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Technology · Driver Assistance
Hands-free driving as standard equipment, a 33-inch display — and crash ratings we will point you to rather than paraphrase.
The headline is that Super Cruise, Cadillac’s hands-free highway system, is standard equipment on both CT5 trims and on the CT5-V. On the CT5-V Blackwing it is an option, and Cadillac bundles it with the 10-speed automatic — which means a manual Blackwing cannot have it. That is the scope fact buyers get wrong, and it is worth knowing before you choose a gearbox.
On crash ratings, we are going to be direct with you. IIHS published new evaluations of the 2026 CT5 on July 9, 2026, and its ratings changed. NHTSA rates the car separately, using different tests. We are not going to summarize either organization’s findings here from secondhand reporting, and we are not going to quote the flattering one and skip the other. Both are published, both are free, and the section below tells you exactly where to read them. Then come in and we will go through them with you.
The Screen
A 33-inch Horizon Display is standard across the family, running Google built-in. It does not demand a tutorial before you can change the radio station. An AKG Studio Audio System is standard on the CT5; the CT5-V steps up to a fifteen-speaker AKG system and the Blackwing to sixteen. Phone projection is one of the few things on this page we will not state from memory — sources disagree about how it is equipped for 2026, so ask us and we will read it on the specific car you are looking at.
Hands-Free
Super Cruise is standard on CT5 Premium Luxury and CT5 Sport, each with a three-year OnStar plan, and standard on the CT5-V with a three-year OnStar One plan. On the CT5-V Blackwing it is available, bundled with the 10-speed automatic transmission. It works on a mapped network of compatible highways, which in this part of Texas means the interstate corridors and much of the loop system rather than a two-lane out past Dripping Springs or the run down FM 1826. A driver-facing camera keeps you accountable for watching the road even when you are not steering.
Hands-free is a convenience system. It is not a crash-avoidance rating, and no amount of it substitutes for reading the section further down this page.
Standard Kit
Cadillac counts more than sixteen safety and driver assistance features on the CT5. Super Cruise is the one you will notice on a US 183 commute, or crawling back from Lakeway on a Friday. The rest of the itemized list varies by build, and rather than publish a list we have not verified line by line against a specific car, we will show you the figures on the car. A feature count is not a crash rating, and a page that presents one as the other is not doing you a favor.
Options
Driver Attention Assist is available on the CT5. An Enhanced Performance Data Recorder is available on the CT5-V and standard on the CT5-V Blackwing. Magnetic Ride Control, which reads the road surface and adjusts continuously, is standard on both V-Series cars and is a handling system rather than a safety system, whatever a brochure might imply.
By Model
| Feature | CT5 Premium Luxury | CT5 Sport | CT5-V | CT5-V Blackwing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33-inch Horizon Display | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard |
| Google built-in | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard |
| AKG Studio Audio | Standard | Standard | 15-speaker standard | 16-speaker standard |
| Super Cruise | Standard, 3-year OnStar plan | Standard, 3-year OnStar plan | Standard, 3-year OnStar One plan | Available, bundled with the 10-speed automatic |
| Driver Attention Assist | Available | Available | Ask us | Ask us |
| Magnetic Ride Control | — | — | Standard | Standard |
| Enhanced Performance Data Recorder | — | — | Available | Standard |
Where a cell reads “Ask us,” the availability is not published to a standard we are willing to print, and we will confirm it on the specific vehicle.
Independent Testing
Two organizations crash-test cars sold in the United States, and they do not test the same things or use the same scale. IIHS rates on a four-point scale — good, acceptable, marginal, poor — across crashworthiness, headlights, front crash prevention and child-seat hardware, and it revises those tests regularly, which means a car can be rated lower this year than last without changing at all. NHTSA rates frontal crash, side crash and rollover resistance, and produces an overall star rating.
IIHS published new evaluations of the 2026 Cadillac CT5 on July 9, 2026. Its ratings for this car changed on that date. We are not restating them here, in either direction, because we have not read them at IIHS itself, and a safety rating quoted from a news article or from a manufacturer’s summary of a rating is not a safety rating. The same standard applies to NHTSA’s stars. Read them where they are published.
| Organization | What it evaluates | Where to read it |
|---|---|---|
| IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) | Crashworthiness (moderate overlap front, small overlap front, side), headlights, front crash prevention, seat belt reminders, LATCH ease of use | iihs.org → Ratings → Cadillac → CT5 |
| NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) | Frontal crash, side crash, rollover resistance, and an overall star rating | nhtsa.gov → Ratings |
Then bring us your questions. We will pull both rating pages up on a screen and walk through what each test measures, what the CT5 scored, and how that compares to whatever else is on your list. If a rating changes your mind about the car, we would rather you learn that from us in a chair than from a stranger after you have signed. We sell these cars, and we are telling you to go read the ratings before you buy one.
The Decision
You want hands-free highway driving and nothing else matters → any CT5. Super Cruise is standard on both trims.
You want the fullest audio system in the family → CT5-V Blackwing, sixteen AKG speakers, or the CT5-V at fifteen.
You track the car and want the data → Blackwing, where the performance data recorder is standard.
You want a manual gearbox → Blackwing, and accept that Super Cruise comes with the automatic instead.
You want to see the crash ratings before you decide anything → read them at iihs.org and nhtsa.gov, then come talk to us.
Buy Local
We are at 16501 Sweetwater Village Dr, Building 2. Sales answers at (512) 900-7062. Long, hot summers make a ventilated seat and a cooled cabin functional equipment rather than garnish, and they are also why we would rather you drive the car at two in the afternoon than at nine in the morning. Customers come in from Wimberley, from Dripping Springs, and up from Lakeway to test Super Cruise on a real commute, which is the way to find out whether it changes your week. Schedule a test drive, or value your trade.
Questions
Two organizations rate it and they test different things. IIHS published new evaluations of the 2026 CT5 on July 9, 2026, which changed its ratings. NHTSA rates it separately. We are not going to summarize either one for you from secondhand reporting. Read both at iihs.org and nhtsa.gov before you buy, and we will sit down and go through them with you at the dealership.
Yes, on both CT5 trims and on the CT5-V, with an OnStar plan included. On the CT5-V Blackwing, Super Cruise is available and Cadillac bundles it with the 10-speed automatic transmission, so a manual Blackwing does without it.
A 33-inch Horizon Display, standard across the family, running Google built-in.
Cadillac counts more than sixteen safety and driver assistance features on the CT5. A feature count is not a crash rating, and the two should not be read as the same thing.
On a mapped network of compatible highways. In Central Texas that means the interstate corridors and much of the loop system, not a farm-to-market road. Cadillac and OnStar maintain the map.
Ask us. Sources disagree on how phone projection is equipped for 2026, so we read it on the specific car rather than guessing here.
Next Step
Read the Ratings, Then Drive the Car
