Cadillac Lyriq-V review: the newest V-Series member and… the quickest Caddy in history

What is it?

It’s the Lyriq-V, which, despite how it sounds, is not an electrolyte-infused sport drink, but is in fact the first electric car to join Cadillac’s V-badged series of sporty cars.

Lyriq? As in the car that took me to the airport?

Probably. If you recall, the Lyriq is the first of Cadillac’s all-electric luxury vehicles that now includes Celestiq, Vistiq and Optiq, all sharing the same GM BEV3 platform. Along with its lux looks and interior, the Lyriq was appealing due to its 300+ miles of range, ample cabin and $60,000-ish price tag.

Turns out the smooth ride was worth the buy-in, too, and it’s since become a hot ticket item, with Cadillac selling more than 60,000 units to date, 71 per cent of those being conquests from other brands. As such (anecdotally), a not-small number of those were swept up by livery cab and ride share businesses. Seems to be a thing for Caddys.

If it was lacking in any particular department, it would be on the performance side of things. But then the Lyriq’s focus has always been on luxury, and not having to split the difference between that and sport was to its benefit.

This Lyriq-V is the $80,000 answer to those asking for a more bimodal vehicle to live with.

Alright, so what’s so ‘V’ about it?

Cadillac went through every aspect of the Lyriq to find ways to give it enough muscle and precision to earn it a V-Series badge, starting with the power output. The Lyriq-V builds upon the standard car’s optional dual-motor setup and shares the 102kWh battery pack, though it now delivers 615hp and 650lb ft of torque – way over the 515hp and 450 lb ft it previously spouted.

A number of suspension changes and new drive modes are included so that all this juice can be put to use when let loose. Yes, I’m deliberately being lyriqal. Ba-dum tsh.
Jumps from 0 to 60mph can be done in 3.3 seconds once engaged in its launch mode, though in the right conditions it can score a flat three-second run. Which I’ve witnessed first hand. Albeit going by the Lyriq’s own in-car telemetry, but what matters is it’s still quite quick and consistent in doing so.

It tops out at around 130mph, all of which is made possible through prodigious use of its new V-Max mode, a carry-over function from the Escalade IQ that dumps more power out of the battery than is usually necessary. As one would imagine, this does take a hammer to the available range, the best of which the Lyriq-V can muster is 285 miles.

How about the handling?

For a near-6,000lb vehicle (2,700kg ish), surprisingly manageable. A multitude of suspension components have been reinforced for increased precision, and the V is now the only Lyriq with adaptive dampers. The whole thing rides on 22in V-Series wheels shod in Continental summer tires as standard.

Behind the scenes are six-piston Brembo brakes in the front, with the discs receiving an FNC-coating treatment to reduce brake dust. If you’re hardcore about it, you can opt out for better bite, but you’re getting into serious performance minutiae with this one and it sounds like just another fact to bore your friends with.

Brake-based torque vectoring and a ‘competitive’ drive mode brings this all together to make the Lyriq-V quite spry for a vehicle of its caliber. Our time with the latest V-Series included an autocross that showcased how the electric executive ride could handle quick inputs in small spaces and, very much to its credit, it performed better than expected.

Steering inputs were direct and speedy, allowing us to focus on finding the Lyriq-V’s tolerances. Can you get the back end out? With great effort, yes, though you quickly discover the Cadillac’s digital boundaries the harder you push, requiring drivers determined to swing the Caddy’s thicc rump around to sort of trick it into doing so.

Will you ever race the Lyriq-V? Highly unlikely, but if you were determined to demonstrate that you can indeed get to LaGuardia Airport with the efficacy of the limo driver from The Wedding Singer, you could certainly do worse.

How about on the road?

In the real world, the Lyriq-V remains just as comfortable as the standard model, there’s just the added grunt underneath if you want it. Though it gives more of itself in the sporty modes, the improvements are still there in casual driving, so there’s not much to compel you to switch into bad-boy mode, save for the odd twisty backroad.

While on the go, passengers are treated to the 33in diagonal LED display that houses the gauges and the infotainment screen. Cadillac and GM in general have one of the more manageable interfaces out there today, but it’s still far from being particularly user friendly.

The interface is pretty flexible, but almost to a fault – there are many vague ways to do things instead of one clear way, if you will. The mix of physical buttons is welcome but it’s still all over the place, particularly when you start trying to customize the non-touchpad driver display.

Amusingly, all Lyriqs including this one retain Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, a feature grandfathered in while GM has booted them out of the rest of its EVs. Super Cruise is included as standard and when you happen to be driving unassisted, a dual-plane HUD features augmented reality pop-ups that are genuinely handy with driving directions.

What’s the final takeaway?

Cadillac’s choice to bring the Lyriq into the V-Series fold isn’t a huge surprise given how automakers are still discovering how much performance can be mined from their electric power units. As its first true-blue EV, it makes sense that the Lyriq continues to be the showcase (or guinea pig) for new developments.

Does it need to be part of the V-Series family? It doesn’t hurt, and while I can’t imagine there were people camping out on the sidewalk for it, I can see it being an easy upsell for someone already looking into the Lyriq. It’s not a Blackwing, you’re not getting it for the performance, but you wouldn’t turn your nose up at the extra capability.