What's with all the special black editions lately?
Now Cadillac is getting into the blackout paint luxury car meme with its Black Diamond Edition CTS-V. Available in all versions of the CTS-V -- sedan, coupe and wagon -- the Black Diamond package consists primarily of a special, proprietary black paint called SpectraFlair. What makes it special is the three-coat process, which uses aluminum flakes encapsulated in magnesium fluoride to give it the diamond effect. Judging strictly from the pictures and video that GM released, the result is bass-boat levels of metal flake in the black paint.
Also part of the package is a set of 19-inch Satin Graphite wheels, with yellow Brembo brake calipers behind them. Inside are Midnight Sapele wood accents and Recaro seats with tan microfiber suede inserts that help break up what would otherwise be an oppressively black interior.
The drivetrain is unchanged, so each CTS-V Black Diamond Edition comes with the same supercharged 6.2-liter 556-hp V-8 engine, coupled to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic with paddle shifters. The Black Diamond treatment will be available beginning in March, and costs $4,850 over the base price of a CTS-V. That's a pretty big chunk of change, but like the Black Edition Porsches that have come online recently, I have no doubt that they will sell like crazy.
