The Cadillac Escalade didn’t have the avant-garde design of its German rivals or the Ludicious performance of a Tesla. But it stuck around for over 20 years and has really come alive with the arrival of the 2023 Escalade-V, which has both the curb appeal and the performance of a supercharged V8.
It’s a unique offering in the SUV market. But by entering it, you begin to notice that the Escalade-V still doesn’t have the bells and whistles of its European rivals. You can’t buy a luxury widebody kit from Mansory, for example. This may sound silly, but carbon fiber and expensive wheels are a core part of exotic SUV ownership these days. One rendering artist decided to push Cadillac’s most iconic SUV until it reached its full potential.
Carm Style Design has released what we can only describe as the supercar of Cadillac SUVs, a conversion that’s so extreme you can’t possibly imagine it existing in the real world.
Carm’s style of rendering
We don’t often get to share the work of this 3D artist. His tastes are definitely geared more towards the expensive European cars, and this shows in the way the Escalade was modified too.
It’s got a widebody kit that looks like it was stolen from an Audi race car and puts the real Escalade from Larte Design to immediate shame. Massive fenders bulge out from the already large SUV, a bit like how the RS6 grows its flares from the chassis of a regular A6.
At the front, the Escalade-V gets massive vertical vents next to its LEDs, channeling air around the side of the body. A deep chin spoiler has also been added, matched in look with the side skirts and obligatory rear diffuser.
Carm’s style can look similar to that of Hycade, but he does have one trademark: accents. In this case, carmine red is used for the massive supercar-like wheels and the custom LED lights. It gives this Escalade a Pimp My Ride kind of vibe.
Hycade also made a number of renderings where regular cars become super. And if there’s one Cadillac that deserves that treatment it’s… the CTS-V or the new Blackwing. But also, this Escalade-V is pretty worthy.
The V badge signals this is a high-performance Cadillac, the kind that engineers want to develop. It’s just crazy that they put the LT4 engine in this thing, which is a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that makes 682 horsepower and 653 lb-ft of torque.
Standard performance elements include a 10-speed automatic transmission calibrated for the V, which means this SUV is capable of 0-60 mph sprints in under 4.4 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12.74 seconds at 110 mph, according to GM. What’s crazy is that this costs Mercedes GLS money: $149,990, and you can get it as an ESV version, which means 19 feet of luxury. That’s a true big-boy 3-row that tows and can swallow a canoe. Interior quality really has gone up tremendously since the early Escalades, so there isn’t much reason to be loyal to those pesky Germans and their tiny 4.0-liter V8s.
