Cadillac’s 615-HP Three-Row SUV Is Quicker Than An Old CTS-V
Once, SUVs were a bit of a niche in the car market. Now, though, they’re one of the main types of cars people buy. Love them or loathe them, they strike an easy compromise between being comfortable, practical and capable. Some SUV models also offer decent performance, thanks to sports car-like powertrains under the skin. That’s (somewhat) the case with the Cadillac SUV we’re going to talk about today.
The Market For Electric SUVs Has Absolutely Exploded In Recent Years
If you’ve paid any attention to how the car market has gone in recent years, electric SUVs have been appearing all over the place. They’re quickly becoming some of the most popular new cars, and it’s easy to see why. They not only provide the good “all in one” compromise that SUVs give for lots of new car buyers, but they also add in the environmental credentials and cheap running costs you get from an electric car.
Electric SUVs Are Dangerously Close To Consistently Outperforming Old-School, Gas-Powered Sports Cars
Another thing that people have noticed with all these electric SUVs popping up everywhere is that they are surprisingly fast. So fast, in fact, that they can challenge proper old-school performance cars in a straight line. That’s something that enthusiasts have grown worried about. That’s understandable — these far less characterful SUVs are beating their traditional gas-powered counterparts in a straight line.
The electric SUV we’re going to talk about here is one of those surprisingly fast sports car-beaters. It’s a fully up-to-date take on what a Cadillac should be. Because of that, it’s quietly one of the best electric SUVs out there.
The Cadillac Vistiq Is A Mid-Sized Luxury Electric SUV That’s Faster Than The Old CTS-V Sedan
On the surface, the Cadillac Vistiq might look like any other luxury SUV you can buy today. It’s not as big as the Escalade or the Escalade IQ, but it is bigger than the Lyriq. That means that, unlike the Lyriq, it has enough space for three rows of seats. You’d think that would make the Vistiq all about space and comfort, and you’d be mostly right. But the Vistiq is actually something of a sleeper when it comes to performance. Cadillac claims that it has an output of 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque in Velocity Max mode from its dual-motor all-wheel drive setup. That results in a claimed 0-60 mph time of just 3.7 seconds in that same mode.
All of that potentially makes this three-row family SUV faster than the Cadillac CTS-V in a straight-line sprint. This final iteration of the CTS-V has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds, around the same time as the Vistiq. The second-generation CTS-V has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds, while the original CTS-V’s 0-60 mph time is claimed to be 4.6 seconds. While its ability to outrun a final-generation CTS-V might be borderline, it can definitely smoke a first or second-generation one in a straight line.
It’s Incredibly Expensive
With an SUV that’s this much of a sleeper, there has to be a catch, surely? Well, there is one big one with the Cadillac Vistiq. For what it is, it’s pretty expensive. Its MSRP is around $79,390-$98,490. Nearly $100,000 for a mid-sized, three-row electric SUV is on the high end of the market, to say the least. When you compare that price to the third-generation Cadillac CTS-V — which it closely matches on performance — the older combustion-engined CTS-V represents much better value for money. The average used value for one of these CTS-Vs is around $54,908, and you can expect to find examples regularly selling for under $50,000. That’s close to or less than half the price of a fully loaded Vistiq, for very similar performance and only a couple fewer seats in the back.
It Doesn’t Have The Gearhead Appeal Of An Old Cadillac CTS-V
While the Cadillac Vistiq’s performance is genuinely impressive, there’s another thing it will never have over the Cadillac CTS-V it can match — and, in some cases, beat — on performance. It just doesn’t have the glorious character that the CTS-V has. Much of that character comes down to the old-school V8 engine it shared with Chevrolet’s sports cars across the generations. The final-generation CTS-V’s V8 is the same 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 unit that was used in the C7 Corvette Z06, producing 640 hp and 630 lb-ft of torque. The second-generation CTS-V used the 6.2-liter LSA V8 that was also used in the 2012-2015 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, producing 556 hp and 551 lb-ft of torque. The first-generation CTS-V initially used the 5.7-liter LS6 V8 from the C5 Corvette Z06 that produces 400 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque, but then switched to the similarly powerful 6.0-liter LS2 unit from the base-model C6 Corvette.
All of these engines are loved, and for good reason. They have the kind of snarling V8 character and performance that no electric motor can ever hope to match.
Cadillac (Thankfully) Isn’t Killing Off The High-Performance Gasoline SUV
With Cadillac focusing more and more on electric power, you might think that the brand isn’t interested in making a gas-powered high-performance SUV. You couldn’t be more wrong. As part of the traditional Escalade model being kept around, it gained a high-performance variant for the first time recently in the form of the Escalade-V. This SUV has earned a genuine sleeper reputation, sharing the old CTS-V’s LT4 V8. In the Escalade-V, this engine has an output of 682 hp and 653 lb-ft of torque. For a full-sized SUV, that’s seriously impressive.
Other Brands Still Make Luxurious Gas-Powered Performance SUVs
Cadillac isn’t the only automaker still leaving space for gas-powered performance SUVs, either. Plenty of the world’s premium and luxury marques are either continuing to offer them or adding new ones to their lineups. Audi will still sell you the V8-powered RS Q8, while Lamborghini is still holding onto the Urus in plug-in hybrid form. The Ferrari Purosangue is probably the true enthusiast’s choice when it comes to engines — it’s the only SUV on the market with a naturally aspirated V12.
Sources: Audi, Bring A Trailer, Cadillac, Classic.com, Ferrari, Lamborghini
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