Hi scotty,
what are your thoughts about the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and it having the LT4 Engine and it having a six-speed manual transmission?
Anything I would say about it would be purely hypothetical at this point.
If you look at what we do know, GM:
1. Has a rough track record when it comes to new models having issues
2. Has had trouble with that particular engine
3. Is willing to try anything to make Cadillac relevent
I would not touch one as they are sure to have problems when they launch and will likely be typical GM: overpriced with terrible quality.
What issues has the LT4 engine had? I know in the wet sump version found in Camaro ZL1 (MY2017 and 2018 mainly) they’ve had failing oil pumps and not clear today if that’s been resolved. But wasn’t clear what other issues the wet sump version has been having.
The LT4 has also had overheating issues in the Z06, were a part of the GM valve spring recall, and there have been a few cases where stock cars (ZL1's) have come in with some issues and when the shop took apart the motor they found a huge chunk of the skirt of the piston broken off and 2 others cracked. Diagnosis in those cases: three of the oil squirt tubes were lower than the others and were nipping the pistons.
It's not out yet, so who knows. There's a lot of tech in there and GM's execution of all the cool goodies and gadgets ain't the best especially on a 1st year build.
I would only lease one at this point. That engine (wet sump version) - the jury is still out on its long term reliability. For instance, they had oil pump failures (even during normal use) in the Camaro ZL1s (mainly 2017/2018 model years), and it’s not clear if the newer oil pumps will hold up. Besides that there are lots of bells and whistles and GM has never been good with electronics long term. I would definitely only own it under warranty.
Some of the other issues with the LT4 engine were valve springs breaking and valve guide wear. The bad valve springs were limited to a small batch produced in 2020 but with GM you never know if the issue is bigger than that year.