In the early 2000s, Cadillac was finding itself in a bit of a rut. While still seen as an icon of American luxury, it failed to attract a younger generation of car buyers. The younger generation had started turning more toward import luxury cars with a sportier, edgier look. To attract the younger generation (although the company did have a loyal following with its Cadillac Escalade), General Motors decided to release a newer, sleeker-looking Cadillac. To do that, it took one of its staple sedans, the Cadillac Eldorado, which it had built since the early 1950s, and gave it an entirely new overhaul. What came out was the very first Cadillac Touring series sedan known as the CTS (and eventually the 2020 Cadillac CT6).
The edgier lines and grown-up appearance instantly caught on. The aggressive front end and impressive engine instantly helped Cadillac reinvent itself as a fresh, younger, and hipper alternative to what it had been in the past. Since then, Cadillac has released several Cadillac Touring designs. This includes the CT5, which has taken over for the CTS, and the CT6.
The CT6 is a larger sedan and takes over for the previous Cadillac staples of the Fleetwood and the DTS (DeVille Touring Sedan). However, while the CT6 is a larger luxury sedan, it shares more design elements with the others in the CT series. And now, packed with an impressive powertrain and several desirable tech and safety features, the 2020 Cadillac CT6 aims to not only compete with the likes of BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, but it’s making its mark in booming markets such as China’s and the Middle East’s.
The Master of Luxury Engines
Cadillac in recent years has turned up the heat on its competition in terms of engine performance. General Motors is not afraid to drop in a Corvette engine into its CT series of sedans, which gives anyone sitting behind the wheel incredible power for a luxury sedan.
Now, if you’re a fan of the current CT6, you may want to make a move on the 2020 edition. This is likely going to be either the end of the CT6 before Cadillac roles out a replacement or the last model year of the current generation. With the strong competition within the full-size luxury sedan segment, most manufacturers release new generations every few years (and according to Motor Trend, this may be the final year of this generation, although General Motors has not made an official announcement).
Cadillac comes with two engine options with the 2020 release of the CT6. There is the standard 3.6L V6 engine, which does offer 335 horsepower and 284 lb-ft of torque. However, why would you want to go with the smaller V6 when you have the option to upgrade it with a 4.2L Blackwing Twin Turbo V8? This engine takes the performance numbers to 500 horsepower and 572 lb-ft of torque.
Now, to land the V8 engine, you’ll need to go for the Platinum trim. Altogether there are three trim options available but for now, we will focus on the Platinum. The Platinum is the highest trim level offered by Cadillac, and it does have an MSRP starting at $96,495, so you’ll be spending far more than the base trim, which is the “Luxury” that starts at an MSRP of $58,995. So the upgraded V8 does come with a sizeable price jump, but with a 500 horsepower engine and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, the 10-speed automatic CT6 will be hard to beat, and it’ll give you the kind of power and performance boost you crave in a luxury sedan.
Comparing The Trim Features
As we mentioned earlier, there are three trim options available. Since this is a luxury model, many features come standard, starting with the base model. However, there are not many optional packages or features on each trim. If you are looking for something not offered on the base model, you will be forced to upgrade to a higher trim instead of adding on a package. If there is a feature you want that’s only available on a higher trim, you’ll either need to skip that feature, or you’ll need to spend some extra cash.
The three trims include the Luxury, the Premium Luxury, and the Platinum. The Luxury MSRP starts at $58,995 while the Premium Luxury is $74,495. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, the Platinum MSRP begins at $96,495.
The Platinum is the only one of the three trims that come with the V8 twin-turbo engine, yet all three trims come standard with all-wheel drive. Cruise control is a standard feature on the Luxury edition, while adaptive cruise control is on the two high-end trims. If you haven’t used adaptive cruise control, you’re in for a real treat. Thanks to the cameras and other sensors built into the Cadillac, the vehicle will slow down and speed up based on the traffic around you. This way, you don’t need to constantly apply your brake resulting in you having to reset the cruise control. Additionally, magnetic ride control and active rear steering are also standard features on the top two trims.
There are some slight differences in how the trim packages look on the exterior as well. The Luxury edition comes with 19-inch Multi-Spoke alloy wheels. The Premium Luxury features 20-inch Split-Spoke alloy wheels, while the Platinum uses 20-inch Platinum twin 5-spoke alloy wheels with chrome inserts. The top two trims include front cornering lamps and illuminating door handles, plus a hands-free decklid with Cadillac branded projection lighting.
As you go through the trims, you’ll find that the top two trims are almost identical, with the exception of their engines.
Technology and Safety
Let’s face it. Two of the major selling points in luxury vehicles are the safety and advanced technology features. All three trims come with an HD rear vision camera, while the top two trims offer HD surround vision and a surround vision recorder, plus night vision, a full-color HUD, and automatic parking assist with braking.
If you’re looking for a true listening experience, you’ll be blown away at the difference between the Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum models. With the Luxury trim, you receive a premium Bose 8-speaker system. But with the upgraded trims, the Cadillac 2020 CT6 comes with a 34-speaker Bose Panaray system. And yes, you read that correctly — a whole 34 speakers.
So What Do You Want In A Luxury Sedan
If you are anything like us, you’re a fan of luxury sedans, but what about the cars do you like? Is in the elegance of the design, or the high-end touches within the car? Do you prefer the car to have a high-end performance engine, or is that not as much of a wow factor? And what do you think about the 2020 CT6? Is it the perfect size luxury sedan, or do you like the smaller CT models? Let us know in the comments section! There’s always so much to discuss in the world of luxury sedans.
