650 mile road trip - '22 CT5-V Blackwing six-speed

[quikag]

So, I'm coming on my two-year anniversary with my car #26. I don't daily drive it and use it somewhat sparingly as I want to keep it for a very long time. But, this weekend I had a chance to head up to Tulsa to visit my brother and his family, so I grabbed the key to the Blackwing and headed up.

What an amazing road trip machine. So, comfortable and smooth, but so damn fast when you want it to be. Comfy cooled, massage seats, incredible suspension, carbon ceramic brakes are unbelievable to bleed speed effortlessly with perfect pedal feel. Stereo sounds awesome. Only main issue is EVERYONE is driving too slow around me.

On a stretch of private road with zero other traffic, I kept clicking up the cruise control to see what it topped out at and gave up at 150mph. See attached picture. Besides some engine roar and a bit of road noise, it was a total non-issue at these speeds, of course.

I love the BW even more now after my awesome weekend with it. We are all very lucky to own such amazingly integrated and capable machines. Great job again, Blackwing team!!!!

 

[ukcats12]

First thing I'm doing with mine after it's broken in is taking a trip down the entirety of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Glad to see it's a good roadtrip car.

 

[Head Hunter]

First thing I'm doing with mine after it's broken in is taking a trip down the entirety of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Glad to see it's a good roadtrip car.

Hell yeah - I found out that North Carolina is pretty broken up with construction and detours, but VA Blue Ridge is easy sailing. You can go from Cherokee to Asheville on the Blue Ridge without issue but after that it's hit or miss.

 

[ukcats12]

Hell yeah - I found out that North Carolina is pretty broken up with construction and detours, but VA Blue Ridge is easy sailing. You can go from Cherokee to Asheville on the Blue Ridge without issue but after that it's hit or miss.

Damn, hopefully that's fixed by October. Thinking of doing it middle of the month to see some of the foliage.

 

[bloominguez]

Damn, hopefully that's fixed by October. Thinking of doing it middle of the month to see some of the foliage.

That feels like the wrong play. Motorcycle friends and I specifically *AVOID* the Parkway like the plague at that time. I could not imagine how frustrating it would be to be driving a road like that (and all the better roads that connect to it), in a car like the Blackwing, with all the rolling chicanes in place at that time. Luckily I'll never know. The sweet spot is September. Gotta go after school starts but before the leaves turn.

 

[Head Hunter]

That feels like the wrong play. Motorcycle friends and I specifically *AVOID* the Parkway like the plague at that time. I could not imagine how frustrating it would be to be driving a road like that (and all the better roads that connect to it), in a car like the Blackwing, with all the rolling chicanes in place at that time. Luckily I'll never know. The sweet spot is September. Gotta go after school starts but before the leaves turn.

Hit me up when you're taking the BW and I'll roll out, even if it's with the whole fam

 

[bloominguez]

Hit me up when you're taking the BW and I'll roll out, even if it's with the whole fam

Motorcycle trip planned for Sept. 16-24 timeframe. Probably going to be based near Waynesville, and riding various routes radiating from there daily. Work getting in the way so far, haven't been able to get the Blackwing far enough north yet, but will let you know.

 

[DinoPower]

@quikag , great write-up and the road car aspect is of particular interest to me. I've found that 3 cars is the ideal number in my fleet, and I just pick-up a 2017 Porsche Cayenne S for the road miles. Ideally the Cayenne would go as a trade-in for the CT5BW, with my only hesitation being the loss of the ability to throw a road bike in the back. (Thanks to another forum user, I have found the post about adding a hitch to the CT5, and I would do that to my car.) As some expanded reporting would you please add a few additional sentences about:

• Did you end up returning about 21 mpg for the entire trip? How does the mpg compare to your Escalade?
• For seat comfort, do you have the semi-aniline or the performance (upgraded) seats?
• For the AKG, is it as nice as what you have in your Escalade? By chance, did you ever listen to the AKG in a CT4BW? (Asking because I thought the AKG was sub-standard in the 4BW, but on one short experience with the 5BW--I liked the AKG.)

Thank you for your post and looking forward to some more reading.

 

[PrimeTime]

So, I'm coming on my two-year anniversary with my car #26. I don't daily drive it and use it somewhat sparingly as I want to keep it for a very long time. But, this weekend I had a chance to head up to Tulsa to visit my brother and his family, so I grabbed the key to the Blackwing and headed up.

What an amazing road trip machine. So, comfortable and smooth, but so damn fast when you want it to be. Comfy cooled, massage seats, incredible suspension, carbon ceramic brakes are unbelievable to bleed speed effortlessly with perfect pedal feel. Stereo sounds awesome. Only main issue is EVERYONE is driving too slow around me.

On a stretch of private road with zero other traffic, I kept clicking up the cruise control to see what it topped out at and gave up at 150mph. See attached picture. Besides some engine roar and a bit of road noise, it was a total non-issue at these speeds, of course.

I love the BW even more now after my awesome weekend with it. We are all very lucky to own such amazingly integrated and capable machines. Great job again, Blackwing team!!!!

View attachment 20411

3900 RPM at a Buck Fifty! Enough said!!!! It's a blast to drive whatever tranny flavor you choose!

Rainy season over here and she doesn't get out much at all. That's said, when I can grab the FOB on a good day its all smiles!

 

[Matt27]

@quikag , great write-up and the road car aspect is of particular interest to me. I've found that 3 cars is the ideal number in my fleet, and I just pick-up a 2017 Porsche Cayenne S for the road miles. Ideally the Cayenne would go as a trade-in for the CT5BW, with my only hesitation being the loss of the ability to throw a road bike in the back. (Thanks to another forum user, I have found the post about adding a hitch to the CT5, and I would do that to my car.) As some expanded reporting would you please add a few additional sentences about:

• Did you end up returning about 21 mpg for the entire trip? How does the mpg compare to your Escalade?
• For seat comfort, do you have the semi-aniline or the performance (upgraded) seats?
• For the AKG, is it as nice as what you have in your Escalade? By chance, did you ever listen to the AKG in a CT4BW? (Asking because I thought the AKG was sub-standard in the 4BW, but on one short experience with the 5BW--I liked the AKG.)

Thank you for your post and looking forward to some more reading.

Get a Seasucker and throw the bike on top of the 5BW. No issues across 5+ years and various cars with mine. It's awesome.

 

[quikag]

@quikag , great write-up and the road car aspect is of particular interest to me. I've found that 3 cars is the ideal number in my fleet, and I just pick-up a 2017 Porsche Cayenne S for the road miles. Ideally the Cayenne would go as a trade-in for the CT5BW, with my only hesitation being the loss of the ability to throw a road bike in the back. (Thanks to another forum user, I have found the post about adding a hitch to the CT5, and I would do that to my car.) As some expanded reporting would you please add a few additional sentences about:

• Did you end up returning about 21 mpg for the entire trip? How does the mpg compare to your Escalade?
• For seat comfort, do you have the semi-aniline or the performance (upgraded) seats?
• For the AKG, is it as nice as what you have in your Escalade? By chance, did you ever listen to the AKG in a CT4BW? (Asking because I thought the AKG was sub-standard in the 4BW, but on one short experience with the 5BW--I liked the AKG.)

Thank you for your post and looking forward to some more reading.

Cayenne S is a great ride, but I think you'll be very happy with a 5BW for a daily. As mentioned, with the proper attachment, a road bike is easy to haul with the 5BW.

I'll answer your questions in order as best I can:

1. 21mpg is very easy to do if you stay under 90mph on the highway. I think I ultimately averaged just under 20mpg, but I was driving "aggressively" to put it nicely. Low triple digits in clear traffic areas and 85-100mph working through traffic. If you do lower 70-80mph speeds, 23-24mpg is entirely doable at steady state cruising.

2. I have the quilted option seats, so the mid level seats. Not the base, not the carbon fiber back ones, but the suede seatback ones if that helps. Seats are very comfortable for me (6'2", 225lbs) with a/c, massage, and heat. Massage is basic, but better than nothing.

3. It doesn't sound as good as the Escalade because it has less than half the speakers and less power/bass. But for packaging purposes as a "standard" stereo, I think it's noticeably better than the Bose in my 992 GTS. I'm not a huge audiophile, but it sounds quite good with decent range and bass. I haven't heard the AKG in a 4BW.

 

[Bourbonp]

With respect to mpg, I agree with @quikag , very easy to get 21mpg. I am presently on a 14 day road trip. today is our 11th day with 950 miles and I am at 21.6mpg. I do drive agressively and most of the roads are not highways

 

[MookdocOE]

First thing I'm doing with mine after it's broken in is taking a trip down the entirety of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Glad to see it's a good roadtrip car.

Yup! I hear ya and will be doing the same thing! My first factory oil has been dumped at 1k and next will be @ 2k as I start bringing up the RPM's higher than 4.5k Everybody has their own break in technique and I am not deviating from mine. The oil was pretty bad at 1k is all I can say....

 

[MookdocOE]

With respect to mpg, I agree with @quikag , very easy to get 21mpg. I am presently on a 14 day road trip. today is our 11th day with 950 miles and I am at 21.6mpg. I do drive agressively and most of the roads are not highways

Jesus! The ultimate cruiser....Gotta love it!

 

[Tuna]

Getting 21 MPG is very good for a 5BW!
My V2 Wagon is lucky to get 20.5 and at normal freeway speeds.

 

[668LT4]

I made a similar post after an up and back to Aspen 2 months ago. Mileage was incredible. And I also gained a new appreciation for the car as a highway cruiser. Pure awesomeness.

 

[Finally-a-V]

I did the entire length of Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge 30 odd years ago. It's a nice ride, but gets old after a while. 35 mph so it's slow going. Not the ideal place for the BW to stretch it's legs, and you have to watch for the Rangers (police). They don't like speeders.

The 5 is an awesome highway cruiser. If you can keep it around 70-80 and keep your foot out of it, gas mileage is rather impressive. I've averaged 22-25 on a few trips.

 

[Head Hunter]

I found that in 6th gear cruising at 70-80mph I averaged 23-25mpg on the highway through some pretty mountainous terrain. Definitely better than expected from a luxury sports sedan

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

Downhill at a steady 70 on an arrow straight road from Spring Mountain to LA

 

[bloominguez]

I did the entire length of Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge 30 odd years ago. It's a nice ride, but gets old after a while. 35 mph so it's slow going. Not the ideal place for the BW to stretch it's legs, and you have to watch for the Rangers (police). They don't like speeders.

The 5 is an awesome highway cruiser. If you can keep it around 70-80 and keep your foot out of it, gas mileage is rather impressive. I've averaged 22-25 on a few trips.

I can't speak to Skyline, but I would suggest that running the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway without diverting onto roads like 221, 226A, 80, 151, 276, 215, etc. is a missed opportunity. Yes, the Parkway itself isn't always invigorating, but it connects the dots between many roads that are.