Cadillac Celestiq Spied Riding On Michelin Pilot Sport Tires
After a slow build-up of teasers that stretched for literally years, things are now moving much faster for the Cadillac Celestiq. This is technically our first real catch of a Celestiq test vehicle in public, and while the camo wrap hides details about the final design, its tires offer clues to power and performance.
For the record, yes, we’ve seen a camo-wrapped Celestiq in production trim before. However, these “spy” images were officially released by Cadillac, meaning they were scrutinized by the automaker before being released. This time it’s just our spy photographer, a camera and a series of unfiltered images showing a test car in white camouflage.
10 photos
The thin fender strip directly behind the front wheel can be seen very well here and could have concept-like lighting elements. Speaking of lights, zooming in on the rear reveals that the concept’s upper and lower taillight structures should make it into production, although they could be toned down a bit. The flimsy side mirrors from the concept are replaced here with standard mirrors, and behind those solid covers we can see snazzy wheels with a six-bolt pattern.
We know the production version of the Celestiq will be very similar to the concept unveiled in July, but we don’t know anything about performance yet. Because of this, the tires are of particular interest in this batch of images, as we can clearly see Michelin Pilot Sport on the sidewall. The exact type is unknown, however any Version of the Pilot Sport is a true performance tire.
We know the Celestiq will use the Ultium platform, but Cadillac hasn’t given any guidance on performance. It’s safe to assume Cadillac isn’t just building a posh luxury cruiser with a set of these tires in the game. Our spy sources say they’ve heard 0-60 mph times under three seconds, but that’s completely unconfirmed at this point. Such a boost would certainly be enough to surpass or beat the electric competition from Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, although performance close to the two-second mark would be required to challenge the Lucid Air Sapphire and Tesla Model S Plaid .
During the unveiling of the Celestiq show car, Cadillac promised to release more details about the production version in the coming months. Whether that includes performance data remains to be seen, but all information should be announced at the latest by the end of next year with the official debut.