Cadillac

Cadillac

Jonathan Gitlin

Cadillac

Cadillac

Jonathan Gitlin

Cadillac

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Cadillac

Cadillac

Although we make every effort to cover our own travel costs, in this case Cadillac flew me to Detroit and provided three nights in a hotel.

DETROIT, Mich.—On Thursday night, Cadillac took the wraps off a pair of new sporty sedans, revamping its V-Series performance lineup. One of the sedans, the CT5-V, is a souped-up variant of the new midsized four-door that launched at this year's New York auto show. The second is the CT4-V, a sporty version of the yet-to-be-seen entry-level CT4. But if you were expecting fire-spitting monsters barely suited for the street, you'll need to reset your expectations; these two new machines are more jalapeño than Habanero.

Cadillac's V-Series was born in 2004 when the car maker shoehorned the Corvette's 5.7L V8 engine into its CTS sedan, giving us the CTS-V. Since then, track-focused performance versions of the CTS and ATS sedans (and the CTS-V wagon) have offered an American alternative to cars like the BMW M3 and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. But rather than turning everything up to 11 on these new models, the dial has been set to somewhere between 8 and 9. "It's a new take on the V-series. The current cars are only accessible to a fraction of the market. Not all customers want track time," said Ken Morris, GM's vice president of global products.

CT5-V

CT4-V

When the regular version of the CT5 debuted in New York, in addition to an all-new electronic architecture it also featured a 2.0L four-cylinder engine. That has been swapped out for a 3.0L twin-turbo V6 for the CT5-V, which provides the car with 335hp (250kW). It will be available with all- or rear-wheel drive, but only with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Its handling has also gotten an upgrade with the introduction of Magnetic Ride 4.0, the latest version of GM's computer-controlled magnetorheological dampers that it says now provide a faster, better damping response no matter where you happen to be in the car's performance envelope.

This one really was a new reveal, for we've yet to see the base model CT4 sedan. Like the CT5s, it uses GM's Alpha platform and benefits from much of the same tech as in its larger sibling. Under the hood is a 320hp (239kW) turbocharged 2.7L four-cylinder engine, borrowed from GM's truck lineup. Like the CT5-V, it also uses a 10-speed auto and is also available in all- or rear-wheel drive. Choose the former and you also get those Magnetic Ride 4.0 dampers—AWD CT4-Vs come with passive shocks from ZF. Unlike the CT5-V, which uses an electronic limited slip differential, the smaller V-Series car makes do with a conventional mechanical device.

Visually, both V-Series use similar cues to distinguish themselves from lesser Caddies if you know where to look. There's black mesh instead of chrome in the grill, and elsewhere the chrome brightwork has been swapped for black accents. At the rear, quad exhausts get brushed silver surrounds. And painted calipers (available in three different colors) signal to onlookers that this car is meant to stop as good as it goes.

Reaction to the new cars has been a little muted. After all, the outgoing ATS-V (replaced by the CT4-V) comes with 464hp (346kW), and the CTS-V (replaced by the CT5-V) boasts a hefty 640hp (477kW), both far in excess of the cars that will take their places in the showroom. Neither CT4-V nor CT5-V goes on sale until 2020, so we'll have to wait until closer to the time to know exactly how much either will set you back. But Brendan Vivian, Cadillac's executive chief engineer, stressed that the revamped V-Series cars are meant to be more affordable than previous Cadillac halo models. "Expect a $6,000-$7,000 premium over the Sport versions," he said.

And fans of road trips take note: when the cars do hit the showroom next year, GM's excellent Super Cruise system will be available as an option in both.

Listing image by Cadillac