BMW M8 vs Cadillac Vistiq

What's the difference?

The right lane on Aussie freeways is occasionally referred to as the ‘fast lane’, which is laughable because the highest legal speed in the entire country is 130km/h (81mph). And that’s only on a few stretches in the Top End. Other than that, 110km/h (68mph) is all you’re getting.

Sure, a 'buck thirty' isn’t hanging around, but the subject of this review is a 460kW (625hp) four-door missile, capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, and on to a maximum velocity somewhat in excess of our legal limit. 

Fact is, the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe is born and bred in Germany, where the autobahn’s left lane is serious territory, with open speed sections, and the car itself the only thing holding you back. In this case, to no less than 305km/h (190mph)!

Which begs the question, isn’t steering this machine onto an Aussie highway like cracking a walnut with a twin-turbo, V8-powered sledgehammer?

Well, yes, But by that logic a whole bunch of high-end, ultra high-performance cars would instantly become surplus to requirements here. Yet they continue to sell, in healthy numbers.  

So, there’s got to be more to it. Time to investigate.

Cadillac launched in Australia last year as an all-electric brand and its first offering was the Lyriq large SUV. It now has a follow up in the form of the Vistiq which has a similarly confusing name but is even larger.

With three rows of seating and an electric powertrain, it’s a key rival to the likes of the Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV9 and Volvo EX90.

We’ve already had a spin of the Vistiq over in the USA but this is our first time on Australia soil, so let’s see how it stacks up.