The VISTIQ landed on me in Melbourne for four days of mostly perfect autumn weather, which is exactly the kind of conditions you want to road-test something this big. Five point two metres of American three-row EV, captain's chairs, a stereo that rearranges your understanding of what a car can do, and a price tag that genuinely doesn't make sense when you put it next to its rivals.
That last bit is the real story here. The VISTIQ lands in Australia at $116,000 before on-roads. It's offered exclusively in top-spec Platinum trim with adaptive air suspension and a six-seat layout with second-row captain's chairs. It undercuts every comparable European three-row luxury EV on sale here, in some cases by tens of thousands of dollars.
We drove a fully charged battery dry for a week, mostly through Toorak, Brighton, Glen Iris, and Malvern, where the VISTIQ feels properly at home aesthetically.
The price is the kickerThere is genuinely nothing in this segment getting close to what Cadillac is doing on value, and I've been driving press cars long enough to spot when a brand is buying market share. This isn't that.
This is a fully loaded, properly engineered three-row luxury EV that happens to cost less than the supposedly cheaper options you'd compare it against. The equivalent top-spec VISTIQ in the US starts from around $98,000 USD, which converts to roughly $138,000 AUD. We're getting it for $116,000. Win.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
Standard kit includes air-ride adaptive suspension with chassis damping control, active rear steering, Brembo front brakes, and Driver Attention Assist with full lane-keep assist. You also get quad-zone climate, heated and ventilated front seats with massage, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, the 23-speaker AKG Studio system, and the 33-inch curved display with Google built in.
This is luxury without the obscene $249,000 price tag some German manufacturers are slapping on their flagship EVs. It's just insane to think they do that. You'd struggle to spec a German equivalent of the VISTIQ to this level without crossing $180,000, and that's before you start optioning anything.
It isn't just me saying it either. When I dropped the car back at Cadillac, the bloke picking up his brand new LYRIQ stopped me in the car park to have a look inside the VISTIQ and just kept saying, " Wow, this is amazing".
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
My mate Luke, who runs Motorbiz Prestige Cars in Moorabbin and has had every supercar you can name through his showroom, jumped in the passenger seat and within ten minutes was running his hand over the leather and saying it feels like a lot of car for the money. When a bloke who sells Italian supercars for a living tells you a $116,000 Cadillac feels like a lot of car, you write that down.
Is it the most handsome Cadillac in the range? MaybeThe OPTIQ and LYRIQ are both nice in their own way and uniquely Cadillac, but the VISTIQ has the right stature for what the brand is trying to do here. It's the flag model. It's the one that's going to get people into the brand.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
Parked, it drops onto its air suspension and goes from imposing to genuinely menacing. The Platinum wears 22-inch Reverse Rim wheels with a Satin Graphite finish on 295/40R22 self-sealing tyres, and the choreographed welcome lighting is one of those touches that should feel naff but lands when it's pitch dark and you're walking back to it after dinner.
The VISTIQ doesn't try too hard. The ambient lighting is cool, but it's not the point. The exterior aesthetic is right, and it doesn't need to shout about itself, which, after a year of Chinese EVs trying to one-up each other on chrome, screens and theatrical opening doors, is genuinely refreshing.
Cadillac's done the work elsewhere, too. Word is the Australian Grand Prix Corporation rated Cadillac's experience at this year's Australian GP as the best on-track activation of the lot, which, given how many brands were swinging for the fences with their F1 hospitality, is a serious thing to be said.
The interior is where Cadillac really pulls away from the pack. I've spent a fair chunk of this year inside Chinese EVs at the Beijing Auto Show and back home, and there's a specific kind of interior they keep producing. Lots of screens, lots of soft-touch surfaces in places you'll never touch, lots of pattern and ambient light, and almost nothing that feels properly considered.
The VISTIQ is the opposite. Cadillac has been making interiors for nearly a century, and you can feel it the moment you sit down. The captain's chairs in row two are the kind of things you notice.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
The materials slap too. Open-pore wood, real metal accents, leather that smells like leather. After four days of getting in and out multiple times a day with bags, coffees, and groceries, nothing creaked, nothing squeaked, and nothing looked like it was going to wear out in two years.
The sound system is the best I've ever heard in a carThis deserves its own section because I'm still thinking about it days later. The VISTIQ runs a 23-speaker AKG Studio system with Dolby Atmos, and it uses Harman's 1-amp architecture, mapping Atmos tracks to each individual speaker location, including headrest speakers and height speakers.
The technical detail matters because this isn't a lot of speakers shouting at you from the doors. It's actual three-dimensional audio engineering.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
Tune of the trip was Running in the Night by FM-84 and Ollie Wride. Synthwave, layered to hell, the kind of track that on a normal car stereo turns into mush by the second chorus. In the VISTIQ it sat up around me like I was in the booth. The synth pads come from above, the bass line stays planted, Wride's vocals are dead centre, and the arpeggios float between the front and rear of the cabin like they're moving through the car.
The other thing worth saying is how good it sounds at low volume. Most premium car audio systems need to be cranked to come alive. The AKG setup is detailed at whisper-quiet volumes, which matters more in real life than the party-trick demos do.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
If you're a real snob when it comes to in-car audio, I'll give the slight edge to the LYRIQ. Cadillac's partnership with Warner Music Australia is built around the LYRIQ's AKG sound system, with Warner artists putting their tracks through the ultimate "car test" in the LYRIQ cabin.
How the VISTIQ goes on the roadYou can build a luxury car that's quiet and quick. What's harder is making something this big feel composed at speed and unbothered at low speed, and the VISTIQ does both.
The dual-motor AWD system delivers 459kW and 880Nm, and 0 to 100 km/h takes 4.2 seconds when you engage Velocity Max via the steering wheel button. The huzzah is the ride. Air Ride Adaptive Suspension with Chassis Damping Control comes standard along with active rear steering, and the result is a five point two metre SUV that turns into car parks like something a metre shorter and floats over Melbourne tram tracks like the surface isn't there.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
The most important thing about driving this car, though, is how easy it is. Easy, easy, easy. That sounds like a small thing until you've spent time in big EVs that aren't, and then you realise it's the difference between a car you want to drive every day and one you don't. The VISTIQ is genuinely effortless to thread through Toorak Road traffic and just as relaxed on the freeway.
Range-wise, the Australian-spec car uses a 91kWh battery with a claimed 461km WLTP range and a max DC charge rate of 130kW. I used a full charge over four days of mixed Melbourne driving, which felt about right against the WLTP claim. The DC charging speed is the one place the value equation takes a slight hit, but for the kind of driving most people will do in this car, it's a non-issue.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
The 33-inch curved display with Google built-in is perfection. The menus are logical, the response time is quick, and Cadillac has resisted the temptation to bury climate controls three menus deep. This is thanks to GM using the same UX across all its brands and models. Makes for better customer feedback and product evolution. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, despite GM in the US having ditched them on its EVs.
DMARGE's Two CentsThe Cadillac VISTIQ is the most difficult car I've had to write about this year, because the conclusion sounds like marketing copy and it isn't. At $116,000 before on-road costs, this is the best-value luxury large SUV EV on sale in Australia.
Photo: DMARGE / Romer Macapuno
The interior is genuine luxury, the sound system is on a level with the very best in the business, the ride matches anything coming out of Crewe or Goodwood at three times the money, and it does 0 to 100 in 4.2 seconds while seating six adults in proper comfort.
The DC charging speed is the one knock, and if cross-country road trips are your main use case, that's worth knowing. Everything else feels like Cadillac quietly raising the bar on what a $116k luxury EV looks like in 2026.
Verdict: I'd buy one.
2026 Cadillac VISTIQ Platinum Specifications SpecificationDetailPrice$116,000 before on-road costsDrivetrainDual-motor all-wheel drivePower459kWTorque880Nm0-100 km/h4.2 seconds (Velocity Max mode)Battery91kWh lithium-ionRange461km WLTPDC fast charging130kW maxLength5,233mmWheelbase3,094mmSeatingSix-seat configuration with second-row captain's chairsWheels22-inch Reverse Rim with 295/40R22 self-sealing tyresAudio23-speaker AKG Studio system with Dolby AtmosDisplay33-inch curved LED with Google built-inSuspensionAir Ride Adaptive with Chassis Damping ControlWarranty5-year/unlimited km vehicle, 8-year/160,000km battery Want one? Book a test drive.The VISTIQ is on sale now through Cadillac's experience centres in Sydney and Melbourne.
Get yourself in front of one. If you're shopping anywhere near this price point in the luxury EV space, you owe it to yourself to drive this car before you sign anything else.
Discover MoreRead the full article Meet The Luxury SUV Delivering Looks, Comfort & Performance At A Stunning Price on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!
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