The GT3 was the second-fastest car here, thanks in part to the impressive Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. The Porsche came in for universal praise, with every member of the staff stoked on the engine, the turn-in, the sheer delight of that gearbox. “The noise! The front end!” wrote Perkins.“No car inspires so much confidence on track,”said Baime. “This is PCOTY royalty,” said Kinard.
A high accolade, and one that also applies to the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. This is Cadillac’s ultimate internal-combustion performance car. All future models will be electric. It’s a hell of a send-off.
Familiar magic: GM’s venerable small-block V-8, supercharged and putting out 668 hp, attached to a Tremec six-speed manual and rear-wheel drive. The chassis is truly unbelievable, with MagneRide dampers tuned so perfectly, they’ll make you emotional. “Superb body control. Chassis silky, composed, competent,” wrote Kinard. Every trick in GM’s book is here, including the fantastic Performance Traction Management system, which cuts spark instead of braking to control wheelspin. Genuine motorsport stuff.
The result isn’t just a brilliant sport sedan. It’s one of the best sport sedans of all time. It’s not the quickest in a straight line, and it wasn’t the quickest on track—Monticello’s tighter layout put the Blackwing fifth. None of that matters. No car besides the GT3 earned this kind of reaction. Every note about the Caddy was littered with exclamations and heart emoji, a flurry of love letters to a soon-to-be-bygone era.
While the M4 got up to speed quicker, the Blackwing had layers to discover. I wanted to keep lapping, so I did, offering rides to everyone. Everything about this car was tuned with loving care: The gearbox is perfect. The steering is feelsome and delightful. And the engine? Beyond reproach. The small-block has been a staple for generations, and it’s easy to see why. This is the complete package, the sort of car we’ve begged someone to make for years, and GM did...
Finally, there’s a blue Cadillac. More than a decade ago, the luxury purveyors from Detroit fixed their sights on BMW and never turned back. While Cadillac has built some epic metal in the interim, this sedan is its master stroke. The CT5-V Blackwing conversation was not about whether it’s a great sport sedan but about whether it’s the greatest sport sedan. It’s that good.
The Caddy’s heavy inputs lend a granite-like solidity through every corner, no matter the road surface. The Blackwing’s steering wheel, shift action, and pedals all reward with hefty, positive feedback that communicates the weight of the car, but never make it feel cumbersome. That attitude is followed in lock step by the chassis tuning and that burly powertrain, a 6.2-liter V-8 with a supercharger perched on top.
As much as they shined on the track, the magnetic dampers felt doubly good out here, turning cobbles into a procession of clouds underfoot.
We came away enthralled by the brash Americanness of the thing. How Cadillac baked refinement into the muscle-car mold but didn’t backdown from knuckle-dragger charm. How could you choose a winner from the bunch?
Our three finalists for the PCOTY title represent different performance formulas, but each had six forward gears, three pedals, and rear-wheel drive. Coincidence?
Ultimately, the debate was less a sober litigation and more a reflection on what Performance Car of the Year actually means. The Cadillac may be the last V-8 stick-shift sport sedan ever to lay two greasy slabs of rubber down an American blacktop. Isn’t that worth celebrating? Or do you reward the 911 for its race-car soul and life-affirming flat-six? And what about the Toyota 86, that ear-to-ear grin on wheels?