2022 Cadillac CT4-V Drags Mercedes-AMG CLA 35, Surprises Abound, and That's Great

But here is one automotive journalist going against the current. Sam, the host of the Sam CarLegion channel on YouTube, has prepared a little treat for high-performance American sedan fans on Canadian soil. The location is the same as always – a secure, windy stretch of tarmac that is closed off for regular traffic – for the latest feature (uploaded on July 1st, 2022) that we have embedded below.

But the protagonists are anything but traditional, even though they are both of the sedan variety. On one hand, we have the C118 second-generation 2022 Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 4Matic fastback sedan as a proud representative of Germany’s import market. On the other hand, Sam thinks that Caddy’s regular CT4-V and CT5-V are not getting enough love, hype, and marketing emotion because of the Blackwing craze.

So, he decided to pit the CLA 35 against the “regular” Cadillac CT4-V on the account of having close-enough technical specs. The Mercedes is lighter and less powerful, Caddy has a ten-speed auto against a 7 DCT, but they also have AWD, and they are both pretty close in terms of pricing – so he does not believe the CT4-V against a much more expensive C 43 AMG would have been the proper way to set this up.

And it is probably the best he did not relent, as all three races were one surprise after another. First up, the dig at the 3:31 mark seemed to show the CT4-V getting the upper hand early on. But as the little inline-four engines struggled with the compact luxury sedans and their respective transmissions, the CLA slowly regained its composure and narrowly took the maiden win.

Next up, from the 5:56 and 7:26 marks, it was time for the traditional roll races performed at 31 mph (50 kph) and 62 mph (100 kph), respectively. And, of course, the surprises continued…