrid stuff.

The Rest

One hair in the soup is that the ’25 CT5 comes standard with one of those creepy “driver attention” monitors that pesters you if the eye-movement monitor thinks you’re not keeping your eyes on the road. Yes, it monitors your eye movement – and if you keep your eyes on what’s around you as well as what’s ahead of you, it’ll pester you.

This technology is creeping into cars like kudzu by the side of the highway. If people asked for it, ok. If it were optional, ok.

But it’s creepy that it’s being made standard when almost no one seems to want it. Except, of course, for the government.

The Bottom Line

The CT5 is not just the value proposition among mid-sized luxury-sport sedans. It’s arguable the most appealing of the lot.

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