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Cadillac's Blackwing V8 was the best engine at the worst time

It should be clear that GM knows how to innovate and engineer excellent products when it wants to. Cadillac's 4.2-liter twin-turbo Blackwing V8 is recent proof of that. Yet, as related in an extensive Road & Track piece, the Blackwing became victim to some of The General's bugbears, like the reticence to — for whatever reasons — unleash its excellence everywhere, fund that excellence, and be consistent with that excellence over the long term beyond the Corvette and full-sized pickups and SUVs. The R/T story relates tales told by "several people deeply involved with the Blackwing project" about how an engine 18 years in the making was deprived of its reasons for being in less than three. Starting around 2000, GM spent a dozen years building Cadillac up to the point where the American luxury brand could rationally flip to the chapter called, "Taking the Fight to the Germans, but for Real this Time." The first steps in the plan meant an exclusive platform and an exclusive engine. The platform was called Omega. You know the engine's name. They were going to be the aluminum-blocked fist and velvet glove enabling Cadillac to break on through to the other side of luxury — proper luxury to global standards, that is — with a range of beautiful and dynamic crossovers and sedans. An engineer involved in the project estimates GM poured $16 million into the Blackwing's clean-sheet development. Many more seven-figure sums went into creating the first sedan on the Omega platform, the CT6. The automaker dropped millions again poaching ex-Audi and Infiniti chief Johan de Nysschen, and moving Cadillac's headquarters to New York City in 2014. Further pallets of cash funded the development and debut of the Escala concept at Pebble Beach in 2016. In 2018, GM revealed its dramatically named DOHC twin-turbo V8. Considering what came before, the Blackwing clearly wasn't designed for cars. It was designed for world domination. However, against the backdrop of plummeting sedan sales, the CT6 didn't sell like GM had hoped. The automaker hesitated to marshal another fleet of Brinks trucks to fund entries into a cratering bodystyle. Removing sedans from the world domination equation created more difficult math for the crossovers and the Escala.

GM removes start/stop from full-size trucks and SUVs with V8 engines

GM is removing start/stop technology from a number of its popular full-size SUVs due to the ongoing chip shortage. This follows the removal of cylinder deactivation technology from some of its trucks, which was also due to the chip shortage. GM Authority first reported the news, but we’ve just confirmed everything with a GM spokesperson.  The following 2021 model year vehicles will be affected: Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500. Only versions of those vehicles built with the 5.3-liter V8 or 6.2-liter V8 and mated to the 10-speed automatic will have the tech removed from them. Only vehicles manufactured on or after June 7 will be affected. “By taking this measure, it will enable us to continue production of our high-demand full-size SUV and pickups as the industry continues to rebound and strengthen,” GM said in a statement. Those who ultimately buy one of these vehicles without start/stop technology will receive a $50 discount off MSRP for their troubles. Losing this fuel-saving tech could be a big negative for some, but we know many folks turn it off anyway. Not having to press the button to deactivate start/stop every time could actually be a positive if youÂ’re part of the camp who does that already. 2021 Cadillac Escalade Sport Platinum View 27 Photos On the downside, GM says “most of the affected vehicles will experience a minor reduction in fuel economy.” We donÂ’t have revised window stickers in hand to know how each model will be affected, but any 1 mpg reduction will be rather impactful for vehicles rated as low as these trucks already are. Any reduction will be seen in the city mpg rating, so take the kind of driving youÂ’re going to be doing into account before purchasing. When it comes to greenhouse gas compliance rules, GM says it doesnÂ’t foresee this impacting the companyÂ’s average fleet score. It also intends to begin adding start/stop back to these models as soon as possible, but there will be no retrofit effort made to fit the tech to vehicles already built without it. “Our supply chain organization continues to make strides working with our supply base to mitigate the near-term impacts of the semiconductor situation,” GMÂ’s statement reads. “GM continues to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products, including our highly profitable full-size trucks and SUVs for our customers.

2020 Cadillac Escalade spied for the first time

Cadillac is expanding its crossover and SUV range with a new three-row XT6, but that doesn't mean it has forgotten about the one that started it all. As seen in the above photos, the company is testing a new version of the Cadillac Escalade. It's well-covered, but there are a number of details that we can make out. We'll get to what we can see of the design in a bit, but the big news is the suspension. Like the new Tahoe we previously spied, the 2020 Cadillac Escalade will have an independent rear suspension replacing the solid axle set-up that GM's full-size SUVs have always possessed. Its rivals from Ford/Lincoln went independent long ago. We can't underline enough how much of a difference this will make. Handling should be less cumbersome and the ride will be smoother and less prone to jiggling over bumps. It would be improved even further if Cadillac continues to offer magnetically controlled shocks as standard. Inside, the third-row should be positioned lower, thus lowering the current sky-high load height and resulting in a third-row that's actually habitable. In other words, the Escalade won't be so archaic. You can see the visual differences between the new (top) and current (bottom) designs below. Now, as for the design, our best clue to the new Escalade's design is in the grille. The flashy slatted chrome grille of the current model is gone and in its place a more modest mesh grille with little studs pushed to the front. It's very much like the grille found on the new CT6 and XT4. Also, like those two vehicles, the headlights appear to have more horizontal elements than the very vertical examples on the current Escalade. The rest of the SUV is harder to make out. The profile is very similar to the current one, and will surely be shared with the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon models. The rear features new rectangular exhaust tips nestled into the rear bumper. The taillights will likely continue to stretch up the rear pillars. Like the suspension, the Escalade will continue to be generally mechanically the same as the aforementioned Chevy and GMC versions, albeit with the best parts standard. The updated 6.2-liter V8 with Dynamic Fuel Management first introduced on the Silverado and Sierra will likely be the standard engine. It will then be paired with the 10-speed automatic transmission. With the new Navigator so widely impressing in reviews and in sales, this new Cadillac Escalade will have to step it up.