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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.

You want screens? The 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment system gives you screens

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade’s infotainment system shocked and awed when it debuted, but now weÂ’ve finally had a chance to live with both it and the giant SUV that surrounds it for a week. Sliding behind the triple OLED screens is like stepping into the tech-forward future Cadillac promised us. The 6.2-liter push-rod V8 under the hood says otherwise, but the interior technology has already arrived. There are three screens in total: a 16.9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All three are OLED displays, and just as you might expect, they are gorgeous to take in. None of the high-tech German luxury vehicles have screens this pretty. The Escalade's donÂ’t just look great, though. All three screens are quick to react and pop through functions/menus without a hitch. The only slop or delay in the whole system is when you go to turn the cluster's augmented reality (AR) camera on  — you wait one potato, two potato, and then the feed pops up. ItÂ’s a new take on GMÂ’s infotainment system as a whole. YouÂ’ll still be swiping side-to-side through an iPad-esque display of apps, but the UI is totally rethought and appears fresh. Icons are big and easy to press. Nothing is hidden off-screen at any point. It just makes good sense. 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment View 17 Photos Cadillac has found a way to better utilize its redundant scroll wheel, too. Though it's the same wheel as is on other models, this time the whole display changes to match the wheelÂ’s action when you use it. For example, the home screen turns into a revolving circle of apps that you twist through as soon as you twist the dial. It may take some getting used to, but the option between two different interfaces that both function well is a positive. Redundant combos of touchscreen and control wheel are common, but no one offers something like this.  Keeping a few physical buttons and an actual volume knob around to control the infotainment system is another thoughtful touch — same goes for the climate controls, which entirely consist of physical buttons. Despite the central instrument panel screenÂ’s prodigious size, you wonÂ’t actually find a whole lot buried in there. All of the trip settings and general car settings have been moved into the infotainment system itself.

Win this 2021 Cadillac Escalade and you'll have a home theater in your driveway

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. Touchscreens in cars are getting bigger and bigger, and the Cadillac Escalade is the prime example. With a 38-inch display up front and a 36-speaker surround sound system, all this Cadillac is missing is a place to keep your snacks. Oh wait, they thought of that too with a fridge up front. All of this is great, but the best thing about the Cadillac Escalade is that Omaze is giving it away. Win a 2021 Cadillac Escalade and $20,000 - Enter at Omaze But the fun doesn’t end in the front seat. In the second row there are large screens as well, so you can binge watch your favorite TV show on your next road trip, assuming youÂ’re not driving. To top it off, if youÂ’re stuck way in the back, thereÂ’s Conversation Enhancement, so you wonÂ’t have to yell in order for the driver to hear what youÂ’re saying.  With all of this technology, itÂ’s easy to forget the original purpose of the Escalade, to get you from one place to another, in style, which it does incredibly well thanks to a 420 horsepower, 6.2L V8. Plus, this Escalade comes with something the others donÂ’t, $20,000 in cash. YouÂ’re probably asking yourself, what does it take to win? First of all, according to Omaze, "no donation or payment is necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes." $10 will get you 100 entries in this giveaway, while $50 will get you 1,000 entries and $100 will get you 2,000 entries. The donations themselves benefit Tie The Knot, which, according to Omaze, “works to raise awareness and advocate on behalf of LGBTQ equality throughout the world. Tie The Knot releases limited edition collections of neckwear and other fashionable products to benefit organizations that are in the trenches fighting for LGBTQ civil rights every single day and to fund their international public education campaign. Your donation can help Tie The Knot continue to move the dial in support of LGBTQ equality.” If you want this opportunity to own this tech-filled luxury SUV, enter here. The deadline to enter is May 26, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Cadillac Commerce deals