If you just clicked on the link to this article, it’s likely you have more than a passing curiosity about either the Cadillac Blackwing, about running tour laps at the NCM Motorsports Park, or (ideally) about BOTH. Regardless of your answer, we’ve got you covered. What follows is Corvsport.com’s review of the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Tour Lap Experience at the NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
As many of our regular readers know, we normally focus our attention on the various Corvette driving experiences available at the NCM Motorsports Park. We’ve previously reported on the Park’s “Drive Your Own Car Tour Laps”, the C7/C8 Corvette Tour Laps, and the Z06 and ERay driving experiences. We’ve also shared our experiences while attending the High Performance Drivers Introduction (HPDI), High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) and Driving Academy courses offered at the MSP throughout the year.
But when the management team at the Park shared with Corvsport.com that they’d added a Cadillac Blackwing to their liverie, we were more than a little intrigued! After all, the NCM Motorsports Park is best known for hosting Corvette-related driving experiences….and while the Blackwing is powered by virtually the same, supercharged 6.2L V8 engine as that found in the seventh-generation Z06 Corvette, its similarities to Chevrolet’s flagship sports car largely end there, outside a handful of shared “stock” components that GM engineers incorporated into both of these cars.
The Cadillac Blackwing is moderately larger, longer and much heavier than the current mid-engine C8 Corvette Stingray, which makes it a bit more demanding to operate on the track. The Cadillac measures more than sixteen feet (194.9 inches to be precise) in length, with a wheelbase of nearly ten feet (116 inches). Comparatively speaking, the 2024 Corvette is nearly a foot shorter (182.3 inches in length) with a nine foot (107.2 inch) wheelbase. In terms of overall ratios, while the Cadillac IS longer, the proportions between the two cars are similar. Experienced drivers may register the similarities in proportion when driving each on the track. Also, while front-to-rear weight bias can significantly impact drivability, Cadillac promotes that the Blackwing has an ideal front-to-rear weight distribution/balance, and that was my experience with the car as well. More on that in a minute.
Where things get a bit more impactful is when we begin to compare weight and the relative handling (suspension and steering) of both cars. Where an eighth-generation Stingray weighs in at 3,535 lbs., the much heavier Cadillac Blackwing (when equipped with an automatic transmission), weighs in at 4,142 lbs., making it 15% heavier than its same model year Corvette counterparts.
One of the byproducts of this added weight (and to a lesser degree, its overall dimensions) is a tendency to experience some understeer when driving this car, especially upon entering some of the more intense corners at speed while on the track. This is not a criticism of the car. In truth, I was very impressed with the car’s ability to navigate around the track’s more harrowing turns (including turns six, eight, “Deception” (turn twelve) and the “Sinkhole” (turn twenty)). Drivers just need to be aware of the inherent challenges presented when turning into/out of these turns with a car of this size and weight. The car holds a good line, but drivers will be required to apply a bit more finesse when turning into the corners, when transferring weight between wheels, etc. Surprisingly, the Cadillac makes this experience fairly intuitive, and experienced drivers should pick up on these nuances and settle in fairly quickly.
I’d also like to discuss some of the other elements from my Blackwing Tour Laps that made this experience great. First, the CT5-V Blackwing has developed a reputation of being an incredibly capable and powerful Cadillac. Friends, the reputation is well founded. Remember, at the heart of this beast is the aforementioned 6.2L supercharged V8 engine which dishes out a massive 668 horsepower and 659 lb./ft. of torque. Even given its size and weight, that’s a MASSIVE amount of power. When getting fully on the throttle, the Blackwing propels itself along mightily as it races through each of its ten-gears, quickly propelling its occupants to dizzying speeds. Even with the limitations placed on tour lap experiences (NOTE: this is a safety requirement for any/all non-helmeted track events), we had no issues accelerating quickly past 100 mph in each of the track’s three straightaways.
What’s more, despite weighing in at more than two tons, the Blackwing provided me immediate and incredibly responsive braking throughout the entirety of my tour lap experience. This version of the car comes equipped with massive Brembo brake hardware at all four corners, and the result is dramatic and powerful braking whenever you need it. At one point, as we charged down the front straightaway, I continued to accelerate deeper into the straight before liberally applying the brakes. I wanted to see how quickly the car would decelerate from speed (I was over 100 mph) before entering turn 1A and just how “grippy” the brakes really were.
Friends, I’ve driven the C8 Z06, the ERay, several C8 Stingrays, and even my own C7 Z51 coupe, and I’d put the brakes on the Cadillac up against just about all of these. It’s all the more impressive to think about when considering the added weight and size of the Blackwing as compared to all of these Corvettes. Mind you, weight transfer plays a bigger role here, and you need to be strategic about when you apply the brakes and when you come off of them. While this is true in all track situations, the Cadillac’s added weight and size does require slightly more finesse…but you’ve also got banks of onboard computers that will help even the most inexperienced drivers avoid any harm on the track.
I share all these things here for the benefit of those readers who, like myself, wanted a more in-depth comparison of the Cadillac Blackwing to any of the Corvettes that can also be rented/driven at the NCM Motorsports Park.
Your Day at the NCM Motorsports Park
So now that I’ve shared the experience of driving the Cadillac Blackwing, let’s delve into what you should expect when visiting the NCM Motorsports Park for YOUR driving experience.
First, you’ll be greeted by the NCM’s friendly, professional staff. You’ll check in and sign the appropriate paperwork. That done, you’ll move into the MSP’s video conference room where you’ll watch a brief tutorial video which outlines what to expect from the driving experience, what to do/not to do while driving on track, and how to properly and most thoroughly enjoy your tour lap experience.
With all of the “instructional stuff” completed, you’ll be assigned to an instructor and you’ll head out to the paddock, where you’ll be introduced to the car you’ll be driving. In this instance, you will be escorted over to the MSP’s Cadillac Blackwing. The track’s professional photographers will take your picture with the car. These photos will be presented at the end of your experience (along with photos of you running out on the track) as a must-have keepsake from your day at the NCM Motorsports Park (NOTE: Though not included in the cost of the experience, these photos can be purchased separately at the NCM Motorsports Park retail store.) Pictures taken, your driving instructor will open up the car for you, walk you through the operation of the car’s many technology features, and get you settled in for your driving experience. Once you are seat belted in and comfortable with the car’s operation, your instructor will jump into one of the lead cars (either a Camaro or a Corvette), pull out ahead of you, and guide you out onto the track.
As I’ve already detailed many of the Blackwing’s more technical driving nuances/aspects above, I’ll focus instead on what you should expect from a traditional tour lap experience.
At the NCM Motorsports Park, you (the driver) dictate the pace of the laps. If you are new to driving on a racetrack, you may set a more conservative pace – and there is NOTHING wrong with that! The experience is designed to allow you to test your limits, but also to ensure you are operating the car in a way that is comfortable and manageable. If you’ve got more experience on a racetrack and feel comfortable opening the car up a bit, your lead driver will adapt their style to accommodate your level of experience. That is NOT to say that you’ll be running the car to its limits – remember, these are tour laps, and as such, you are not required to wear a helmet, which also means you are limited on the speeds you’ll achieve on-track. However, for most drivers, the tour lap experience will provide you with an exhilarating driving experience that gives you a genuine appreciation for the Cadillac Blackwing’s performance potential.
Tour laps completed, you’ll pull back into the paddock, disembark from the Blackwing, and check out the pics from your day. From start to finish, the entire experience takes less than an hour, making this a very manageable experience (in terms of time) and a great value (in terms of cost) when visiting the NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Even if you are visiting the National Corvette Museum on the other side of I-65, we strongly encourage you to take a detour, visit the Motorsports Park, and experience this (or one of the many other great tour lap experiences available there) for yourself. You’ll be glad you did!
