{"id":34516,"date":"2025-05-22T16:22:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T20:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34516"},"modified":"2025-05-22T16:22:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T20:22:50","slug":"payne-hands-free-in-the-caddy-baby-escalade-vistiq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/payne-hands-free-in-the-caddy-baby-escalade-vistiq","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Hands-free in the Caddy ‘Baby Escalade’ Vistiq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The Baby Escalade is Cadillac\u2019s most mature electric vehicle.<\/p>\n

The Vistiq is the fifth and final piece in the GM luxury brand\u2019s EV squadron and, at $79,290, its combination of size, speed and tech make it the best value of the quintet. That value is relative as Caddy\u2019s EV lineup makes a big move to the ultra-luxury EV market (led by its $340K Celestiq flagship) over its outgoing internal combustion models. Expect the EVs to cost $20,000-$40,000 more than their ICE peers.<\/p>\n

My all-wheel-drive Luxury model asks a 30-grand premium over the comparable $50K gas-powered XT6 Luxury model, which is retiring after this year.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit News columnist Henry Payne drives hands-free on the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq’s Super Cruise system.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

On Patterson Lake Road\u2019s rollercoaster in Livingston County, I confidently leapt from turn to turn in the three-ton, three-row, three-story Vistiq despite its girth. Thanks to the 102-kWh battery\u2019s location in the basement, my tester sported a low center of gravity to stay planted through the twisties.<\/p>\n

That low CG is an EV trait \u2014 but in the smaller Optiq and Lyriq crossovers, it\u2019s, um, outweighed by a lack of nimbleness compared to their 1,000-pound-lighter internal-combustion engine peers. In a three-row SUV class where everything tips the scales over two tons, however, the low CG stands out. Add rear-wheel steer in upper Premium Luxury and Platinum trims, and this is a rhinoceros in tennis shoes.<\/p>\n

The rear-drive feature is shared with Papa Escalade IQ, but the electric family\u2019s patron will set you back another (cough) 40 grand. ZOT! I buried my right foot and Vistiq hit 60 mph in a fantast-iq 3.9 seconds merging onto I-94 West. Baby Escalade coming through!<\/p>\n

Vistiq is also a technology showpiece. Without taking my eyes off the road, I toggled the raised adaptive cruise switch on the steering wheel and set my speed at 75 mph, then fingered a nearby braille pad for Super Cruise. The steering wheel lit green for hands-free driving.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq is a three-row SUV that slots in between the electric Lyriq and Escalade IQ with a starting price of $79,090.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

While Baby Escalade took over driving duties, I rearranged icons on the 33-inch curved dash screen as I would my phone. I dragged icons for DRIVE MODES, CHARGING and SELF PARK ASSIST (features I used frequently) to the left side of the screen.<\/p>\n

GM pioneered hands-free driving in 2017, and has been neck-and-neck with Tesla ever since. Tesla\u2019s Full-Self-Driving system leap-frogged GM cars last year when it went hands-free with navigation, enabling its cars to take you door-to-door across secondary roads and divided highways. Super Cruise is slowly adding secondary roads to its network of mapped, divided highways \u2014 but it won\u2019t navigate.<\/p>\n

What it will do, like Tesla, is automatically change lanes. At 75 mph, Vistiq sensed slower traffic, automatically applied its turn signal, moved into the fast lane and swept by a line of cars. Safely clear, it automatically pulled back into the slower lane. Terrif-iq.<\/p>\n

\"Sit<\/figure>\n
\n
Sit in the third row and you can use the second row as an ottoman in the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

Approaching my off ramp, Tesla FSD would automatically transition to the slower secondary road. The Caddy? It handed driving duties back to me, the steering wheel light turning red.<\/p>\n

Super Cruise comes standard on Vistiq for three years, plenty of time for owners to learn the system. You won\u2019t want to go back. Not standard is an augmented reality head-up display available on Premium Luxury and Platinum trims. Caddy\u2019s been a HUD pioneer, and AR advances the game by placing directions over the road ahead. Alas, my standard Luxury version did not option even a regular head-up display. Neither did it have a frunk for storage like the Escalade IQ \u2014 or Rivian and Tesla models.<\/p>\n