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Tapout tuning CT5 blackwing build review (now WITH videos!)

A Blackwing

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Joined
Oct 28, 2022
Messages
129
Location
chicago
V-Series Cadillac(s)?
2022 CT5 BW
Tapout tuning CT5V blackwing build review (now with videos!)

Little background to put things in perspective about my feelings towards the 5 blackwing.

I ordered my car in august 2021 to be my daily driver.
I have a nice stable of cars as is, but mainly track toys, like a huracan STO, 2019 GT3RS (full bolt ons and suspension / tune) , and a rolls Royce wraith to name a few of the heavy hitters. My wife’s daily is a 704awhp BMW M8 and we share a 2017 alpha 10 R8 at 850awhp on 93

I’m too big to be comfortable in the R8, but it’s perfect for my wife but she prefers the M8 for its instant torque as opposed to the R8 TTs zero torque until the turboes spool at 4k.

That’s what the blackwing has to compete with. When it finally arrived in October 2022 I knew within an hour it was my favorite of the bunch, but also that it could use a little more noise and it would be nice if it was at least as fast as my wife’s car from a roll.

Dropped my car off about 6 weeks after getting it to Tapout tuning where it spent the winter.

I picked it up march 1st and drove it home.

Modifications done:
ported supercharger
Smaller pulley and belt
Kooks catless headers
Green air filter u

The car is now at 702whp.

First off before I talk about how it drives I have to give a huge shout out to Scott and the team at Tapout, there was no after market for the car when I dropped it off. I didn’t know what to expect or if anything was even possible due to the ECU being untunable. Throughout the entire process Scott kept me updated without me reaching out asking what was going on to my car, not something I had with my other builds even if I was spending way more, the experience was awesome from start to finish, he talked me though each mod and what the next step was and what we agreed on to be the stopping point of 702whp.

I’ve put on about 700 miles since getting the car back with about 150-200 being full throttle pulls. Despite being catless the car still does not have a CEL. And the sound, in touring with the valves close it has a slightly louder rumble then it had prior, not by much but noticeable, no drone. In V mode with the valves open the car is a fucking monster. It’s basically a catless straight pipe. And it both sounds and feels like it.

The car also picked up a nice amount of supercharger whine, it’s audible from the outside if you are in front of the car. The attached videos showcase that, as well as the violence of the kooks catless headers.

I’ll have more videos soon, I was planning on taking more today but it started to rain.

I will also update with draggy numbers. I got one pull today 60-130 at 8.05 but that was with some slip in second gear and then it started to snow/ rain.

The car is exactly what I wanted it to be right now, drives like stock, but with the option of violence, I’ve never had a better daily and I haven’t had a car make me this happy in over a decade. Anyone on the fence about going with Tapout for any of the mods I have I hope this review and videos makes that decision for you.
 

Attachments

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Most impressive ! May start a draggy thread haha. Think my best so far is 8.01 I have a 6sp. looking forward to porting my blower in the near future.

Thanks for the great review.
 
Most impressive ! May start a draggy thread haha. Think my best so far is 8.01 I have a 6sp. looking forward to porting my blower in the near future.

Thanks for the great review.
Also have a 6 speed, looking forward to a warmer and drier day to run the 60-130
 
Most impressive ! May start a draggy thread haha. Think my best so far is 8.01 I have a 6sp. looking forward to porting my blower in the near future.

Thanks for the great review.
Any mods?
 
I have a nice stable of cars as is, but mainly track toys, like a huracan STO, 2019 GT3RS (full bolt ons and suspension / tune) , and a rolls Royce wraith to name a few of the heavy hitters. My wife’s daily is a 704awhp BMW M8 and we share a 2017 alpha 10 R8 at 850awhp on 93
Are you hiring?
 
Most impressive ! May start a draggy thread haha. Think my best so far is 8.01 I have a 6sp. looking forward to porting my blower in the near future.

Thanks for the great review.

8.01 with the 6mt and being stock is really good. I ran the same exact time in my A10 car but with an incline in decent weather.
 
I think this car needs stiffer engine and tranny mounts. The motor rocks quite a bit
 
Never drove the ZL1 so have no idea how they compare. My Viper had much stiffer mounts from the factory and it was significantly stiffer than the 5BW. Yet many upgraded the factory ones in the Viper immediately.
 
Yea i dunno about yall……but id definitely pick his gt3rs as my daily “over the bunch.” YOLO.

Im jp. The car rips hard man. My only issue is that dreaded cel which would veer me towards either high flow green cats or just skip the headers. But then is it worth it?
 
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Yea i dunno about yall……but id definitely pick his gt3rs as my daily “over the bunch.” YOLO.
I would do and dailied my prior 991.1 GT3 with comfort seats, incredibly liveable, both me and my wife who was my girlfriend at the time would take it on road trips or for daily duties.

The .2 RS I would do if it had the comfort seats. It has the buckets and being 6,2 they move my head forward way too much to be comfortable in on trips over 30 mins and the roll cage is setup for them so even if I found comfort seats I would have to re do the cage or remove it.

But it is possible to daily, suspension is more compliant then my wife’s m8 and visibility is amazing, frunk space is good when coupled with the rear seat storage area, and car has no problem being driven at 2/10ths.

STO on the other hand I don’t drive outside of track days/ car shows.
 
I would do and dailied my prior 991.1 GT3 with comfort seats, incredibly liveable, both me and my wife who was my girlfriend at the time would take it on road trips or for daily duties.

The .2 RS I would do if it had the comfort seats. It has the buckets and being 6,2 they move my head forward way too much to be comfortable in on trips over 30 mins and the roll cage is setup for them so even if I found comfort seats I would have to re do the cage or remove it.

But it is possible to daily, suspension is more compliant then my wife’s m8 and visibility is amazing, frunk space is good when coupled with the rear seat storage area, and car has no problem being driven at 2/10ths.

STO on the other hand I don’t drive outside of track days/ car shows.
Tough being you😉👍
 
Any chance you could throw on something like a MPVI or scan tool and take a look at your AFR/Lambda? I'd be worried about the amount of black smoke you are seeing.
 
Cannot view any parameters.

I'm not sure what you mean. You don't have the tools to read or you were told they couldn't be read?

They absolutely are available.

Here is Bank1 and Bank2 Wideband O2 Lambda's on my BW5...

IMG_0849.jpg
 
I'm not sure what you mean. You don't have the tools to read or you were told they couldn't be read?

They absolutely are available.

Here is Bank1 and Bank2 Wideband O2 Lambda's on my BW5...

View attachment 17788
View attachment 17789
I should have specified, I can’t currently view the parameters as I don’t have the hardware with me and will be away from home for a few weeks.

Those videos were also before I had the car fully dialed in, it needed a few small things adjusted after the first 1000 miles of abuse after driving it back.

The smaller belt started to slip under higher RPM at speed, then with a tighter belt I started to get spark blow out, then with tightening the gap the car threw a code for low fuel pressure. I went from a 2.175 pulley to a 2.3 pulley and the car runs like factory again but with more power. Only got about 200 miles on it before the single digit temps and snow stopped any logging before my departure.
 

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