The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing has been the subject of a lot of discussions, and those flames are still being fanned with a new report saying that the range-topping high-performance sedan is set to have the highest output of any Cadillac model.

New information brought to light by AutoVerdict claims as much, indicating that the CT5-V Blackwing will surpass the 640-horsepower and 630-pound-feet of torque output of the discontinued third-generation Cadillac CTS-V. No word yet on how much output the CT5-V Blackwing will have when it rolls out, but if it’s being tagged as the most powerful of any Cadillac in history, that bit of news should add more hype to a model that hasn’t had any shortage of it in recent months.

The Cadillac CT5-V is the high-performance version of the Cadillac CT5. The latter, of course, is the midsize sedan that replaced the old guard CTS in 2019, so if we’re going to trace roots, the CT5-V is, effectively, the successor to the raunch CTS-V sedan.

The CTS-V was a staple in Cadillac’s model lineup for the better part of 16 years — it was launched in 2003 and discontinued in 2019 — so Caddy backers are well acquainted with the model, particularly with regards to its power and performance capabilities. But the CTS lineup is gone and so, too, is the CTS-V. The CT5 takes its place as Caddy’s flagship sedan and the performance version of the new nameplate, the CT5-V, now sits at the seat that was previously occupied by the CTS-V.

For obvious reasons, sitting at the top of a car brand’s lineup invites plenty of scrutiny. That’s especially true for the CT5, a model that Cadillac hopes can compete with models like the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Genesis G80, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and the Lincoln MKZ, among others. In this segment, power and performance play huge roles in a car’s popularity and sales juice, and if Cadillac wants the CT5-V to compete against its rivals’ high-performance models, it’s going to need a lot of power to do that.

That’s a big reason this report from AutoVerdict is a big deal. According to the website, the CT5-V Blackwing will have the highest power output of any Cadillac model in history. No actual figures were given, but if that’s the claim — the info was reportedly leaked through an order guide — then we need to look at the CT5-V’s predecessor since the CTS-V still stands as the most powerful Cadillac model ever with an output of 640 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque coming out of its 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V-8 engine.

For now, the real figures are still being kept under wraps, but it has been suggested from an earlier report that the CT5-V will use a similar-sized V-8 engine for the CT5-V Blackwing, though not identical to the LT4 engine that was used in the CTS-V. AutoVerdict}. An output of 650 horsepower would do the trick, though given the hype surrounding the CT5-V Blackwing, adding only 10 horsepower and claiming it as the highest power output for a Cadillac in history sounds underwhelming, even if it is accurate.

Mind you, this isn’t the first time that the CT5-V Blackwing has been identified to come with 650 ponies. Earlier reports pointed to the same figure, though those reports surfaced almost a year ago.

Is it possible that Cadillac is bringing back its Blackwing V-8 engine?

It is curious that the CT5-V Blackwing shares the same nickname as the lauded twin-turbo V-8 engine, but it might also just be a matter of happenstance. After all, Cadillac did say that it has no plans of bringing back the Blackwing engine anytime soon.

What kind of performance capabilities should we expect?

According to the same order guide that was reportedly leaked out, the Cadillac CT5-V will be able to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds and hit a top speed of 200 mph. For what it’s worth, the old CTS-V posted the same performance figures. That could be a hint that even though the CT5-V Blackwing is now being propped as the most powerful Cadillac in the model’s century-plus-old history, that distinction won’t be achieved by a whopping margin over the departed CTS-V.

Perhaps it might be 650 horsepower after all.