First Drive Review: 2025 Cadillac CT5-V

Discerning what Cadillac as a brand wants to be these days can be a bit dependent on which of its products you’re sitting in at the moment. The XT4 subcompact crossover suggests a budget approach to luxury, while the made-to-order, $340,000+ Celestiq EV occupies the complete opposite end of the spectrum. But if there’s a current model that best draws from what are arguably the two strongest branches of modern Cadillac’s roots, it’s the CT5-V sedan.

That may sound like a strong statement for a car that’s flown under most people’s radar (including ours) since its debut in 2021. The mid-size CT5 itself arrived in 2019, succeeding the CTS, and since 2022, the high-performance V-8 Blackwing version has dominated the conversation. The standard V-Series cars, now representing a sporty-but-not-all-out middle tier, have had to forge a new identity in the segment. In our brief time behind the wheel of the 2025 CT5-V, though, we discovered that this version, situated between the base car and the halo Blackwing, embodies a well-balanced sport sedan worthy of attention.

The focus of our trip with Cadillac to Atlanta Motorsports Park was the CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package (which you can read about here), but we did get about an hour behind the wheel of an all-wheel drive CT5-V in the hills north of Atlanta—enough to get a feel for the car’s mid-cycle refresh for 2025.

At a starting price of $56,995 for the rear-wheel drive models and $58,995 (each up $5000 from 2024 and not including the $1395 destination fee), Cadillac has begun to address some sentiment that selecting some of their option packages can mean big jumps in cost. Super Cruise, Cadillac’s partial autonomous driving software, is now standard (it cost $3700-$4600 in 2024), as are heated and massaging seats, and the solid if unremarkable AKG audio system.

Specs: 2025 Cadillac CT5-V

• Price: $58,390 base RWD price, $60,390 AWD base price (includes $1395 destination fees)
• Powertrain: 3.0-liter twin turbocharged V-6, ten-speed paddle-shifted automatic available
• Output: 360 hp; 405 lb-ft
• Layout: Front-engine, four-door, rear-wheel- or all-wheel-drive sedan
• Competitors: Acura TLX Type S, BMW 540i xDrive

The core components of the CT5-V as it rolled out four years ago remain. The 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 continues to send its 360 horsepower through a 10-speed, paddle-shiftable automatic transmission. All the deftly-tuned mix of hardware and software that’s come to define Cadillac performance—the capable Alpha chassis augmented by magnetic dampers, an electronic limited-slip differential, and Performance Traction Management (Cadillac’s sophisticated and tunable traction and stability control system)—are present and accounted for.

On the outside, the CT5-V gets a new front fascia. Waterfall vertical LED strips frame the edges of the car, and the headlights are now stacked instead of horizontal, with grill-like strakes beneath them. It’s busier than the prior nose and isn’t quite seamless with the rest of the car’s design, which is clean if a bit subdued.

The most substantial change is in the cabin—a 33-inch display, which the CT5 shares with the Lyriq and XT4 SUVs. The sculpted LED screen curves inward and down at the edges, making it appear much less tacked-on than the hard-edged rectangular units that BMW and others employ. It also presents a much more up-to-date and visually pleasing layout than the smaller two-screen solution found in prior CT5s.

For those who get agitated thinking about screens, Cadillac covered its bases by providing physical buttons on the steering wheel and immediately behind the shifter to help navigate the menus and apps on the display. Of course, you can swipe and tap the screen, too, but toggling from nav to audio to driver modes with the handy buttons and console dial quickly becomes old hat. The setup provides clearly presented visuals that are easily navigable. Well done, Caddy.

Inside this digital expanse, we find two new pieces of software. The standard Performance app displays power, torque, boost, and other data; it’s fun, but much of what appears on the screen feels distracting rather than informative. On the flip side, Cadillac engineered a new version of its Performance Data Recorder, which is designed for those who want to study the data and footage from their track-day exploits. It’s a truly incredible bit of kit that will help drivers extract the most from their performance driving. (You can read more about it in our CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package review.) This is probably more functionality than necessary for owners who aren’t likely to track their CT5-V luxury car, but sports-sedan purchases are inherently emotional, and establishing the tie-in to the Blackwing part of the family tree is an attractive factor.

The rest of the interior matches the luxury price point and the car’s semi-sporting intent. Cadillac has incrementally improved over the years with its attention to interior details and the materials it employs—carbon fiber accents and contrast stitching adorn the CT5-V in attractive but not opulent fashion. This is a major boon to the car feeling worth what it costs; the plastic-heavy CTS interiors of the 2000s and early 2010s are long gone.

We found the 18-way adjustable seats to be comfortably bolstered and padded. We particularly appreciated the manually adjustable thigh bolsters. The heated and ventilated front buckets also have a welcome massaging function.

The CT5-V might be the “big” Caddy sedan (at least until the Celestiq halo arrives), but it’s not a boat. It’s a bit more compact than a Mercedes E-Class, but the stretched length and wheelbase (6.2 and 6.7 inches, respectively) over the related CT4 provide welcome extra room for rear passengers without hobbling the driving experience.

Once underway, the blacktop meandering through Georgia’s Appalachian foothills quickly revealed the CT5-V’s balance between the different branches of Cadillac lineage. It falls dead-center between the sharpness that characterizes the Blackwing siblings and the cushy comfort that for so long defined the brand. The car responds quickly to all inputs but never feels skittish or restless.

Across the car’s adjustable settings, which include steering, dampers, brakes, and drivetrain mapping, the CT5-V’s softest modes yield a relaxed driving experience that never turns sloppy or lazy. Crank the settings up to Sport, or even Track, and the car ups its firmness and reactions without becoming harsh. Especially when coupled with the now-standard Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving software for the more banal parts of driving, the CT5-V’s comfortable default and athletic-on-demand character suggest that it’d be a brilliant long-distance tourer and daily driver.

We asked Blaine Heavener, Cadillac’s global vehicle performance manager, about the differences between the all-wheel-drive and rear-drive models. The magnetic dampers and Performance Traction Management systems are tuned slightly differently, he says, and all-wheel-drive models use a fixed-ratio steering rack instead of the rear-drive cars’ variable unit. We did not get to sample a rear-drive CT5-V, but given those differences, and the reduced hardware up front, we’d expect the two-wheel-drive to have a livelier, more communicative front end. Your choice between the two drivetrains will likely depend on whether winter weather is a frequent obstacle, but we can attest that the all-wheel drive CT5-V remains an engaging choice.

The 360-horse 3.0-liter V-6 feels healthy, if not shirt-button-busting muscular. That makes sense when you consider that this chassis is more than capable of handling the Blackwing’s 668 horses. Heavener noted that the availability of all-wheel drive played a part in the CT5-V’s powertrain selection; the 3.0-liter had the capability to package a front axle with it, whereas the 3.6-liter found in the CT4-V Blackwing and the CT5-V’s predecessor, the 2014-2019 CTS V-Sport, did not. Would we like a pinch more power? Maybe somewhere in the mid-400s, as could be provided by that torquey 3.6? Sure, but the CT5-V’s claimed 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds is pace aplenty. If numbers really matter to you, though, the BMW M550i and Mercedes-Benz E53 AMG—both significantly more expensive—offer 0-60 sprints that are more than a second lower.

For a long time now, Cadillac’s sedans have been underpinned by the best chassis in the business. In the ’25 CT5-V, the familial traits of comfort and athleticism are augmented by a well-executed update focusing on what modern Cadillacs have been most wanting—a better interior. As competitive and brand-loyal as the sporty sedan segment tends to be, the latest CT5-V has given would-be buyers of other luxury brands plenty of reasons to look Cadillac’s way.

2025 Cadillac CT5-V

Highs: Great chassis dynamics, more standard options, well-executed interior updates
Lows: Could have a bit more power, lacks a little visual presence, stereo could be improved
Takeaway: If you want a comfortable tourer that can turn up the wick when you need it, the CT5-V is worth your attention