Tested: 2023 Cadillac CT4 350T RWD Is Fine but Not Dandy

The year before a car is expected to be refreshed, there isn’t much to do other than nitpick. That’s the case with the 2023 Cadillac CT4. The bigger CT5’s mid-cycle redo is already public, and it’s believed that the CT4 isn’t far behind. While we absolutely adored our time with our long-term CT4-V Blackwing, this ain’t that—unlike its juiced-up variant, this base CT4 reminds us that Cadillac still has plenty of work to do in the entry-lux space if it wants to be competitive against the segment’s capital-S stalwarts.

While upper trims get to play around with a 310-hp turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four, our test car’s midrange Premium Luxury trim sticks with the base engine, a turbocharged 2.0-liter four making 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. That powertrain also includes a 350T badge on the trunk, a number achieved by math so eldritch that few mortals can comprehend it (it involves metric torque output and rounding). Cadillac’s deuce is far from the prettiest-sounding engine out there, emitting a thick and sour note as the revs climb, as well as a cold-start volume strong enough to permeate several brick walls, but it thankfully disappears into the background in daily driving situations.

But sound quality is subjective. Test results are not, and our evaluation shows some modest performance, although it lags its premier competitor. We recorded a 60-mph sprint of 5.8 seconds, which is adequate vim for getting up to speed and zipping around various calamities. But the four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz C300 makes a meatier 255 horsepower and only needed 5.3 seconds to complete the same task in our hands. The CT4’s lighter curb weight (3517 pounds versus the Mercedes’s 4044) should do a better job closing the 18-hp, 37-lb-ft gap between the two, but alas.

The CT4’s svelte figure doesn’t pay off in grip either; with both cars wearing all-season tires, the Cadillac achieved 0.85 g around our 300-foot skidpad, while the C300 managed 0.91 g. That said, the two are within a few feet of each other when stopping from both 70 and 100 mph, which the Caddy managed in 158 and 324 feet, respectively.

So, what’s the deal? It’s all about the driven wheels. The base C300 is an all-wheel-drive affair, while the gang in Detroit is still trotting out rear-drive offerings. That may give the Caddy a disadvantage on paper, but we’ll never complain when RWD stays on the menu. It offers a bit more liveliness, especially now, when our Ann Arbor office is inundated by a couple inches of snow. However, we wish the base CT4’s handling was more willing; instead of a Mercedes-firm ride with an eager helm, the CT4 feels comparatively wallowy and mushy. That’s fine for around-town driving, where comfort takes priority, but there’s an obvious performance trade-off. Again, a Blackwing (or even a non-Blackwing V-series), this ain’t.

You might think that a lower curb weight and a less parasitic driveline would give the CT4 some competitiveness in the fuel-economy arena, and it does. On our 75-mph highway fuel economy test, our CT4 test car managed 33 mpg—although that still trailed the C300’s 35-mpg result.

If the CT4 isn’t too far from the C300 on the performance front, when it comes to interiors, the two may as well be speaking different languages. The Mercedes C-class interior has come a long way, and while plastics are still prevalent, the design language and touch points feel leagues ahead of the CT4. Cadillac’s rear seat is a little more cramped for adults than we’d like, and the small infotainment screen—while a dead-simple joy to operate with minimal distraction—comes off as low-rent. We’re expecting this to change when the CT4’s refresh breaks cover; as with the CT5, we’re assuming Cadillac will upgrade to a larger screen and flashier updated software. Or, at least, it really should.

Some of these material discrepancies boil down to pricing. Cadillac is far more aggressive at the low end, with the 2023 (and 2024) CT4 starting under $36,000, while the C300 won’t leave the showroom for anything less than $46,000. Our mid-level Premium Luxury test car was less expensive than the Benz even with options, reaching a total $44,340 after tacking on a sunroof ($1050), four-way power heated and ventilated front seats ($1200), and an upgrade to the navigation and audio systems ($1400). The Cadillac CT4 is definitely the value play in the segment, and while it does a commendable job as an entry-lux conveyance, you’ll just have to accept that the $10,000 price gap will be patently obvious at all times.

Cars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree.