An owner of a Cadillac Escalade knows about style, sophistication, and power. After all, it comes from the factory making 403 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque, so there aren't any mice running the engine in this fullsize SUV.
However, if the owner of an Escalade is a Truckin' magazine reader and happens to own of the premier custom vehicle shops in Arizona, then leaving that stock-powered Escalade alone won't suffice. That's exactly what Jason plotke Innovative Automotive group (IAG) in Scottsdale, Arizona, has done. He literally has turned a nice and powerful '07 Cadillac Escalade into tire-fryin', sinister SUV that makes 654 hp 672 lb-ft of torque.
So, how did he do it? When it came time the '07 SEMA Show in las Vegas, Jason and team at IAG needed to assemble an exclusive demonstration vehicle to showcase the company's offerings. IAG built this Escalade under strict parameters established by General Motors, which is an OE supplier of products. So, the goal was to build a vehicle whose luxury brand wouldn't be overly discarded, but rather paid homage to.
Starting with the engine itself, the 6.2l V-8 was completely transformed from semi-powerful to super powerful, thanks to the addition of a Procharger centrifugal supercharger that is intercooled for even more efficiency and makes 10 psi of boost. Also installed was an Airaid air intake, Dynatech 4-into-1 long tube headers, and a Corsa exhaust system. All the fine-tuning of the system was done at house of boost. Those modifications alone were enough to net an additional 251 hp over stock. It's impressive, to say the least. but that's not all. Exterior-wise, the Escalade was given a cut, buff, and color-sand, then the factory grille shell was replaced with an exclusive IAG piece, as well as the door handles and side vents.