2023 Cadillac Escalade-V Fast Spin: The Rocketship With Room | Professional assessment

Within the sage phrases of social satirist Julie Brown within the 1988 science-fiction cinematic masterpiece “Earth Ladies Are Simple,” “I like ‘em huge and silly.” And in relation to SUVs, properly, they don’t come any extra huge ‘n’ silly than what we’ve got proper right here: the brand new 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V. We don’t know why it’s taken Cadillac this lengthy to really get a V efficiency model of the Escalade out the door, however they lastly have — and also you’d higher take pleasure in it now, because it simply may be the final new internal-combustion-powered Cadillac you ever see given Caddy’s said technique of going totally electrical within the subsequent few years. I assume they determined that in the event that they’re going to start out sunsetting their gas-powered choices, why not exit with a bang?

Associated: 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V: The New Boulevard Race Champ

And it’s laborious to prime the sort of bang you get from this beast, powered as it’s by a 682-horsepower, supercharged V-8 engine and swaddled with an ultra-posh cabin. I had a number of days with the Escalade-V within the city wilds of Los Angeles motoring across the traffic-choked highways, however I additionally made positive to take it up into the attractive canyon roads by means of Malibu out to the coast, the place I may see simply how succesful this sports activities truck was at offering an entertaining driving expertise. The reply? A convincing sure.

You Wouldn’t Know It to Have a look at It, However …

The V efficiency collection is what Cadillac makes use of to designate their high-performance, track-capable fashions, ones that look solely subtly extra aggressive however which regularly possess large energy will increase and tons of suspension expertise meant to blow the doorways off opponents (normally German) on roads and race programs. I’ve had my mind melted behind the wheel of a Cadillac CTS-V, been mightily impressed with the most recent CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings, and now I’ve skilled what Cadillac has wrought of their huge daddy SUV, the Escalade-V.

it, there’s not a lot to differentiate it as one thing particular — it appears to be like just about like an Escalade within the Sport Platinum trim, with huge wheels, a barely decrease stance, and blacked-out and body-color trim as a substitute of chrome. The one distinctive options appear to be the delicate V badging on the doorways, and barely totally different entrance and rear bumpers, all of which is definitely neglected. The Escalade-V is outwardly meant to fly underneath the visible radar of passersby, and it does so efficiently … till you set your foot down.

OMG, That Noise

Nestled underneath the lengthy hood of the Escalade-V is a hand-built, supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine that’s associated to the one discovered within the CT5-V Blackwing sedan, although it encompasses a bigger supercharger. Within the Escalade-V, it produces a whopping 682 hp and 653 pounds-feet of torque, a bit greater than the 668 hp the CT5-V Blackwing makes however barely lower than the sedan’s 659 pounds-feet of torque. However what accompanies the Escalade-V’s energy is “the roar” — the earth-shaking basso profundo bellow that the factor produces on startup (particularly when it’s chilly) that may make you leap out of your pores and skin whenever you remote-start it in an airport parking storage; that’s good for a thousand laughs when the valet on the lodge begins it at a busy stand and makes everybody standing behind the beast bounce like a bomb went off within the driveway. It’s a noise you simply don’t count on from an SUV like this. Your neighbors will instantly start phoning the native HOA the day after you convey it house. It’s huge, silly enjoyable — and I like it.

Take into account that noise honest warning for what this massively highly effective engine does for the Escalade, itself a portly boulevard cruiser that was by no means actually meant to be a canyon-carving sports activities machine or a drag-strip warrior. In accordance with Cadillac, this seven-seat truck-based SUV can rocket from 0-60 mph in lower than 4.4 seconds, which is an unbelievable time for a automobile this dimension. Push the button simply forward of the shifter for the configurable V-Mode and you may have all of the automobile settings at their most madness, boosting response for throttle, suspension, shifting, exhaust — all of it. It transforms the Escalade-V from a sedate however rumbly luxurious touring SUV into one which, whereas not precisely what you’d name athletic, is way extra succesful out on quick and twisty two-lane blacktop.

Acceleration is fierce, as one would possibly count on, however it comes on in a easy rush — there’s no intestine punch such as you get in some electrical automobiles, however it’s nonetheless a hang-on-for-dear-life expertise for you and your passengers. Braking can also be extraordinarily robust because of six-piston Brembo entrance brakes that haul you down with firmness and alacrity, they usually accomplish that again and again regardless of how laborious you’re mashing them earlier than approaching a nook. Steering — which is often numb and light-weight, enabling you to pilot the Escalade by means of mall parking tons with ease — turns into far more strong and communicative whenever you push the V button; there’s precise suggestions by means of the steering wheel of what the massive 22-inch wheels and tires are doing, and it’s genuinely satisfying. You’ll be able to chuck the large ‘Slade into a protracted, sweeping nook with aggressive verve, and whereas it does are likely to push and understeer relatively dramatically, stabbing the gasoline will assist rotate it and maintain it heading in the right direction.

Is it a sports activities automotive stage of pure driving enjoyment? In fact not; it’s nonetheless a completely large SUV that weighs greater than 6,200 kilos (or 6,400 kilos for those who go for the longer ESV model). You continue to get thrown round within the large, comfortable seats, and the sheer mass of the Escalade can’t be completely hidden no matter no matter magic the usual Magnetic Experience Management 4.0 and Air Experience adaptive suspension can muster. These programs do a exceptional job of letting the Escalade-V be each a softly driving, superbly damped luxurious SUV and a principally flat nook carver with noticeably much less physique roll, however they’ll solely accomplish that a lot. Suffice it to say that in case your commute consists of twisty mountain or quick canyon roads between your manse within the hills and the Morton’s steakhouse within the metropolis, an Escalade-V is a massively entertaining approach to make that journey. You’ll nonetheless be pulling over to the shoulder to let sooner motorists in correct sports activities automobiles and sportbikes previous you, however you’ll be going sufficiently fast to curse the mouth-breathing vacationers in entrance of you who refuse to take action.

The Artwork and Science Lives on Inside

Whereas the sporting capabilities and aural assault of the Escalade-V are half the equation, the opposite half of it includes the opulent cabin that Cadillac has crafted. It’s simply the best inside the model has created, with wonderful leather-based (in all three rows), lovely “zebra wooden” trim and luxury for occupants in each seating place. The 36-speaker AKG Studio Reference sound system is mind-blowing, and the completely huge 38-inch curved natural light-emitting diode sprint show has super-sharp visuals and reconfigurable controls.