If you’re part of a weird Venn Diagram that’s been trying to figure out whether to pull the trigger on a CT5-V Blackwing or a new Escalade, it seems Cadillac is about to make your decision a whole lot easier. Later today, the luxury brand from Detroit will haul the covers off a powerful new variant of their biggest SUV.
Of course, that type of cross-shopper is few and far between. The target market is more likely to be folks in Hollywood, NBA superstars, and any number of companies who supply vehicles for use in rap videos. The teaser dropped by Cadillac yesterday afternoon shows the lighting signature of a new Escalade winking into existence between a pair of CT4-V and CT5-V sedans, followed by the blipping of a throttle and exuberant exhaust note.
What will be under the hood? Smart money points to the same engine taking up residence between front fenders of the CT5-V Blackwing, which is to say a supercharged 6.2L V8 making a fire-breathing 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque. Of course, there’s every chance in the world that number will be altered slightly for deployment in an Escalade, given different intake and exhaust gear plus the need to be tuned for truck(ish) duty. At present, the Escalade makes 420 horsepower from its old-but-good naturally-aspirated 6.2L V8, which has a tendency to bellow like Chewbacca on a bad fur day. This engine will suit the SUV’s personality quite well; if you’ve ever seen an all-black 2022 model with its bluff front end and sky-high lighting signatures, you know this thing is an imposing beast.
Far less likely, but more fun to suggest, is the installation of the Z06 engine in an Escalade. That mill, for those not paying attention, is a 5.5L dual-overhead-cam V8 screamer featuring a flat-plane crank and 670 ponies but only 460 lb-ft of twist. The chances of this engine being in the Escalade V are nil since its power profile doesn’t fit that of a large SUV, to say nothing of its mid-mounted properties in the C8. Still, it’s fun to think of a flat-plane ‘Slade.
Cadillac seems to be hauling out all the stops and going out of the internal combustion business with a bang. Remember, suits in corner offices have stated the brand will exit this decade as a purveyor of EVs, meaning this Escalade V – and its Blackwing sedan cousins – are truly the last of their kind.
But a 650-ish horsepower supercharged Escalade? What a way to go.
[Images: Cadillac]
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