Here's a strange fact: Cadillac is the only brand of luxury car that still sells a rear-wheel-drive, compact sport sedan — the CT4 — that's available with a manual transmission. The BMW 3 Series, Lexus IS and Audi A4 (which is front-wheel drive/all-wheel drive) are automatic only.
Some will remember that Cadillac was once the brand that was automatic only — while the German- and Japanese-brand luxury sedans were the sporty offerings.
On the downside, the manual is only available in the high-performance Blackwing iteration of the CT4 (which is also the only iteration of the CT4 available with a V6).
Still, the fact that both a six-speed manual and a six-cylinder engine are available in this Cadillac surely counts for something.
What It Is
The CT4 is a compact luxury-sport sedan and Cadillac's entry-level model. It is one of just a small handful of sedans still available — and one of an even smaller handful of RWD (AWD available) sedans, as well as the only sedan of its type that is still available with a six-speed manual transmission.
Prices start at $36,000 for the base Lux trim, which comes standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, an eight-speed automatic and RWD. AWD is available as a standalone option. It adds $2,000 to the MSRP. The Lux also comes standard with synthetic leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel (and front seats), LED lighting and an eight-speaker audio system. This trim is eligible for a more powerful 2.7-liter turbocharged engine, paired with a 10-speed automatic.
RWD is standard, and AWD is available optionally.
The $40,400 Premium Lux adds real leather upholstery, larger (18-inch) wheels, ambient interior lighting and adaptive cruise control.
The $44,000 Sport is an appearance package that bundles paddle shifters, sport buckets, sport steering wheel and exterior affectations such as a trunk spoiler and body-color exterior. Weirdly, the Sport is not eligible for the much sportier 2.7-liter engine. It comes only with the 2.0-liter engine.
The $50,600 V comes standard with the 2.7-liter engine — plus a bundle of performance upgrades that include a mechanically limited slip rear axle, Brembo brakes, sport exhaust and sport-tuned suspension, plus launch control and summer tires. The V also comes standard with a premium 14-speaker audio system.
At the pinnacle is the $63,600 Blackwing — which uniquely comes standard with a turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 paired with a six-speed manual transmission. This one gets all the performance enhancements that come with the V too — and you can add options such as GM's Super Cruise semi-self-driving feature and a digital instrument cluster and video recording system that can be used to document track day fun.
What's New for 2026
There are no significant changes for this model year. There may be next year, however — because the current CT4 dates back to 2020. It is probable there will be a major update soon — or that GM will cancel this small sedan outright.
What's Good
— Almost a unicorn — but it's real.
— Does not have the creepy eye-movement monitor that's already standard in many new cars, in anticipation of the federal requirement that goes into effect next year.
— Vastly less expensive to start than rivals such as the BMW 3-Series ($48,000) and Mercedes-Benz C300 ($49,650).
What's Not So Good
— The V6 — and the manual — are only available together and only in the $63,000 Blackwing.
— Tiny (10.7-cubic-foot) trunk — and tight rear seats.
— Sport trim is not available with the more powerful 2.7-liter engine that's available in the Premium Lux trim.
Under the Hood
The CT4's standard engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four that touts 237 horsepower.
The BMW 3 sedan and the Mercedes C-Class sedan also come standard with 2.0-liter fours, comparably powerful — but in both those cases, the four is paired with a "mild hybrid" system that cycles the engine off and on; the Caddy's 2.0-liter four is not hybrid-augmented — which means the engine isn't cycled off and on, and — this may matter to you — that helps keep the CT4's price down relative to its two main rivals. The extra components of the "mild hybrid" system — 48-volt electric system, flywheel generator/start and EV-like (though smaller in size) lithium-ion battery pack don't come free. They also come with more potential down-the-road failure points that will cost you if they do fail. The CT4's drivetrain is simpler and has fewer potential failure points.
An eight-speed automatic is standard with this engine, as is RWD. AWD is optional.
Premium Lux is available with (and the V comes standard with) a larger, 2.7-liter turbocharged four that touts 310 horsepower (and 380 foot-pounds of torque) in the Premium Lux and 325 horsepower in the V, which emphasizes high performance a bit more than luxury. This engine is paired with a 10-speed automatic, and you can — once again — go RWD or AWD.
Equipped with the 325-horsepower version of this engine, a CT4 can get to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, making it one of the quickest sedans you can get in this price range.
The Blackwing is one of the quickest cars there is — period. This CT4 comes standard with a turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 that touts 472 horsepower — and can get to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. It is also — as mentioned earlier — the only remaining sedan in the class that's still available with a manual transmission. Even more remarkably, the Blackwing is exclusively RWD. AWD isn't even an option with this ultra-performance version of the CT4.
This is remarkable because almost all the really high-powered stuff that's on the market comes standard with AWD — which absolutely does help control all that power by distributing it to all four (rather than just the rear) wheels. But it also means no burnouts. No sideways-sliding pullouts from side streets onto the main road.
Maybe that's not "safe" (oy vey). But it sure is a lot of fun.
On the Road
The CT4 is what they call a rare bird in that it's actually fun to drive.
Part of the reason why is the RWD layout, which has a certain feel that you don't get in FWD cars because they're nose-heavy and (when pushed) usually understeer when cornering. A RWD car is inherently better balanced because the weight of the rear axle helps plant the rear tires and because the power applied to the rear wheels pushes the car through the curves — as opposed to the front wheels pulling it through them. Pushed hard, a RWD car will oversteer — the rear end begins to slide out — but this is the fun of driving a RWD car hard. You can — if you have learned how — steer using the rear wheels, by applying power and counter-steering through the curves.
Doing this in a Cadillac is especially fun.
The fun is even more so — and more accessible — in CT4s equipped with the much stronger 2.7-liter turbocharged four — because with that much more power on tap, it is that much easier to break loose the rear end and power-oversteer through the curves. The only hair in the soup — to speak — is that this engine is not available with the six-speed manual that's standard in the Blackwing. It ought to be. The CT4 is presented as an American-brand BMW — the way BMW used to make 'em. BMW has become more like Cadillac once was in that it's become more straightlaced and less hooligany than it once was. That's too bad. But so is Cadillac's decision to restrict the fun transmission to the Blackwing, which is a magnificent bastard (as Patton said about Rommel) but also $13,000 more than the V and almost $20,000 more than the Premium Lux.
This means the manual is — effectively — a rich man's fun.
At the Curb
The CT4 — like its rivals — is a small sedan.
It's actually a bit larger (longer) than one of its two main rivals, the BMW 3 Series sedan, which is 185.9 inches long (the Caddy is 187.2 inches long). But it is significantly smaller in terms of rear-seat legroom (33.4 inches) and trunk capacity (10.7 cubic feet) than either the BMW 3 Series, which has 35.2 inches of backseat legroom and a 16.9-cubic-foot trunk, or the Mercedes C300, which has class-best rear-seat legroom (36 inches) though it also has a relatively small 11.6-cubic-foot trunk.
On the other hand, the Caddy is arguably the more interesting of the three — on account of the drivetrain offerings — and also because of its attractive pricing and its attitude. It may not be the most practical luxury-sport sedan of the bunch, but there are compensatory attributes — and if you do not need to regularly carry adult passengers in the back, the tight legroom and small trunk may not be meaningful detractions.
You may also like that this car still comes standard with a traditional, analog instrument cluster — dials and needles rather than readouts on a glowing screen — which is one of the virtues of being essentially a six-year-old brand-new car. The newer-design new cars pretty much all have "Star Trek: The Next Generation" LCD flatscreen displays, which some like but some also hate. If you don't like the flatscreen thing, you will probably like what you're seeing here. There is a secondary LCD display for the audio system and other secondary features — and some will see it as not as big and fancy-looking as the bigger screens in the newer-design stuff, and that's true. But it's also true that it's less of a presence — and some of us prefer that. Maybe you are among those.
The car's doors are high — and its roofline is low. This doesn't look bad; the problem is, it's harder to look around you — to see what's around you. This is a failing common to new cars of all classes. The reason for it isn't because of aesthetic considerations but on account of compliance considerations. A car does better in side-impact crash testing when the doors — when the metal — is higher because there's more structure to absorb the impact forces. This is also why the rear ends of all new vehicles are big (and not necessarily beautiful).
All CT4s come standard with "assistance" tech — including Lane Departure Mitigation, that annoying (to some of us) "tech" that uses the electrically assisted power steering system to "correct" your steering — as well as automatic emergency braking, which applies the brakes when the car thinks you're about to hit something and you haven't applied the brakes — but the eye-movement monitor that many newer-design new cars have is not in this Caddy.
Not yet.
The Rest
It'd be nice if Cadillac were able to offer the six-speed manual with the base 2.0-liter engine — or even just the optional 2.7-liter engine. If it weren't for compliance pressures, Cadillac might have done just that. But because there is so much pressure to comply — say it like Seven of Nine from "Star Trek" — the most entertaining version of the CT4 (the Blackwing) is also the most expensive and so out of reach for most of us.
The Bottom Line
Good things usually don't last forever — and this good thing may not last much longer than the remainder of this model year.
Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
View the Cadillac CT4 this week.
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