Cadillac's Escalade-V Could Have Had A V16 Engine

The Cadillac Escalade-V is Caddy's most powerful SUV ever. In fact, it's the most powerful full-size SUV on sale right now, equipped with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8, producing 682 horsepower. But did you know Cadillac was once planning a more powerful Escalade?

The current V has enough power to get it to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, which means it's not the fastest, but it is good fun. Despite the size, weight, and lack of performance compared to the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63, we found it to be a fitting tribute to internal combustion. It will be the last SUV of its kind before Cadillac goes fully electric in 2030.

But what would the V have been like if Cadillac followed through on a mad idea it had in the early noughties?

In a recent interview with GM Authority, the Escalade's product manager spoke about a crazy idea for a performance 'Sclade back before manufacturers started turbocharging/supercharging all the things. "At one point we even talked about a 16-cylinder Escalade," said David Schiavone.

Those of you who are 40-something and older will remember that Cadillac introduced a radical concept car in 2003. It was called the Sixteen, and it was named after its V16 engine. It remains one of our favorite concepts of all time, even though Cadillac used the exterior rather than the engine as inspiration for future products.

Though Cadillac might have thought about shoehorning the V16 engine into the front of an Escalade, the idea was likely canned within five minutes. If the public is outraged about the current Escalade-V's $150k price tag, imagine how angry they would have been about a $100k plus Cadillac nearly two decades ago.

It's a pity, however. At the time, Cadillac claimed that the naturally aspirated 13.6-liter V16 engine could produce 1,000 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque. That would have made it as powerful as the W16 engine used in the Bugatti Veyron, which required four turbochargers to get the job done.