Media dumps

[xeerohour]

A long drive and review of the ct4. I wasn't familiar with this guy before today, but I enjoyed the video. Living vicariously until my order comes through.

 

[rdollie]

There are SEVERAL excellent productions for reviews of both Blackwings but for some reason this POV variant inspires more of a behind the wheel feel than any other for me. So much so I'm thinking about how to add a 4 BW manual alongside my 5 BW auto at some point...

 

[Elessthree]

After watching his Chevy SS review/POV video I was sold. Bought one within a week. Loved the exhaust, three pedals and the LS3. He records on roads I drive everyday around 696 and 275 in metro Detroit

 

[Beamz27]

From today. Notice what they say about the 4V’s engine. “could handle more power”. Wish they would have cranked the boost a bit more as we all know it can handle it.

2022 BMW M3 Competition vs. Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing: Last in Line

This one boiled down to one question: Which one absolutely melted our brains?

www.motortrend.com

 

[Ryan]

From today. Notice what they say about the 4V’s engine. “could handle more power”. Wish they would have cranked the boost a bit more as we all know it can handle it.

2022 BMW M3 Competition vs. Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing: Last in Line

This one boiled down to one question: Which one absolutely melted our brains?

www.motortrend.com

The engine in the competition model is a whole different beast from the manual version of the m3. I’m not really surprised it won, it’s probably putting 80 hp more at the wheels compared to the caddy.

I think the caddy will win in a 6MT vs 6MT showdown. The power numbers are much closer, the caddy has a better shifter and chassis, the bmw has the nicer interior.

 

[Soundman414]

From today. Notice what they say about the 4V’s engine. “could handle more power”. Wish they would have cranked the boost a bit more as we all know it can handle it.

2022 BMW M3 Competition vs. Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing: Last in Line

This one boiled down to one question: Which one absolutely melted our brains?

www.motortrend.com

Sigh... So the cadillac loses because they want more power after saying power doesn't really matter when they are that close, and the engine noise (which is highly subjective and the CT4-V BW sounds better stock than the ATS-V did).

But they give the M3C the win even though they don't like the brakes and it's fugly.... I'll give them the fact that a high boost I6 engine is pretty much the best combo ever put in any car.

 

[Beamz27]

The engine in the competition model is a whole different beast from the manual version of the m3. I’m not really surprised it won, it’s probably putting 80 hp more at the wheels compared to the caddy.

I think the caddy will win in a 6MT vs 6MT showdown. The power numbers are much closer, the caddy has a better shifter and chassis, the bmw has the nicer interior.

My point was caddy very well could have easily squeezed more than 8 more HP out of this engine if they wanted to. And they should have. Could have easily given it 500hp. We all know these motors can handle into the 600 range on a tune. Not sure why they only gave it an extra 8HP.

The Comp motor is no joke though. A total beast

 

[strohw]

The engine is a huge selling point for people all the time. Just look at the 5BW, the V8 sells the car. If it had the 3.6L it would not be anywhere near as popular as it is.

The s58 in the M3 is without question the best volume produced 6cyc engine on the market. You can get over 600whp with a RWD transmission on just a 93 tune out of a 3L engine. It demolishes all the other major competitors. The 3.6L in the 4BW hits about 500whp on a 93 tune. Not only that it FEELS fun to drive. It's a bit low on a power until 3k then it hits like hammer and pulls to redline at 7.2k.

I disagree on the exhaust sound though, I think the 4BW sounds as good if not slightly better. The s58 does not sound good. The M3 also does not have more options than the 4BW for config nor is it harder to setup. Plus it has 2 custom setups instead of 1 in the 4BW.

 

[Jameson's Viggen]

My point was caddy very well could have easily squeezed more than 8 more HP out of this engine if they wanted to. And they should have. Could have easily given it 500hp. We all know these motors can handle into the 600 range on a tune. Not sure why they only gave it an extra 8HP.

The Comp motor is no joke though. A total beast

My buddy got himself an Xdrive Competition. They started cracking the ecu in Russia lol. So he sent out his ECU and with downpipes and E40 the car is making about 700hp(I am guessing crank) and runs 9.8s at 140mph. That's downright nutty.

BMW boosted engines are historically underrated. So the stock comp is likely 500-510whp all day while the 3.6 is likely dead on it's SAE rating and does about 425whp. So nearly a 100whp delta STOCK.

The engine in the competition model is a whole different beast from the manual version of the m3. I’m not really surprised it won, it’s probably putting 80 hp more at the wheels compared to the caddy.

I think the caddy will win in a 6MT vs 6MT showdown. The power numbers are much closer, the caddy has a better shifter and chassis, the bmw has the nicer interior.

The thing is, the competition isn't offered in 6mt which is annoying. I ruled out the M3 from being ugly anyway.

 

[Ryan]

If you look at car and drivers trap speeds for the ct4 with a stick, m4 with a stick, and m3 comp from here:

CT4
M4
M3 Comp

And plug the weight and speed into this calculator: Calculator

You get estimates for crank horsepower of:
CT4 V BW: 469 HP (pretty close to the SAE rating of 472)
M4: 513 HP
M3 Comp: 568 HP

I havent driven any of these so take my armchair opinions with a grain of salt, but im guessing the 40hp advantage of the M4 stick doesnt feel all that different. But 100 hp is certainly noticeable. The M3 comp is right in the middle of the Ct4 and Ct5 BWs for crying out loud. And while 25 psi of boost seems absolutely bonkers to me, no one can argue that BMWs inline 6s aren't absolute gems from a sound, linear power distribution, nvh, and (recently) durability.

Of course from a pricing standpoint, the M3 comps are dangerously close to CT5 blackwings. I get that the M3 comp is quantitatively better than the CT4 with an automatic, but is it better than a CT4 and a briefcase with 15,000$ in it? $30,000 with all the options? Thats a stripper Ct4 BW and a WRX for the winters Is it better than a stripper CT5 Blackwing? Tougher sale there.

I still think the best driver's car will be the Ct4 V BW with a stick shift, the sublime chassis, and good but not best in class TTV6 engine.

Flame away!

 

[Mbar]

My point was caddy very well could have easily squeezed more than 8 more HP out of this engine if they wanted to. And they should have. Could have easily given it 500hp. We all know these motors can handle into the 600 range on a tune. Not sure why they only gave it an extra 8HP.

The Comp motor is no joke though. A total beast

I agree. However, GM is giving us full track warranty. Blow your (stock) engine on the race track and they'll replace it! They had to balance the power and warranty.

 

[RDATLTE]

If you look at car and drivers trap speeds for the ct4 with a stick, m4 with a stick, and m3 comp from here:

CT4
M4
M3 Comp

And plug the weight and speed into this calculator: Calculator

You get estimates for crank horsepower of:
CT4 V BW: 469 HP (pretty close to the SAE rating of 472)
M4: 513 HP
M3 Comp: 568 HP

I havent driven any of these so take my armchair opinions with a grain of salt, but im guessing the 40hp advantage of the M4 stick doesnt feel all that different. But 100 hp is certainly noticeable. The M3 comp is right in the middle of the Ct4 and Ct5 BWs for crying out loud. And while 25 psi of boost seems absolutely bonkers to me, no one can argue that BMWs inline 6s aren't absolute gems from a sound, linear power distribution, nvh, and (recently) durability.

Of course from a pricing standpoint, the M3 comps are dangerously close to CT5 blackwings. I get that the M3 comp is quantitatively better than the CT4 with an automatic, but is it better than a CT4 and a briefcase with 15,000$ in it? $30,000 with all the options? Thats a stripper Ct4 BW and a WRX for the winters Is it better than a stripper CT5 Blackwing? Tougher sale there.

I still think the best driver's car will be the Ct4 V BW with a stick shift, the sublime chassis, and good but not best in class TTV6 engine.

Flame away!

Not to mention the $10K ADM on the Ms when i was able to get my BW at MSRP.

 

[strohw]

I get that the M3 comp is quantitatively better than the CT4 with an automatic, but is it better than a CT4 and a briefcase with 15,000$ in it?

Keep in mind that a lot of people lease new M cars/suv. BMW does a very good job of incentivizing leases through artificially high residuals and low money factor. A 65k 4BW costs the same to lease as a 78k M3.

 

[strohw]

Not to mention the $10K ADM on the Ms when i was able to get my BW at MSRP.

I bought my BW from a listing on Autotrader on 10/1/21. At the time I was looking at M3 and decided against them. I found multiple M3 at MSRP up to 2K ADM. The only manual 4BW on Autotrader that didn't have a ADM was the one I bought. It could be different now.

 

[RDATLTE]

I bought my BW from a listing on Autotrader on 10/1/21. At the time I was looking at M3 and decided against them. I found multiple M3 at MSRP up to 2K ADM. The only manual 4BW on Autotrader that didn't have a ADM was the one I bought. It could be different now.

In SoCal, when the Ms were just arriving, prior to me finalizing my BW purchase at MSRP, M3s & M4s were all $10K over MSRP.

 

[Beamz27]

I agree. However, GM is giving us full track warranty. Blow your (stock) engine on the race track and they'll replace it! They had to balance the power and warranty.

Didn’t they do that with the ATS V also?

 

[Mbar]

Didn’t they do that with the ATS V also?

Yes. ATS-V / CTS-V / Camaro SS and above had track warranty.

 

[strohw]

The power train warranty is also better as it's a 6/70k vs a 4/50k on the M3. Though BMW does give you 3/36k free maintenance. Which on that motor is a break in procedure(oil and diff fluid), oil changes, 1 air filter chance and spark plugs change.

I'm not super familiar with the 3.6L in the 4BW. I assume it's been around for awhile now and fairly reliable?

 

[Beamz27]

The power train warranty is also better as it's a 6/70k vs a 4/50k on the M3. Though BMW does give you 3/36k free maintenance. Which on that motor is a break in procedure(oil and diff fluid), oil changes, 1 air filter chance and spark plugs change.

I'm not super familiar with the 3.6L in the 4BW. I assume it's been around for awhile now and fairly reliable?

Correct and can drive reliably at around 600hp. Caddy could have upped the power on this to 500hp and been just fine

 

[Beamz27]

Yes. ATS-V / CTS-V / Camaro SS and above had track warranty.

So they still could have bumped it up to 500hp without any worry. A small percentage actually track the cars. Caddy could have taken the cake from Alfa and BMW w a bit of a power bump.