2020 Cadillac CT4-V Review and Test Drive

This week I’ve got a real head-turner for you, the all-new 2020 Cadillac CT4-V. This is the performance version of the CT4, and the predecessor to last year’s CTS-V Sport.

I love the looks of the exterior, especially the LED head and tail lights, and the door handles that light up. The blacked-out grill, quad exhaust, and 18” wheels give this performance sedan a bit of a European flair.

Performance

The real story is under the hood where you’ll find a 2.7-liter 4-cylinder packing a turbocharger that puts out 320-horses and a respectable 369-pound feet of torque. It has a fast-shifting and determined 10-speed automatic with paddle shifters. This Velocity Red Caddy is rear-wheel drive, but does come in all-wheel.

Interior

Moving to the inside I expected a little more, perhaps more stitching, or some V-designations around, but the heavily bolstered power seats are quite comfortable. There are some contrast colors and a small amount of carbon fiber on the dash and center console.

Hit the start button and watch the bright colorful gauges come to life. There is a configurable driver display in the middle that operates from the multifunction steering wheel.

Center dash is an 8” touchscreen that can also be operated from a scroll knob just under it. Everything on the screen is fast to react and easy to use.

The screen operates the Bose stereo, phone, navigation, Wi-Fi hotspot, you can set user information, all the car’s settings, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. When on the navigation screen, you can use your fingers to swipe in and out much like an iPhone.

Swipe to the left and you’ll find Apps, Onstar, climate settings, the terrific 360-degree cameras, the My Cadillac app that works with your cell phone, and you can shop from the Marketplace and Amazon apps to order items in advance.

The center console is busy but well laid out with the handiest cell phone charger I’ve ever seen. There are buttons for drive modes, traction control, auto hold, and start/stop deactivation.

Below the shifter are short cuts for the audio, nav, and another scroll wheel. You can turn off the start/stop there, and turn on the auto brake hold.

There is a lot of repetition in this car. For instance, you can control radio volume from the steering wheel, from under the screen, and on the center console. There are two different knobs to scroll through the screen also. When you look down, you can see your speed in four different places. However, I kind of like how handy everything is to operate and see.

Credit: Cadillac

Backseat leg and head room was way more spacious than I had anticipated in a car this size, and the trunk space was large and has storage underneath.

Standard Equipment

This car comes loaded with virtually everything, including: heated and cooled seats, a head-up display with sign recognition, remote start, parking sensors, rear seat reminder, and parking assist. The Bose stereo with 14-speakers has a simply wonderful sound.

On the safety front, it has forward collision alert, lane change alert, blind spot monitor, automatic emergency braking, HD rearview camera built into the rearview mirror, and the safety alert seat that vibrates when it senses a possible collision.

Ride and Drive

You have four drive modes to choose from including tour, sport, track, and snow/ice. Personally, I like sport the best in this car, track really gave the car an overly firm ride for city driving.

The CT4-V has amazing acceleration, the exhaust sound is fantastic, and the handling and steering is precise and balanced. It can be a comfortable luxury sedan and with a few tweaks on the dash it becomes a track-ready racer. All in all, this car drives really well and is enjoyable.

Fuel Economy and What You’ll Pay

Fuel economy is 20 in town, 29 on the highway, and 23 overall, and is actually doing those numbers.

MSRP the way you see this beauty is $52,165 about $11,000 less than the CT5-V I had earlier in the year that was 6.6” longer but had about the same driver and passenger front seat leg and headroom.