A few days ago, we saw a video from Hagerty in which the BMW M5 CS took on the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and the Tesla Model S Plaid. Admittedly, it was mostly about the Bimmer and the Caddy (because the Tesla is about as interesting as a lecture of phone book alphabetization), but the three cars did go head-to-head-to-head on track at Willow Springs, with pro-driver Randy Pobst at the wheel. On that one day, Pobst broke the lap record for production sedans at Willow Springs with each and every car.
First, Pobst hit the track in the BMW M5 CS and was very impressed with its racy feel, which helped him set the then-new lap record. Following his record-setting lap in the M5 CS, he hopped into the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and broke the record he’d just set with the Bimmer. After the Caddy, he tried the Tesla and broke the record he’d just set by the Caddy. Three records from three different cars on one day. Pobst deserves a beer.
In this new video, we get a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at each car setting their respective lap records. What’s interesting about it is hearing his live commentary as Pobst set the records and why certain cars did/didn’t do well.
It’s easy to see why the Tesla won — it has over 1,000 horsepower and all-wheel drive grip. It didn’t look very fun through corners and Pobst seemed downright nervous about its poor brakes but, in the straights, it was just far too quick for the gas-powered sedans. You can see that the Cadillac seemed the most composed, most of the time, which is shocking considering it has 668 horsepower going straight to the rear wheels.
As for the BMW M5 CS, it seems it was just out-gunned. Despite being the most powerful and fastest BMW ever made, it’s down a lot of power and torque compared to the Cadillac. Plus, the Caddy’s chassis is just likely better. BMW claims it can’t put all of its power down to just two wheels but Cadillac just told the Bavarians to hold its beer and proved them wrong.
