Escala. The Spanish word for scale. According to Cadillac, Escala has yet another meaning. More to the point, the Escala Concept here “sets the standard of premium for all cars to be measured.”
The concept vehicle before your eyes is, for all intents and purposes, a design study that is meant to preview the styling language of upcoming Cadillac models. But more than that, it is the first General Motors vehicle that makes use of the heavily-anticipated 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 tower-of-power.
Internally referred to as LT5, this force-fed V8 shouldn’t be confused with the small-block LT5 from the C4 Corvette ZR-1. It is a clean-sheet design that’s expected to arrive on at least three General Motors vehicles. One of them is the next model year for the Cadillac CT6, the other is the yet-to-debut luxury sedan slotted above the CT6, and the third is, of course, the C8 Corvette. And yes, all leads point toward a mid-engined C8 Corvette due for MY 2019.
Nothing else except the displacement of the engine, number of cylinders, cylinder deactivation function, and twin-turbo system is known about the LT5 V8, at least for the time being. The other thing you need to know about the Cadillac Escala Concept is that it is a “four-door expressive flagship sedan with lift-back rear opening.” The manufacturer mumbles something about it being a “more expressive, expansive companion” to the CT6 and, based on its dimensions, it is precisely that. Let’s get down to crunching some numbers.
Photo: Cadillac
Here are the dimensions for the CT6: 5,184 mm (204.1 in) length, 3,108 mm (122.4 in) wheelbase, 1,879 mm (74 in) width, and 1,473 mm (58 in) height. Here are the dimensions for the Escala Concept: 5,347 mm (210.5 in) length, 3,228 mm (127.1 in) wheelbase, 1,948 mm (76.7 in) width, and 1,455 mm (57.3 in) height. That’s right, the Cadillac Escala Concept is marginally more imperial than the CT6 sedan, and that’s perfectly a-OK.
Instead of boring you with the OLED screens of the cabin, I’ll let Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen light up our imagination with a tell-tale statement: “Escala is a concept car, but one based upon the unrelenting rise of our product substance. Depending on the development of market segment for large luxury sedans, Escala is a potential addition to our existing product plan.”
Excited? You’d better be!
LATER EDIT
LT5 is the name of a 6.2-liter DOHC V8 slated for the C7 ZR1. Caddy's 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 has yet to be officially baptized.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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