CT5-V What don't you like about your CT5-V Blackwing?

[Ergoc5]

I think I may have figured it out....the driver side door is not sitting as flush as the passenger side door ...may have to adjust door hinges? When I push in and up on driver side door it seems to shift up a bit....passenger side does not as much

Issue still not resolved....I hacked the door striker a bit so that the door is pushed in a bit but still has the buzzing sound

 

[PrimeTime]

I told you guys I would try to do better, you know, be a good boy...

Don't make commitments you can't keep.

 

[Tall Steve]

Don't make commitments you can't keep.

 

[668LT4]

My 5BW breaks free all the time, but it's just because I can't drive it..... It scares the crap out of me, lol! #scarybeast

Mine too, whenever I want it to, which is fun. However, mine NEVER feels unstable or "swerves violently". Maybe he has the PTM loosened up all the way? I don't do that in street driving.

 

[Daijoubu]

I'll go with 2 things I don't like about my 5-BW after about 800 miles:

1) The interior is definately subpar. My last car was a jaguar f pace svr(it's a powerful SUV). That interior was *much* nicer. No comparison really. In fact the car is getting ppf now so I have a rental for several days, and honestly the Kia Forte rental they gave me(a car that I'm guessing cost 20 percent of the blackwing) isn't that much worse than the BW. It's definately not the interior of a 100k car. The seats are pretty good if you sprung for even the 2750 extra option(and obviously if you could get the carbon fiber seats, I couldn't), but the rest of the interior just isn't there. It just doesn't feel special in any way. The area where all that hard plastic is where they do the AC and controls in that area(below the screen by a good bit) is most pronounced as bad. And I thought the ceiling was alcantara or suede or something....but it's not(if it is it's a really low quality version that doesn't feel plush at all. The only high quality feeling alcantara type material on the inside is that top part of the inside of the doors).

2) I have a manual(so I don't know if the auto is different), but if you really want to hit it quickly, the car
just doesn't feel safe/stable in starting out. So on a trip I had gotten on the on ramp on interstate and thought ok this is a perfect time to accelerate from 10/15 mph to like 60 or 70 very very quickly. So I florred
it quickly in 2nd gear and once I did for a brief second the steering wheel felt very unstable(it twisted/contorted in a different direction) and the car itself swerved violently as it was trying to gain traction I guess. I anticipated this when stopped because of the AWD, but I didn't know if I was already going like 15 mph that wouldnt be enough traction to grip the road and accelerate quickly. In the F pace svr this was never an issue- I could floor it from 15 to 60 in such a situation and feel that rush with total stability. This car's specs say it should be a lot more powerful and have more torque than that f pace svr, but if I don't feel safe flooring it then what's the point? I'm afraid if I try that again I will lose control.....so in the end I end up going much slower and it ends up feeling much less powerful than the svr.

It has a number of good points, but those two are big. because honestly if you are paying 100k for a cadillac you want it to at least have a cool party trick(in this case that rushing feeling in your stomach when trying to accelerate hard), but if it's not stable enough to do that I'll end up taking it easier and the car thus isn't as meaningfully powerful as the 686.....

You should never "stab" the throttle in any car, let alone a RWD 668hp car. Roll into the throttle quickly, but with precision. On a regular dry road with normal temp tires you will almost never be able to be at full throttle in first or second gear, and part of third. Part of the fun is getting the pedal riiiiiight to where you can feel the back end start to break loose, and then modulate a little from there for best acceleration. Something like a Tesla with crazy traction control, or an AWD car with decent traction control can actually be "stabbed" without too much worry, but that's kind of like not learning how to spell and relying on autocorrect for everything.

 

[white98ls]

an AWD car with decent traction control can actually be "stabbed" without too much worry, but that's kind of like not learning how to spell and relying on autocorrect for everything.

Great way to put it!

 

[LF4472]

It's not so much all the horsepower, but all the low-end torque.

My experience of the exhaust valves opening at 2500 RPM one cool morning in my Z06...

 

[tacosman]

Don't floor it like that unless you know what you're doing. The backend usually will break loose shifting from 1st to 2nd even at moderate throttle. Take some time learning where the boundary is and how the car responds before going WOT on shifts.

well yeah, and thats what I will do now. I just won't slam the throttle down like that from 10-15 mph. In an attempt to go from 10-15 to 70 real quick.

But that's sorta my point- with the AWD F pace svr, I *could* do that. And it was fun. the fact that I can't do the same with this car- a slightly more experience(and less luxurious) car sorta sucks......

and yes I realize it's all the AWD vs RWD difference and I probably should have considered that more when buying the car. I get that. It still just sucks......

And I don't doubt that from like 50 to 120 I'm sure this car is a faster/better/more capable/whatever than the
F Pace svr. But I don't drive 120. I don't even drive 85. What I liked to do was drive really fast in spurts where it shows off the power in quick bursts but stays around the speed limit.

And due to the fact that the car is RWD, it doesn't do that very well. Not nearly as safely as much less
powerful AWD cars. So what I have is a 100k+ car that isn't as powerful or fast for my purposes as how I use it as less expensive cars, and isn't as luxurious. It also doesn't sound nearly as good, at least on the inside(probably due to sound dampening?)

But after researching it more I don't think it's a matter of "learning how to drive the car". I just don't think it
is going to be as good at that because of it being RWD. And yes I should have researched it more....I was mistaken and assumed that that would cause the car to get a slow start off the line but that once the wheels got moving(even a little), it would be ok. I was wrong, and thats my fault.

I still like things about the car. I still like having a manual for example. And I think it looks good.

 

[tacosman]

Mine too, whenever I want it to, which is fun. However, mine NEVER feels unstable or "swerves violently". Maybe he has the PTM loosened up all the way? I don't do that in street driving.

So how do I control that? Thats the one where after you press V mode like 6 options come up, and it's the last one and I just make sure it has zero or 1 bar showing right?

I don't think traction control was off when I tried to floor it from 15 mph or so. When traction control is off there would be something that says 'TC' with a line through it right?

 

[tacosman]

You should never "stab" the throttle in any car, let alone a RWD 668hp car. Roll into the throttle quickly, but with precision. On a regular dry road with normal temp tires you will almost never be able to be at full throttle in first or second gear, and part of third. Part of the fun is getting the pedal riiiiiight to where you can feel the back end start to break loose, and then modulate a little from there for best acceleration. Something like a Tesla with crazy traction control, or an AWD car with decent traction control can actually be "stabbed" without too much worry, but that's kind of like not learning how to spell and relying on autocorrect for everything.

sure, but then the problem is by that point by the time you really get going and 'feel the whoosh' I'm going to be going way faster than I want to be going.

It's my fault- I didn't research it enough. I shouldn't have bought a RWD car given how I like to drive(going fast in spurts but never really fast overall)

It's just that it sort sucks for me as I noted because now I have a car that that cost more than other cars that (for my type of driving) outperform it and have more luxury. The f pace svr I can drive faster(in terms of just carefree stabbing the throttle at low speeds) and it's more luxurious. And it cost me about 10k less new.

 

[tacosman]

It's not so much all the horsepower, but all the low-end torque.

My experience of the exhaust valves opening at 2500 RPM one cool morning in my Z06...

yes, thats exactly what happened to me.

So how do we solve that? Can we just not drive that way at all? Or is there some trick? Because if we can't drive like that in
short bursts to get from 15 to 65, and we aren't willing to drive way over the speed limit.....exactly what *can* we do with this car?

 

[fmusignac]

This is the most patient and polite car forum I have ever seen. I’m closing this browser tab now before I’m the first to blow it up.

 

[dribs15]

I'm not going to talk about interior materials because although they are more than fine for me...I recognize that they are not up to par with many of their rivals. (Although I think the seats are.)

I agree that you may be very used to AWD and didn't realize the difference you'd notice driving a high performance RWD vehicle... and it would be a shame for you to miss out on all the fun without realizing it.

1) I'm curious what temperatures (weather) you are driving your car in (plus whether you're letting your tires get up to temp) because that will definitely affect the stickiness of your tires.

2) Have you noticed how well your car handles, grips on turns (at speed), is compliant with the road surface? This car is truly about the whole ride/experience (which includes those really fast accelerations at the speeds you want) for the enthusiast.

3) Do you notice with RWD that you feel more connected with how the car moves vs AWD that feels more robotic? Every day I get in my car I feel like I'm going to the amusement park and getting on a roller coaster, but I am the conductor and am totally in control (I'm not sure that is the best way to explain it, but that's what I feel... and I love it... and as compared to many in this forum I'm practically a novice).

4) Personally I take the expression 'You don't know what you don't know' to heart. As said above (especially by @Tall Steve)... go to Spring Mountain to learn about this high HP/torque RWD machine and how to best harness/use it/love it (If you read the Spring Mountain posts they may enlighten you as to some/a bunch of what you'll get out of it... plus it's included with your new vehicle purchase). I can't wait to go to get even more in tune with my car which will let me get even more out of my car! I'm going to learn so friggin much! (Other track/performance threads may help give you info too).

TLDR: This is a ridiculously high HP/torque RWD car that can do anything (from being a family toting/touring/daily driver to track days), but needs to be respected/learned to get the most out of it with respect to performance/enjoyment/safety (... not necessarily in that order)

6) RWD just may not be for you and that is ok.

 

[Slick Blackwings]

So how do I control that? Thats the one where after you press V mode like 6 options come up, and it's the last one and I just make sure it has zero or 1 bar showing right?

I don't think traction control was off when I tried to floor it from 15 mph or so. When traction control is off there would be something that says 'TC' with a line through it right?

yes, thats exactly what happened to me.

So how do we solve that? Can we just not drive that way at all? Or is there some trick? Because if we can't drive like that in
short bursts to get from 15 to 65, and we aren't willing to drive way over the speed limit.....exactly what *can* we do with this car?

sure, but then the problem is by that point by the time you really get going and 'feel the whoosh' I'm going to be going way faster than I want to be going.

It's my fault- I didn't research it enough. I shouldn't have bought a RWD car given how I like to drive(going fast in spurts but never really fast overall)

It's just that it sort sucks for me as I noted because now I have a car that that cost more than other cars that (for my type of driving) outperform it and have more luxury. The f pace svr I can drive faster(in terms of just carefree stabbing the throttle at low speeds) and it's more luxurious. And it cost me about 10k less new.

Simply put YOU BOUGHT THE WRONG CAR!
If you didn’t realize this before your purchase you didn’t do your homework or not familiar with rear wheel drive cars as most people today are not. Sorry the truth hurts.

 

[565565]

well yeah, and thats what I will do now. I just won't slam the throttle down like that from 10-15 mph. In an attempt to go from 10-15 to 70 real quick.

But that's sorta my point- with the AWD F pace svr, I *could* do that. And it was fun. the fact that I can't do the same with this car- a slightly more experience(and less luxurious) car sorta sucks......

and yes I realize it's all the AWD vs RWD difference and I probably should have considered that more when buying the car. I get that. It still just sucks......

And I don't doubt that from like 50 to 120 I'm sure this car is a faster/better/more capable/whatever than the
F Pace svr. But I don't drive 120. I don't even drive 85. What I liked to do was drive really fast in spurts where it shows off the power in quick bursts but stays around the speed limit.

And due to the fact that the car is RWD, it doesn't do that very well. Not nearly as safely as much less
powerful AWD cars. So what I have is a 100k+ car that isn't as powerful or fast for my purposes as how I use it as less expensive cars, and isn't as luxurious. It also doesn't sound nearly as good, at least on the inside(probably due to sound dampening?)

But after researching it more I don't think it's a matter of "learning how to drive the car". I just don't think it
is going to be as good at that because of it being RWD. And yes I should have researched it more....I was mistaken and assumed that that would cause the car to get a slow start off the line but that once the wheels got moving(even a little), it would be ok. I was wrong, and thats my fault.

I still like things about the car. I still like having a manual for example. And I think it looks good.

Actually I was much like you when I first got the Blackwing. I also had a high powered AWD SUV (X3M comp, wife's car) as a comparison point.

None of us probably got to test drive the Blackwing before purchase so we could only go off car reviews.

Every car review basically told me as soon as I started driving the car it would be like this.

However I was disappointed that my pants were completely jizz free after the first 1000 miles or so.

The Blackwing I think more so than a fast SUV is a car that takes more time to discover and appreciate the charms and nuances of. It doesn't immediately blow you away with its capabilities right off the bat.


Anyway this is what I posted about the X3M in comparison to the Blackwing on another car forum after about 5k miles.


‐‐---‐---------
CT5 V blackwing, year in review. Long read. Cliff notes are it's great.

I've put about 5000 miles on the car and really gotten a feel for it. I've now parked it for the winter, mostly because I don't want the salt eating it to nothing and this is a car I plan to keep for a long time. The G37 really had a number done on it due to road salt corrosion. The G37 is back on winter duty. The leaking transmission finally lost enough fluid to stop working but a pan change and refill actually brought it back to life, at least temporarily. I will need another winter car when this fix stops working (also leaking due to corrosion is the oil pan and a front brace is completely disintegrated, but it seems to drive fine without it and the rwd g37 versions don't have it.)

The Blackwing wasn't a car that instantly blew me away like the X3M comp did. I was immediately impressed with what a feral beast that SUV could be despite its body shape and weight. I had the X3M Comp for my wife for about 2 months before the Blackwing arrived so it was an immediate point of comparison. All the reviews talk about what a beast the CT5 blackwing was. I was naturally surprised by how civil and refined the Blackwing felt, to the point of being subdued.

Going hard on a backroad, both vehicles will thrill and excite. There is so much power and grip in both vehicles. The X3M would probably be faster in my hands on a back road given the AWD putting down the power well, the amazingly fast ZF 8 speed and the superior visibility. A good driver would definitely be faster in the Blackwing, but there is definitely a greater sense of fear and danger there too. Both cars are talented opera singers on the open road, stirring the right emotions and captivating the soul. The Blackwing hits higher notes here and there but the X3M is close enough that it's shocking.

The difference is when you come up on a car doing sensible speeds on that back road. The BMW falls silent, frustrated that the fun is over. The Blackwing seems to do the same at first. Listen closely however and one realizes that she is still there, singing that same wonderful tune as before. Now, instead of belting it out at the top of her lungs, she's whispering it sweetly into your ear. The steering still communicates with light tugs in your hand. The body motions are still perfected controlled. The exhaust still rumbles with perfectly rev matched down shifts (by the car not me) like distant thunder. It will do this even at 1500 RPMs coming off the throttle. How aggressive you are the revs merely determines how far that tempest sounds, but it is always there. At legal speeds the Blackwing shows off its greatest talent, it's ability to entertain at 2/10ths. Driving the Blackwing requires so much more of my attention. Occasionally I drop of my wife at work and use her car to make the commute to even out the miles between the cars. I'm always flabbergasted about all the extra roadside stuff I notice in the X3 that I just never paid attention to while driving the Blackwing. Was that church always there? I don't ever remember seeing this overlook. It's not just the higher vantage point, because it's all stuff visible from any ride height.

At the end of the day, the X3M feels Iike a vehicle that a large team of people allocated some of their time and resources to, while the Blackwing feels like a vehicle that a small team of people devoted all of their effort and passion to. When asked to perform, both the X3M and Blackwing will sing beautifully. However when doing the banal every day chores, the X3M becomes a perfect domestic, and you nearly forget that it's anything other than another X3. The Blackwing can nearly those same chores, but she is always humming that melody while she is working. Even when doing the most boring of tasks, she never ever lets you forget that she was, is, and always will be, an absolute superstar.

 

[rubberduck]

OP, the 5BW is an enthusiast car, but you don’t seem to be enthusiastic. It requires driver engagement and it’s not for robot drivers. I’ve owned some pretty quick AWD cars, but what they lacked was the smiles/miles I receive every time I drive the Blackwing. I’ve also owned quite a few quick old school RWD muscle cars. The Blackwing is much more refined at laying down power than these 60s and 70s muscle cars and there is no comparison in handling. This car will substantially break the speed limit in short order on any US roadway. Have you thought about moving to Germany?

 

[Tall Steve]

or an AWD car with decent traction control can actually be "stabbed" without too much worry, but that's kind of like not learning how to spell and relying on autocorrect for everything.

This is greatness!

This is the most patient and polite car forum I have ever seen. I’m closing this browser tab now before I’m the first to blow it up.

 

[LF4472]

So how do I control that? Thats the one where after you press V mode like 6 options come up, and it's the last one and I just make sure it has zero or 1 bar showing right?

I don't think traction control was off when I tried to floor it from 15 mph or so. When traction control is off there would be something that says 'TC' with a line through it right?

You control it by leaving the traction and stability controls enabled (the default) and with the throttle. The LT4 has more torque at just off idle to its redline as your prior car had at its peak. You just have to realize that the car has immense levels of power. So, no, you can't just stab the throttle to the floor going 15 MPH in first gear without spinning the rears.

 

[Daijoubu]

OP, the 5BW is an enthusiast car, but you don’t seem to be enthusiastic. It requires driver engagement and it’s not for robot drivers. I’ve owned some pretty quick AWD cars, but what they lacked was the smiles/miles I receive every time I drive the Blackwing. I’ve also owned quite a few quick old school RWD muscle cars. The Blackwing is much more refined at laying down power than these 60s and 70s muscle cars and there is no comparison in handling. This car will substantially break the speed limit in short order on any US roadway. Have you thought about moving to Germany?

Tesla Plaid is the perfect car for people that want to stab it for short bursts as a party trick. Even an older 3 motor Model S would work.

For the OP, it's worth trying different PTM modes with stability still fully on. Start with "dry". The regular traction control is super aggressive and can unsettle the car more than one would expect. With PTM, you may get some wheel spin, but the traction control is much more sophisticated in PTM and therefore much smoother.

 

[dribs15]

Tesla Plaid is the perfect car for people that want to stab it for short bursts as a party trick. Even an older 3 motor Model S would work.

^^^^^this!