Cadillac goes big on 2025 Escalade V

690hp V8, 55-inch screen, 24-inch wheels and 126 ambient lighting colours - the Escalade is back, baby

By Matt Bird / Thursday, 18 July 2024 / Loading comments

Good old Cadillac, it just can’t let a good thing go. With EV Escalade IQs around and the all-electric Lyriq launched, plus the end in sight for the V saloons, it seemed like the supercharged 6.2 V8 would be consigned to the history books. But no - for one last year, the 690hp Escalade V is on sale in the US, complete with 2025MY update. The diesel option was dropped due to lack of demand, so apparently enough people want a near-700hp Escalade for it to continue just a little longer.

Fundamentally this is the same car as launched in 2022; just like before, it’s even arrived without EPA fuel economy for the moment. But the 10-speed auto is carried over, the 2,885kg kerbweight is unchanged and it’ll still romp through the quarter mile in 12.74 seconds. In its final year on sale, the world’s silliest seven seater isn’t changing for anyone.

Where the 2025 V is different is in being more, well, Escalade. The standard wheels are now 24s, up from 22 before, filling out those cavernous arches a bit more convincingly. The interior, though with new seats and more carbon, is dominated by a 55-inch display, reaching from pillar to pillar, offering up an ‘immersive and personalised infotainment experience’. They’re not just bragging, either - a standard 19-speaker setup can be upgraded to 40 (!) as part of the Executive Second Row package. It’ll make your home seem underequipped. Indeed with HD streaming and browser compatibility on the screen, nobody will ever really have to leave. Staying inside also means they wouldn’t have to see the new-for-25 illuminated grille surround. Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control 4.0 is said to keep V passengers ‘isolated from undesirable road surfaces while providing precise steering and feel’. While also able to tow more than three tonnes.

All things to all people, see. Family bus, quarter mile hero, perfect track day tow car. Alright, so an Escalade remains pretty silly, never more so than in V-Series guise. But people still want them, so Caddy will keep making them for as long as they can, supercharged V8 and all: more than a million Escalades have found homes in the past 25 years. However ridiculous, the Escalade V is still the most interesting SUV in the Caddy stable. Just not for very much longer.