The Cadillac Blackwing Falls Behind the 6 Fastest V8 Sedans
The Cadillac Blackwing is the last of its kind. Now that the Charger Hellcat is gone, the Blackwing (which that big Dodge most likely inspired) is the final supercharged V8 sedan Detroit offers. But it is far from the final V8 sports sedan. And in a race to 60 mph, the Germans will eat the Blackwing’s lunch. Here’s how the speeds of the fastest ten stack up.
| Car | Engine | Power | 0-60 MPH | Top Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 PHEV | 831 horses/1,032 lb-ft | 2.9 seconds | 195 MPH |
| Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 Hybrid | 670 horses/685 lb-ft | 3.0 seconds | 196 MPH |
| BMW M8 Competition Grand Coupe | 4.4-liter Turbo V8 | 617 horses/533 lb-ft | 3.0 seconds | 190 MPH |
| Mercedes-AMG S63 S E Performance | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 PHEV | 791 horses/1,055 lb-ft | 3.2 seconds | 155 MPH |
| Audi RS7 Performance | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 | 621 horses/627 lb-ft | 3.2 seconds | 190 MPH |
| BMW M5 | 4.4-liter Turbo V8 | 717 horses/738 lb-ft | 3.4 seconds | 190 MPH |
| Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing | 6.2-liter Supercharged V8 | 668 horses/659 lb-ft | 3.4 seconds | 200 MPH |
| Audi S8 | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 | 563 horses/590 lb-ft | 3.8 seconds | 155 MPH |
| Bentley Flying Spur | 4.0-liter Turbo V8 | 535 horses/568 lb-ft | 4.0 seconds | 198 MPH |
| Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance | 5.0-liter V8 | 472 hores/395 lb-ft | 4.4 seconds | 149 MPH |
Fine, I’ll say it. The elephant in the room is the Tesla Model S Plaid’s 2.0-second 0-60 MPH time. I’m not saying luxury super-sedan buyers who love the sound of their V8 are going to trade it in for the heavy Plaid because of that EV’s one party trick. But Mercedes and Porsche have obviously noticed the future of speed is electric. Notice the multiple hybrids on this list.
The Germans all prefer their 4.0-liter and 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8s. And at this point, it is a tried-and true configuration. When BMW began supplying Bentley with engines in 1998, the layout of the 4.0-liter was obviously good enough that Bentley stuck with the displacement once it began building its own engines.
The two big outliers here are the Blackwing and Lexus IS 500 F Sport with its naturally-aspirated 5.0-liter V8. And that’s one of the smaller, nimbler sedans on this list. And it has a $60k MSRP. If you’re a fan of sports sedans, Lexus deserves a round of applause for putting this one into production.
And that brings us to the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. Just like the Hellcat family before it, the monstrous RWD muscle sedan gets surprisingly little 0-60 advantage from its huge supercharged engine. So what’s the point of a 6.2-liter V8 with a blower? Highway pulls.
Reviewers agree that the Blackwing comes alive at 50 MPH and keeps going strong until its top end. Finally, the Cadillac is also a truly luxurious sedan that will probably cost $20k less than any German car on this list. So while the Blackwing may fall behind the fastest V8 sedans at first, you could say it catches up where it counts.
