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I finally got a chance to drive a Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing with the 6spd. manual! It was a short drive, but long enough to determine that it is an excellent manual transmission. Every reviewer seems to think Honda makes the best manual transmissions, but this is even better. The Cadillac clutch and gear throw feel much more solid and heavy duty like they are just made from better materials. Probably because they have to be to handle all the extra power. The shift lever is well weighted and the 3D printed cap is a nice touch.
The capabilities of this car far exceed anything you can do legally on the street. The power and acceleration are immediate and intensely satisfying. The steering is very responsive and the brakes are even better. The engine even sounds pretty good- at least better than the ATS-V that this replaces. So what is left on the market to compare this to? Not much. The BMW M3 comes to mind, but I don't like the front end. Even the Competition model with AWD only runs about 1 second faster lap times at VIR and costs $20,000 more (also not available with M/T in that trim).
I really think this is the perfect replacement for my heavily modified G37 that I was mostly daily driving with a few track days. That is a super small niche market, but this car improves everything compared to the G37. The Blackwing I drove had $10,000 of equipment and listed just over $72,000. Certainly a fair amount of money, but it seems like a bargain compared to the M3. A lot of Blackwings are even more loaded up in the $80-$90k range. Heck, this car even has a $3,000 rebate and 0.9% for 36 months.
What's not to like? The light blue is probably not my 1st choice. It's not equipped how I would order it, but it's close enough and extremely hard to get. It really boils down to timing. The money I have saved up for this is invested until April and we just got two new cars. This is hard to admit, but it might be that I am getting old and my needs have changed since I had the G37. I'm not as excited about doing track days, I feel like I could have just as much fun 99% of the time in a car costing $20-$30k less, and that car would also be a better daily driver. Part of me thinks, "The hell with it, just get the car! You only live once." Unfortunately, I fear a bigger part of me is too practical for that to happen. There was a reviewer in Car & Driver who remarked that Cadillac finally nailed the sports sedan just in time for no one to notice. I feel similar in that it was the perfect car for me at a different time.
This car looks even better in person. Very clean lines with perfectly understated aggression. The blue is growing on me.
I would have preferred the seats with the suede inserts, but these add cooling and massage options. Which I just realized I forgot to try. Doh! The bolstering is pretty massive, but they are surprisingly easy to get in and out of.
The reviews are not great for the interior of this car, but I find it really nice inside and appreciate the alcantara steering wheel and shifter. The carbon fiber looks good too. Drive modes are much easier to change than BMW and this interior is a huge improvement over the ATS-V, especially the gauges.
@4DRZ really appreciate the CT4 writeup (and pics, beautiful car).
I was recently heading to a local dealer who had a 6MT CT4 BW on the lot, with only a few thousnad miles on it, selling for around $60k. Wanted to give it a run around the block to see if the level of performance it delivers is really something I'd enjoy, but it sold the evening before I headed out there. Oh well, maybe I get a chance to drive one soon.
All to say, the window for buying a 6MT sport sedan is quickly closing. I'm at a crossroads where I either:
1) keep the G, upgrade it a bit, keep it garaged (finally), and maintain piece of mind as the orignal owner who has kept up with maintenance (so can reasonably expect many more years of reliability). BUT over the long haul, I might get bored. And if i wait much longer, the well will quickly dry up and alternative cars will be very hard to find and $$$$
2) buy a low-miles upgrade. Was thinking about the B8.5 S4 as an incremental upgrade, but the ship has sailed for a clean, low-mile, single-owner one (waited too long). Considered F30 340i, but not for me. Considered F30 M3, drove one, it was great but didn't love it. Hate new BMW style. Audi has dropped 6MT for the S4 back in 2017 I believe. So then comes the Cadillac, CV4 BW to be exact. Haven't driven it yet, but I suspect the upgrade will be too much. I love the idea of getting a really capable car now and enjoy it for a decade+ (I just hit 10 years with my G, and I still love driving it). But I'm conflicted that I'll pay $$$$ for performance I'd rarely use.
I've been going back and forth on this since I realized that the 6MT sport sedan market is drying up way faster than expected (and managed my expenses and made some career pivots over the years, so lucky enough to have a nice nest egg).
Last edited by STownSaint; 11-21-2023 at 04:41 PM.
keep the G, upgrade it a bit, keep it garaged (finally), and maintain piece of mind as the orignal owner who has kept up with maintenance (so can reasonably expect many more years of reliability). BUT over the long haul, I might get bored.
Short rear gears and a tune. That should hold you over for a year or two.
@4DRZ really appreciate the CT4 writeup (and pics, beautiful car).
I was recently heading to a local dealer who had a 6MT CT4 BW on the lot, with only a few thousnad miles on it, selling for around $60k. Wanted to give it a run around the block to see if the level of performance it delivers is really something I'd enjoy, but it sold the evening before I headed out there. Oh well, maybe I get a chance to drive one soon.
All to say, the window for buying a 6MT sport sedan is quickly closing. I'm at a crossroads where I either:
1) keep the G, upgrade it a bit, keep it garaged (finally), and maintain piece of mind as the orignal owner who has kept up with maintenance (so can reasonably expect many more years of reliability). BUT over the long haul, I might get bored. And if i wait much longer, the well will quickly dry up and alternative cars will be very hard to find and $$$$
2) buy a low-miles upgrade. Was thinking about the B8.5 S4 as an incremental upgrade, but the ship has sailed for a clean, low-mile, single-owner one (waiting too long). Considered F30 340i, but not for me. Considered F30 M3, drove one, it was great but didn't love it. Hate new BMW style. Audi has dropped 6MT for the S4 back in 2017 I believe. So then comes the Cadillac, CV4 BW to be exact. Haven't driven it yet, but I suspect the upgrade will be too much. I love the idea of getting a really capable car now and enjoy it for a decade+ (I just hit 10 years with my G, and I still love driving it). But I'm conflicted that I'll pay $$$$ for performance I'd rarely use.
I've been going back and forth on this since I realized that the 6MT sport sedan market is drying up way faster than expected (and fortunately, I've managed my expenses by making a bunch of career pivots over the years, so lucky enough to have a nice nest egg).
Thanks. Not my pics of the car, but the only ones I could find of it that are not computer generated. The Blackwing is a hell of a car. 472 hp & 445 lb/ft. works for me. You're right, it is a chunk of change though. It's not the right car for me right this second, but maybe it will be in 2-3 years when used ones are $40-$50k. For some weird reason I really struggle to spend more than that on a car that will see track duty. I feel like a brand new one is a lot to spend on a car if I wreck it on track.
So then comes the Cadillac, CV4 BW to be exact. Haven't driven it yet, but I suspect the upgrade will be too much. I love the idea of getting a really capable car now and enjoy it for a decade+ (I just hit 10 years with my G, and I still love driving it). But I'm conflicted that I'll pay $$$$ for performance I'd rarely use..
4DRZ alluded to a similar point, and it's something I realized several years ago when I ended up getting my R. It seems like the middle ground, between cars like the CTR, Golf R etc, with ~300ish horsepower, and ~500 horsepower Blackwings and M3s is just gone if you want a manual. The cost of one of those cars, to shuffle my kids/family around, commute to work a couple days a month, and maybe get a few backroad runs in is just more than I want to afford. I'd get more use out of a pool
We recently got in a 2021 Veloster N and I finally got a chance to drive it. I think the last time I drove one was in 2019 when it debuted. It is funny how perceptions change. I remember thinking in 2019 that the exhaust sounded overdone when opened up compared to how good my G sounded with headers, intake, exhaust, etc. Today, compared to my recent electric cars it actually sounds really good for a 4 cylinder. Tough to do since most 4 cylinders don't sound great.
Fortunately, it is still a hoot to drive and puts a smile on your face every time. The shifter, clutch, and pedal placement are all good. It was a very cold 20 degrees today, but once the tires warmed up, it put the power down nicely (even with summer tires). Power abounds for around town. The handling is good and very tossable as you would expect in a proper hot hatch. The Infinity stereo even sounds good and maybe even a touch better than what I remember of the Bose system in the Elantra N I heard a long time ago. This car scores very well in "bang for the buck" and "fun to drive" categories for an around the town hot hatch. The surprises of the drive were how direct the inputs were and how responsive it was to drive. I did not recall it being this sharp. I also forgot about the F1 style shift lights in the top of the dash- a nice touch. All of the interior controls are very easy to use and drive modes are extremely simple to switch. All sports cars should be this well laid out. The switch I used most often was the volume button on the steering wheel in order to mute the stereo so that I could hear the exhaust (which sounds even better than the stereo).
It's not perfect though. The inside still feels very plastic fantastic- lots of hard plastics. The ride is also a bit firm, even in comfort mode. It is doable as a daily driver, but only if you are not surrounded by bad roads.
I love hatchbacks. It would probably look better without the red stripes, but they look slightly more appropriate here than on the Elantra N.
Everything is easy to operate on the fly, as it should be. However, it is all encased in a sea of hard plastics. The Elantra N gets some larger and nicer digital screens.
The seats are very supportive and pretty comfortable if a bit thin to absorb some bumps. Only really a concern on bad roads with my bad back.
IDK about that. I had a friend with a 2013 (?) STi with the factory sport exhaust, and that little Subaru sounded fantastic.
Heck, you owned a STi for a while, right?
Agreed about the red stripe down low. Figure Nismo can get away with it, but few other cars.
Allow me to clarify- INLINE 4 cylinders are tough to make sound good. I can only think of the Fiat 500 Abarth and maybe a Neon SRT4 (since they had no mufflers from the factory) that sounded decent for an inline 4 cylinder. The boxer 4 in Subarus can sound pretty nice. I had 4 Subarus (2 STI's) and they all sounded great with aftermarket exhaust. The Type RA even sounded decent with the stock exhaust.
@lego maniac (or anyone else familiar with the last gen Golf R): How do you like your Golf R? Anything you don't like? What do you think of the stereo and ride quality? They both seem pretty decent to me.
We just got in a black '18 Golf R with low mileage and I completely forgot how much I like this car. I was pretty set on a new '24 GTI SE later this year and just dealing with all the haptic buttons, but I am starting to think an '18 or '19 Golf R 6 speed might be a better option for me. I actually dug through the first 128 pages of this thread to get my original take on a used one we had here a few years ago. At the time I passed on a new Golf R because I was more into track days. With my bum back I am now a lot more interested in a smooth ride, nice fit/finish, good features, and a good stereo.
This car seems to check all those boxes. The interior just seems like a much nicer/richer place to be than a new GTI and the digital dash is actually a couple inches larger. I like all the little things better too like a sunglass holder above the windshield, the shift ****, it actually has a CD player, electric lumbar support for my back, and the fact it has real buttons. The additional power and AWD is just a bonus. The pricing on these is actually pretty good right now and because they originally came with a huge warranty adding another 4 or 5 years comprehensive is actually surprisingly affordable.
I don't see too many downsides. The styling of this generation always bugged me looking at the rear standing at the front. I could never put my finger on it until comparing it to a new GTI. It's the stubby spoiler that just makes this generation look like it was cut too short in the back. Fortunately, there are spoiler extensions that would easily fix this. I also don't like the lack of rolling the windows down with the remote in the summer- especially since it has leather seats. But I think Lego mentioned that this feature can actually be coded to work. (Correct me if I am wrong.) I also wish the '18's and '19's has the '17 wheels, but it looks like a lot of people swap them out so not the end of the world.
I actually like the front end better on this generation R than the current one. Not a huge fan of these wheels, but that is an easy fix. Wish the '18's and '19's still had headlight washers, but I think the digital dash and larger radio display make up for it.
The interior is so much nicer than the new Golf R and how refreshing to have actual buttons.
@lego maniac (or anyone else familiar with the last gen Golf R): How do you like your Golf R? Anything you don't like? What do you think of the stereo and ride quality? They both seem pretty decent to me.
I have no real complaints. I know it's a compromise vs the M3 and ATS-V that I was also considering, but 5 years in and I'm not looking else where. The ride quality in Comfort is noticeably better than Race. The stereo is good, I thought it was on par with the G37 Bose. It's fantastic if you ditch the crappy OEM sub and replace it with a box and larger speaker. There is a company that makes a pre-fabbed box, you can upgrade to a 12" for about $200 plug and play if you're into that kind of thing.
Originally Posted by 4DRZ
We just got in a black '18 Golf R with low mileage and I completely forgot how much I like this car. I was pretty set on a new '24 GTI SE later this year and just dealing with all the haptic buttons, but I am starting to think an '18 or '19 Golf R 6 speed might be a better option for me. I actually dug through the first 128 pages of this thread to get my original take on a used one we had here a few years ago. At the time I passed on a new Golf R because I was more into track days. With my bum back I am now a lot more interested in a smooth ride, nice fit/finish, good features, and a good stereo.
This car seems to check all those boxes. The interior just seems like a much nicer/richer place to be than a new GTI and the digital dash is actually a couple inches larger. I like all the little things better too like a sunglass holder above the windshield, the shift ****, it actually has a CD player, electric lumbar support for my back, and the fact it has real buttons. The additional power and AWD is just a bonus. The pricing on these is actually pretty good right now and because they originally came with a huge warranty adding another 4 or 5 years comprehensive is actually surprisingly affordable.
I don't see too many downsides. The styling of this generation always bugged me looking at the rear standing at the front. I could never put my finger on it until comparing it to a new GTI. It's the stubby spoiler that just makes this generation look like it was cut too short in the back. Fortunately, there are spoiler extensions that would easily fix this. I also don't like the lack of rolling the windows down with the remote in the summer- especially since it has leather seats. But I think Lego mentioned that this feature can actually be coded to work. (Correct me if I am wrong.) I also wish the '18's and '19's has the '17 wheels, but it looks like a lot of people swap them out so not the end of the world.
Yeah, I hated the wheels. Swapping those out was my first mod. Just remember to be mindful of offset, width and spoke design should you ever want to upgrade to a BBK
There are tons of things to code/change, including auto up/down windows via remote. Adding 5* to the seated heats is another great tweak.
Those wheels were actually optional in 2019, although black instead of silver. You probably know this, but any of the facelift cars (2018, 2019) will have the 6/72 B2B warranty.
Thanks @lego maniac ! I was curious about the ride quality because I cannot remember if the suspension on the 2018 & 2019 Golf R is adaptive or not like the new VW's that can change 200 times/sec. A big selling point for me on a new GTI is that the ride is easily the best of any car in its class. I was only able to drive this Golf R around our parking lot, but I remember them riding well so I think I am ok.
Would a VW service center be able to code the windows and seat temp or do I need to get the app and obd2 tool? Now that you mentioned the seats, they were not all that hot- even on level 3.
Thanks @lego maniac ! I was curious about the ride quality because I cannot remember if the suspension on the 2018 & 2019 Golf R is adaptive or not like the new VW's that can change 200 times/sec. A big selling point for me on a new GTI is that the ride is easily the best of any car in its class. I was only able to drive this Golf R around our parking lot, but I remember them riding well so I think I am ok.
Would a VW service center be able to code the windows and seat temp or do I need to get the app and obd2 tool? Now that you mentioned the seats, they were not all that hot- even on level 3.
The 18+ cars have adaptive suspension standard. I have idea how many times/sec it can change, but I’d assume the MK8 is incrementally faster. It definitely makes a noticeable difference, enough so that my wife asks me to change it when she’s in the car.
I’d assume a dealership could code the windows. Since I’m not in the industry, the obdeleven scan tool is cheaper and easier. There are lots of little things to adjust, like what % volume the radio defaults to on startup, enabling auto high beams, enable inputs in motion etc. Definitely worth the $$ if you get into a VW.
11-18-2023, 02:18 PM
That should hold you over for a year or two.
to get my original take on a used one we had here a few years ago. At the time I passed on a new Golf R because I was more into track days. With my bum back I am now a lot more interested in a smooth ride, nice fit/finish, good features, and a good stereo.
