2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport AWD Assessment & Check Drive : Automotive Addicts
I have to lastly come clear. When you had been to ask me proper now what my favourite luxurious automotive model is, I must say Cadillac. After all, that choose falls solely within the luxurious realm, whereas I nonetheless discover a particular place in my coronary heart for my favourite sports activities automotive model, which is Porsche. Nonetheless, in recent times, Cadillac has received me over as a luxurious model that has the automobiles that I would like and can finally purchase in the future quickly. Furthering such a notion of Cadillac being a favourite, this week I get to get pleasure from the brand new Vistiq electrical automobile (EV), a midsized trendy marvel that has additionally received me over for the electrification arm of Caddy. Nonetheless, that profitable course of comes with some ‘shockingly’ good surprises but additionally some laborious sells the place Common Motors (GM) seemingly made a few errors alongside the way in which, however there are workarounds – extra on that later.
For 2025, the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq is all-new, becoming a member of the brand new lineup of EVs for the model and making a huge impact with its strong powertrain, touting a twin motor all-wheel-drive setup that’s pulled straight from the brand new Lyriq V, a efficiency EV crossover, good for as a lot as 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. Yeah, these energy figures are severe, as is the real-world energy of the Vistiq, the place its huge measurement seemingly feels smaller because it carries its 6,350-pound curb weight with grace and authority. In actual fact, that weight feels as if it’s hidden someplace down low whenever you push the Vistiq midsized EV crossover laborious – there’s rather a lot to understand and lift eyebrows with its respectable efficiency prowess that’s surefooted with out a lot tire squealing drama on public roads. Furthermore, the Vistiq runs from 0 to 60 mph in simply 3.7 seconds, using the Vmax (Velocity Max) mode to extract all of the electrified American ponies from the twin motor drivetrain that’s surprisingly properly balanced with a rear wheel energy bias. Caddy isn’t messing round right here, and this drivetrain is commonplace throughout the Vistiq’s 4 trim ranges (Luxurious, Sport, Premium Luxurious, Platinum).
The general driving character of the brand new Vistiq is pleasant and practically inconsiderate, as there aren’t any huge surprises aside from its dealing with and acceleration being higher than most would assume. There are different welcoming qualities of the drivetrain, similar to having simply the correct quantity of deceleration when not using the one-pedal drive mode, which has three ranges of regen that you may set and might come to an entire cease to allow the Auto Maintain function. There’s even a intelligent use of a left steering wheel paddle with a variable pressure-sensitive pull to enact totally different ranges of braking regen on the fly for optimum circumstances of including power again to the battery when braking.
The trip high quality is superb for the Vistiq Sport, which has an adaptive damper setup however lacks the air trip adaptive setup that’s reserved for the costlier Premium Luxurious and Platinum trims. I’d think about the trip high quality solely will get higher from right here, contemplating how properly dialed in GM is with their suspension setups. Even with the Vistiq Sport’s coil springs, there’s rather a lot to understand within the suspension tuning, retaining the practically 3 tons of American luxurious in test.
One space that’s additionally stunning is the sturdy brakes, that are largely seamless of their transitions for braking regen and use of the friction brakes. The Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season 285/45R-21-inch all-season tires do properly to grip the pavement and exude a clean trip high quality coupled with the well-damped suspension. Thoughts you, the Vistiq will be optioned with 22-inch and even 23-inch 305-section tires that also look becoming for the inherently massive Vistiq’s physique that rides on nearly the identical platform because the two-row seating Cadillac Lyriq.
On the facet of effectivity, the Cadillac Vistiq will get a 305-mile vary, which is simply sufficient to appease most for the category of car. The 102-kWh battery pack, additionally from the Lyriq, powers the 2 motors and will be charged in a rush, as much as 190 kW utilizing a DC quick charger. It provides as a lot as 80 to 100 miles in simply 10 minutes, using a DC quick charger. You’ll be able to even use Tesla Supercharger stations, supplied you’ve got the Tesla NACS (North American Charging Commonplace) adaptor that prices about $275. Many Tesla Supercharger stations cost up at 250 kW or extra for among the newer V3 and V4 stations.
The EPA estimated 93 MPGe metropolis, 78 MPGe freeway, and 86 MPGe mixed figures match that of my real-world assessments and sometimes are available in as conservative figures, as I used to be capable of simply finest these numbers to stroll away with a combined driving estimate of simply over 2.7 kWh. That primarily prolonged my vary to simply over 312 miles if I had been to totally deplete the battery, primarily based on my calculations of what was left after driving over 290 miles. That makes me comfortable if Cadillac absolutely under-promised and over-delivered right here, at the least for the Vistiq Sport trim with the 21-inch wheels that I could think about have a slight benefit over the bigger wheel choices on increased trim ranges. A few of that effectivity is partly because of the outstanding 0.29 drag coefficient, making the Vistiq a reasonably slippery automobile via the wind. A few of that slipperiness is because of the power-retracting door handles, which lack a technique of locking them with a touch-button from the surface. As an alternative, you’ll need to depend on setting the walk-away lock function that mechanically locks the automobile as you stroll away from it with the important thing fob in your pocket. Strategy the automobile, and also you’re greeted by an enlightened animated gentle present that first lights up the Cadillac emblem crest and follows up with a dance of lighting parts all through the strong grille and elongated LED daytime operating and headlights space. Good contact, Caddy!
Charging up at house with my 40-amp Stage 2 charger with a charge bouncing between 9.6 and 9.7-kW takes about 10 hours for an almost depleted battery. Cadillac affords up the flexibility to make the most of an elective 19.2-kW charging setup to chop charging time down to simply over 6 hours.
In true Cadillac custom and expectation, the inside of the brand new Vistiq retains true to the fashionable luxurious theme of GM’s prided luxurious model. The cabin is plush with simply the correct quantity of soft-touch surfaces combined in with accented stitching. There’s the pure focus of the 33-inch curved OLED display that has a floating look to encase the touchscreen space and digital gauge cluster that’s configurable for a myriad of options, such because the Google-based mapping show. Having a brand new Google-based setup, there’s rather a lot to understand within the options, which is the start of my disdain for GM now not providing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto integration. Such an omission for GM’s new EVs remains to be a serious sore spot for me, contemplating how, like me, most who personal considerably modernized vehicles are accustomed to these integrations and anticipate such in a brand new automobile, particularly a luxurious automobile that prices north of 70 grand. Right here, GM nonetheless misses the boat for a lot of and will very properly cannibalize some gross sales even when the Google-based setup permits for set up of a plethora of apps, like my favourite nav app, Waze. Nonetheless, I like my iPhone and revel in integrating it in every other new automobile that’s not a brand new GM EV. Right here, interacting along with your iPhone is sadly a cumbersome state of affairs that feels such as you’ve time-warped again to 2014 or earlier, and also you’re connecting your previous iPod to navigate your music utilizing plain-Jane folders and primary telephone controls. GM, what are you considering right here when nearly all of the general public has develop into accustomed to the ‘new’ integrations? Perhaps you may soften the blow with a pleasant smartphone mount so the motive force can nonetheless work together with their telephone as an alternative of getting the twin actively cooled wi-fi smartphone charging pads largely out of sight.
Other than my repeated frowning face for the dearth of Apple CarPlay, I do benefit from the newest infotainment system and the largely simplistic interplay with the automobile controls, even with many widespread controls being buried in menus, such because the headlight controls. I get it, a few of these controls, just like the headlights that default to their Auto setting, will infrequently be touched – so all of it makes some sense. For somebody who owns the Vistiq and most of GM’s new lineup of automobiles, the infotainment-embedded controls finally develop into a second-nature motion to search out them, but it surely does take a while to study the place all the things is situated within the menus.
Cadillac’s luxurious software finds a house contained in the Vistiq with ample house for the seating positions, that are primarily managed by toggles on the door. The entrance seats, with heating, air flow, and back-area-only therapeutic massage features, are comfortable however might use a softer headrest that includes a pair of audio system. The second row captain’s chairs have good room as properly, with reasonably simple guide changes for ahead and aft sliding. The third row has good headroom however is brief on legroom. The odd entry to the third row appears to be a problem, the place it’s initially thought that the one-button second-row slide and tilt perform has extra to it, but it surely doesn’t. One other odd side of the third row is that its power-folding perform doesn’t collapse the headrests in time to clear the second-row seats and tends to hold up on folding.
It’s not till you fold the second row that the third row can go all the way in which down – such an odd factor that I believed was a defect in my take a look at automobile. When the seats do go down, you open up the cargo space from its all-seats-in-place 15 cubic ft to as a lot as 80 cubic ft of house. One final stunning side, which isn’t one, is that there isn’t any frunk (entrance trunk). Open up the aluminum hood, and also you’ll solely see a variety of energy cables and a part of the entrance motor, which appears to be like like there might have been a sliver of house to make means for a plastic casing to kind a usable frunk.
When it comes to security, Cadillac brings all of the anticipated lively security options to the desk however provides on the bonus of getting the outstanding, and what I feel is class-leading, their Tremendous Cruise hands-free driving assistant system. The newest iteration of Tremendous Cruise by no means ceases to amaze me because it simply works and doesn’t let me down for its adaptation of ‘navigating’ a plethora of pre-mapped roads, the place it feels at house on our huge highways and interstates in America. Even turning on the automated lane change perform affords a brand new degree of sophistication to cross by sluggish site visitors.
Thought of to me as a child Cadillac Escalade IQ or an EV model of the XT6 that’s merely higher in virtually each means, the brand new Vistiq is well-positioned to play properly with a really quick listing of three-row EV crossover opponents like the brand new Lucid Gravity, Rivian R1S, Volvo EX90, and even the Hyundai Ioniq 9. Regardless that the EV motion has slowed a bit, Cadillac has actually performed its playing cards properly when patrons are able to make the EV transfer for a midsized three-row crossover EV. The one bluff right here with a well-delt hand in my opinion continues to be the omission of Apple CarPlay – sure, I simply can’t recover from it, as many others balk on the resolution as properly whenever you fork over the bottom worth of $79,090, and nearly each different new automobile available on the market has such. My Vistiq Sport take a look at automobile with the eye-popping Radiant Purple Tintcoat exterior paint choice, black roof rails, and a 6-passenger setup, involves a worth of $81,915.
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Malcolm Hogan is the founder and editor of Automotive Addicts, a trusted voice within the automotive media world for over 20 years. With 20+ years of hands-on expertise protecting the trade, Malcolm has constructed a fame for delivering sincere evaluations, sharp insights, and in-depth protection of all the things from new automotive debuts to high-performance take a look at drives. Passionate in regards to the evolving automotive tradition and staying forward of the curve, Malcolm continues to guide Automotive Addicts as a go-to vacation spot for fanatics and trade insiders alike.
