There’s not long left with GM’s monster LT4 supercharged V8. The 6.2 perhaps most famously featured in the old Corvette Stingray Z06, but of course has also provided more than ample power for the mighty Camaro ZL1 and the V Series Cadillacs. The CT5-V Blackwing will go down as one of the great supersaloons, and the Escalade-V as one of the silliest cars to leave the United States in recent times. Naturally, then, Hennessey is going to make 100 of them much sillier still.
The H1000 is now 50 per cent more powerful and 35 per cent torquier than stock. Remember it’s nearly 700hp from the factory. Hennessey’s own cam (just the one, remember), a bigger supercharger with smaller pulley, ported heads, new valves, higher-flow induction, better throttle body, upgraded pushrods and lifters plus an ECU overhaul has liberated 1,005bhp (1,019hp) at 6,400rpm and 882lb ft at 4,300rpm. Or the combined power of two fast cars in one giant Cadillac. Hennessey reckons the CTS-V is a sleeper, with nothing beyond badges to mark it out as an H1000, though an SUV this large on 23-inch wheels is hardly likely to ever go unnoticed. Even in the US.
Hennessey being Hennessey, there’s a bit of light entertainment to accompany the launch of the Escalade - they’ve raced it against a Lamborghini. A Huracan Evo, no less, and the result is… a close run thing, that’s for sure. Imagine racing mid-engined exotics seven-up in a three-tonne SUV; right up until having to fill it up, there’s surely a lot of fun to be had. “A full size luxury SUV has no business beating supercars, but the way the H1000 Escalade-V holds its own against legendary performance cars like the Huracan Evo is insane! If there’s a faster, more fun way to move seven people in this much comfort, I’m yet to find it!” So reckons John Hennessey, and it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. There’s not much else like a standard V, let alone a 1,000hp one.
Clearly the H1000 has struck a chord Stateside, as all hundred build slots have been allocated already. Each will get their own build plaque and three-year/36,000-mile warranty. Hennessey hasn’t released a cost for the package (no need to if they’re all sold), though given a V is a $150,000 truck to begin with, it’s surely going to be around the $200,000 mark. A heck of a lot for an Escalade, but those that are keen will be all too aware that this kind of car isn’t going to happen again. And more than 1,000hp feels like exactly the right kind of LT4 send off.
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