What 15,000 LYRIQ Owners Say About Driving Modes and Range

Do the Driving Modes in Cadillac LYRIQ Offer Different Ranges or Battery Usages?

We analyzed 15,000+ community owner reports to find out.

You’re researching a $60,000+ purchase, and you’ve probably already read the official reviews. Car and Driver tested highway range. Edmunds ran their standard protocol. Cadillac’s spec sheet says 326 miles.

But here’s the problem with professional reviews: they test one car, under controlled conditions, for a limited time. They can’t tell you what happens after 20,000 miles in Chicago winters, or whether that Sport Mode you love is actually the reason you’re not hitting EPA range.

That’s where community data comes in.

We used Octoparse to scrape and analyze 15,050 owner comments—7,293 from Reddit across 17 subreddits, and 6,757 from 76 YouTube videos. Real owners, real experiences, real numbers shared in unfiltered discussions.

Is community data perfect? No. Reddit and YouTube skew younger and more tech-engaged than the average LYRIQ buyer. People with complaints may post more than satisfied owners. Some people misremember their range figures.

But community data captures something official reviews can’t: the long-term ownership experience across thousands of different drivers, climates, and use cases. When 15,000 people talk about their cars, patterns emerge that no single professional test can reveal.

What we found surprised us: Yes, driving modes affect range—but probably not as much as you think. And honestly, there are other things you should worry about first.

Key Findings at a Glance

Before we dive deep, here’s what the data actually shows:

What We Collected:

• Reddit comments: 7,000+
• YouTube comments: 8,000+
• YouTube videos scraped: 76
• Subreddits analyzed: 17

What Owners Actually Report:

• Average real-world range: 287 miles
• Median reported: 300 miles
• That’s about 8-12% below EPA’s 326-mile rating
• Average efficiency: 2.7 mi/kWh

The Mode Impact:

• One-Pedal/Regen gets mentioned 127 times—and 54% of those are glowing reviews
• Sport Mode comes up 31 times
• Tour Mode only 16 times

But Here’s What Really Matters:

• #1 range killer: Tires/Wheels (22″) — 15.9% of complaints
• #2: Highway Speed — 12.8%
• #3: Cold Weather — 11.5%
• #6: Sport Mode — only 1.1%

Yeah, you read that right. Sport Mode is barely a blip on the radar compared to your wheel choice.

To sum up

Key Insight: Our owner-reported median of 300 miles aligns closely with independent testing by Car and Driver (308 miles) and Edmunds (283 miles), suggesting our crowdsourced data reflects real-world conditions accurately.

How We Did This (And You Can Verify It)

I want to be upfront about our methodology because “trust me bro” doesn’t cut it when you’re making a major purchase decision.

The Tool: Octoparse

Our team used Octoparse, a web scraping tool that lets you systematically pull data from websites. Anyone can sign up and run similar scrapes to verify our findings.

What We Scraped:

1. Reddit:

2. YouTube:

How We Analyzed It:

1. Range extraction: We used regex patterns to find any mention of specific mile numbers (like “got 280 miles” or “seeing 310 mi”). We filtered to realistic values between 180-380 miles.
2. Efficiency extraction: Same approach for mi/kWh mentions (like “averaging 2.5 mi/kWh”).
3. Sentiment analysis: We flagged comments containing positive indicators (love, great, amazing, best, game changer) and negative indicators (hate, terrible, disappointing, problem, issue).
4. Factor categorization: For every comment mentioning “range,” we tagged which factors they blamed—cold weather, highway speed, tires/wheels, HVAC, driving style, Sport Mode, etc.

What Range Do LYRIQ Owners Actually Get?

Cadillac says 314-326 miles depending on your configuration. But let’s be real—EPA numbers are tested in perfect lab conditions. What happens in the real world?

Out of all those Reddit comments, 226 included specific range figures.

From 7,081 unique Reddit comments, 226 included explicit range figures between 180-380 miles:

Note: Percentages exceed 100% because some comments mention multiple range figures or ranges that span buckets.

Statistical summary:

• Mean: 287 miles
• Median: 300 miles
• Comparison to EPA (326 miles RWD): Approximately 8% below

Representative Owner Reports

Above EPA performance:

“I own 2025 Lyriq. Absolutely love it and cherry on top is, it usually gives more range than advertised. I get ~325-335 on 85% charging and in summers it goes above 350.” — @vickydjatt, YouTube

“I can confirm hitting 340 miles range in mild to warm weather.” — u/Nunov_DAbov, r/CadillacLyriq (2024 Sport 3 AWD owner since April 2024)

Typical performance:

“Had no significant issues with my 2024. I routinely use it for a 220 mile trip we do and there’s no problems.” — u/Grokto, r/CadillacLyriq

What Does YouTube Commenters Reveals

YouTube is interesting because you see both owners sharing experiences AND prospective buyers asking questions. Out of 1,417 questions we found, 280 were about range and charging.

The top questions people ask:

1. “How often did you have to stop to charge on that trip?”
2. “How much did it cost to charge at a public charger?”
3. “Have you had any battery or software glitches?”
4. “How long does it take to charge?”
5. “What was the range in cold winter conditions?”

Have you notice a pattern? People are worried about road trips and charging infrastructure—not so much about Sport Mode draining their battery.

One owner’s experience that stood out:

“I own 2025 Lyriq. Absolutely love it and cherry on top is, it usually gives more range than advertised. I get ~325-335 on 85% charging and in summers it goes above 350.” — @vickydjatt, YouTube

This tracks with what we see in the data: warm weather + moderate speeds = meeting or beating EPA.

How Each Driving Mode Actually Affects Range

Alright, let’s get into the meat of the question.

Tour Mode is The Most Efficient One

Data points: 16 comments specifically discussed Tour Mode

Owner-reported efficiency comparison (22″ wheels, single detailed source):

Calculated efficiency advantage: Tour Mode provides approximately 19% better efficiency than Sport Mode at 70 mph.

Cross-reference: The U.S. Department of Energy indicates that driving behavior can impact EV efficiency by 15-25%, consistent with this owner’s measurements.

Owner sentiment:

“Tour mode seems to dampen the pedal input quite a bit… On the highway passing happens pretty much instantly for me.” — u/Zevu1911, r/CadillacOptiq

“I always keep it in sport mode, I realized very early when I test drove, that the tour mode is extremely underwhelming.” — u/Mindless-Ad1401, r/

Summary: Tour Mode gives you roughly 16-19% better efficiency than Sport Mode at highway speeds. If you’re doing a long trip and range anxiety is a thing for you, stay in Tour. But for daily driving where you have charging access? Use what feels good.

Sport Mode is Fun But It Has a Price

Data points: 31 comments discussed Sport Mode Sentiment: 29% explicitly positive

Efficiency impact: Based on available owner data, expect approximately 16-19% lower efficiency in Sport Mode compared to Tour Mode.

Practical range impact on 326-mile rated LYRIQ:

• Tour Mode theoretical: ~326 miles
• Sport Mode theoretical: ~265-275 miles (50-60 mile reduction)

Owner sentiment:

“Acceleration will be much more responsive, and quicker and a thrilling experience in sport mode vs tour mode.” — @paulp592, YouTube

“I use My Mode and switch the steering to sport. That makes a big difference.” — @craigzellner4159,

Summary: Based on the data, you’re looking at a 15-20% range hit in Sport Mode. On a 326-mile LYRIQ, that’s 50-65 fewer miles. Is it worth it? Depends on your situation. Near a charger and want to have fun? Go for it. Trying to make it to a Supercharger 100 miles away? Maybe chill in tour mode.

Does One-Pedal Driving Affect Lyriq Range?

Data points: 127 comments discussed One-Pedal Driving or regenerative braking Sentiment: 54.3% positive—the highest positive sentiment of any driving feature analyzed

Notable owner result:

“After a year I am getting 378 miles to a full charge. I use the regenerative brake paddle a lot. It’s the smoothest, quietest, most comfortable car I’ve ever driven.” — @Homer500, YouTube (55 likes)

Analysis: 378 miles represents approximately 16% above EPA rating. While this is an outlier, it demonstrates the potential impact of consistent regenerative braking use.

Cross-reference: The DOE confirms regenerative braking can recover 10-25% of kinetic energy that would otherwise be lost to friction braking.

Additional owner reports:

“One Pedal driving is so awesome. You just have to remember to use your brakes every now and then so they don’t rust up. My wife picked one pedal driving up in 10 minutes and LOVES it!” — @justcollectingdust, YouTube

“GM has my favorite regenerative braking. It is one thing that they do right.” — u/jimschoice, r/CadillacLyriq

Summary: If you take one thing from this entire article, let it be this—use One-Pedal Driving. It’s not just about range (though that’s a nice bonus). Owners genuinely love how it feels. You’ll barely touch your brake pedal, your brakes will last forever, and you’ll squeeze extra miles out of every charge. There’s a short learning curve, but once you get it, you won’t want to go back.

What Actually Kills Your Lyriq Range

Here’s where I need to shift your thinking. You came here asking about driving modes, but the data tells a different story.

We categorized every negative range mentioned by the factor owners blamed. Here’s what we found:

Key finding: Sport Mode accounts for 1.1% of range-related complaints—approximately 14 times less frequent than tire/wheel mentions.

Factor Analysis: Tires and Wheels

Cross-reference: The DOE estimates low-rolling-resistance tires can improve EV range by 3-7%. Larger diameter wheels generally increase rolling resistance and vehicle weight.

Owner reports:

“Do you have the 22’s? I am very curious how much that affects range. It’s huge on Teslas but not a lot of information for Lyriqs… I’ve had poor efficiency since I bought it. I think a lot of it has to do with the big 22’s.” — u/Otherwise_King8533, r/CadillacLyriq

Tire pressure impact:

“Inflate those tires to 42psi or whatever your trim recommendations are. Dealer gave me my car at 35 and I drove it like that for 3 months… took my mi/kWh from 1.7-1.9 to 2.3-2.5 for my daily commute no changes whatsoever besides the tires psi.” — u/Long-Bid-6940, r/CadillacLyriq

Analysis: This owner reports a 32-47% efficiency improvement from correcting tire pressure alone. While individual results vary, this underscores the impact of tire maintenance on EV range.

Factor Analysis: Cold Weather

Cross-reference: AAA research indicates EVs can lose 12% of range at 20°F and up to 41% when cabin heating is active.

Owner reports:

“Below 20°F I get 1.4 mi/kWh, wasn’t expecting that much loss. It is what it is.” — u/CupPuzzleheaded431, r/CadillacLyriq (South Dakota)

“Importantly, we do not live in a cold climate so our range has been spot on.” — @JackSmith-qi7dr, YouTube (8 likes)

Analysis: Cold weather impact is substantial and unavoidable for owners in northern climates. Pre-conditioning the vehicle while connected to charging can mitigate some battery energy loss.

RWD vs AWD—What Should You Get?

This came up enough in the data that it’s worth addressing.

Driver’s Opinion for RWD:

“I absolutely love mine. RWD is so perfectly balanced and with my Snows on, no issues whatsoever. I have gone through places my girlfriend’s AWD Mercedes gets stuck. Look, AWD gets you going, after that it’s a liability. Your car is heavier and stops are longer. The Lyriq RWD is excellent and nice to have all that extra range.” — u/libma2024

Driver’s Opinion for AWD:

“AWD also adds power and control. No reason to buy RWD except to ‘save money’. Which seems like an odd statement about a year old Cadillac.” — u/MN-Car-Guy

My take: If you’re in a warm climate or willing to use winter tires, RWD gives you more range and is plenty capable. If you deal with serious winter conditions and want peace of mind, AWD is the safer bet. Multiple Toronto-area owners confirmed RWD with snow tires handles Canadian winters fine, but it’s a personal comfort decision.

Practical Tips for Lyriq Owners from 15,000+ Comments

Here’s the advice that kept coming up over and over:

1. Check Your Tire Pressure Monthly

Seriously. That owner who went from 1.7-1.9 mi/kWh to 2.3-2.5 mi/kWh just by inflating properly? That’s not a fluke. Dealers often set tires low for a softer ride. Check your door jamb sticker and keep them at the recommended PSI.

2. Use One-Pedal Driving, Especially in the City

It recaptures energy every time you slow down. One owner hit 378 miles—16% above EPA—primarily by using the regen paddle aggressively. It takes maybe a day to get used to, and then you’ll wonder how you ever drove without it.

3. Target 65-70 mph on Highways

I know, nobody wants to hear “drive slower.” But the efficiency drop above 70 is steep. If you’re trying to make it somewhere without stopping, this is the easiest lever to pull.

4. Consider Super Cruise for Long Trips

“If you do a lot of highway driving I’d strongly suggest to try and test out super cruise… I use it almost daily on my 65 mile (round trip) daily highway commute. It works brilliantly.” — u/BigConscience728

Super Cruise maintains steady speed and smooth acceleration patterns, which naturally improves efficiency over manual driving.

5. Pre-Condition While Plugged In

In cold weather, use the app to warm up your car while it’s still connected to the charger. That way you’re not using battery power to heat the cabin.

Conclusion

You asked: Do the driving modes in Cadillac LYRIQ offer different ranges or battery usages?

Based on 15,000+ data points, here’s our honest answer:

Yes, but it’s not the thing you should focus on.

What actually matters more:

1. Tires/Wheels (22″) — 15.9% of range complaints
2. Highway Speed — 12.8%
3. Cold Weather — 11.5%
4. HVAC/Climate — 6.7%
5. Driving Style — 5.0%
6. Sport Mode — 1.1%

My recommendation if you want maximum range:

• Default to Tour Mode for efficiency
• Use One-Pedal Driving everywhere—it’s a game changer
• Check your tire pressure (this alone could give you 30%+ better efficiency)
• Stay around 65-70 mph on highways
• Save Sport Mode for when you’re near a charger and want to enjoy the car

My recommendation if you just want to enjoy the car:

• Drive however feels good
• The LYRIQ has enough range that you probably won’t strand yourself even in Sport Mode
• Just know where your next charging stop is on road trips

FAQs About Lyriq Range

Which LYRIQ driving mode gives the best range?

Tour Mode. Owner data shows 2.5 mi/kWh at 70mph in Tour vs 2.1 mi/kWh in Sport—about 16-19% better.

How much range do you lose in Sport Mode?

Expect 15-20% less range. On a 326-mile rated LYRIQ, that’s roughly 50-65 fewer miles.

What’s the #1 factor affecting LYRIQ range?

Surprisingly, it’s tires and wheels—especially the 22″ option. They account for 15.9% of range complaints, way more than Sport Mode at 1.1%.

Is One-Pedal Driving worth using?

Absolutely. It has the highest positive sentiment (54%) of any feature we analyzed. One owner reported 378 miles on a full charge using it consistently.

Do owners actually get the EPA-rated range?

Most get about 8% less in mixed conditions (median of 300 miles vs 326 EPA). But many owners report hitting or exceeding EPA in warm weather with moderate driving.

Should I get RWD or AWD?

RWD gives you more range and handles well with winter tires. AWD adds power and all-weather confidence. If you’re in a warm climate, RWD is the smart choice. Cold climate? Personal preference—both work, but AWD gives peace of mind.

About This Research

Before we dive in, you deserve to know who’s behind this analysis and why you should trust it.

Who We Are:

Leads data research at Octoparse, specializing in web scraping and sentiment analysis for consumer products. With 7+ years in data analytics and as a current EV owner, she combines technical methodology with real-world ownership experience.

This analysis was conducted using Octoparse, a web scraping platform we use for large-scale data collection. We have no financial relationship with Cadillac, GM, or any EV manufacturer. Our only goal is providing accurate, data-backed insights for prospective buyers.

Why We Did This:

Most “LYRIQ range” articles rehash the same Cadillac spec sheet. We wanted to answer the question with actual owner data—thousands of real experiences that paint a more complete picture than any press release.

How to Verify Our Work:

Everything in this article is replicable. We explain our exact methodology, link to official sources for cross-reference, and acknowledge our limitations openly. If something seems off, contact us and we’ll address it.

Here’s the rough process:

1. Sign up for Octoparse (they have a free tier)
2. Use Reddit scraper template or build a custom one targeting r/CadillacLyriq
3. For YouTube, use the https://www.octoparse.com/template/collection/youtube-scraper
4. Export to Excel
5. Run the data through some basic analysis—even Excel formulas work

The patterns we found are consistent enough that you’d see similar results with your own scrape. That’s the beauty of crowdsourced data—it’s verifiable.

Limitations and Potential Biases

We want to be transparent about what this study can and cannot establish:

Selection Bias

Concern: People with complaints may post online more frequently than satisfied owners.

Mitigation: We scraped broad LYRIQ discussions rather than complaint-specific threads. Additionally, our median range finding (300 miles) aligns closely with professional tests from Car and Driver (308 miles) and Edmunds (283 miles), suggesting our sample reflects general owner experience rather than skewing negative.

Self-Reporting Accuracy

Concern: Owners may misremember or estimate range figures inaccurately.

Mitigation: We prioritized comments with specific numbers (“got 285 miles”) over vague statements (“range is bad”). The resulting distribution follows a normal curve centered around 300 miles, suggesting generally honest reporting.

Sample Demographics

Concern: Reddit and YouTube users skew younger and more tech-engaged than the general LYRIQ buyer population.

Acknowledgment: Our data may underrepresent older buyers or those less active online. However, tech-engaged owners are more likely to experiment with driving modes and monitor efficiency, making them a relevant population for this specific question.

Temporal Factors

Concern: Model year changes, software updates, and battery improvements affect range over time.

Acknowledgment: Our data includes 2023, 2024, and early 2025 model year experiences. The 2025 LYRIQ offers improved range (326 miles RWD vs. 314 miles for 2024), so some earlier complaints may not reflect current vehicles. The 2026 model year may introduce further changes.

What This Study Cannot Determine

• Precise universal percentages: Our Sport Mode efficiency data comes primarily from one detailed owner report. While consistent with vehicle physics, we cannot claim these exact figures apply to all drivers.
• Long-term degradation patterns: This is cross-sectional data, not longitudinal tracking.
• Individual results: Your range will depend on climate, terrain, driving patterns, and vehicle configuration.

Data Sources and References

Primary Data (This Study)

• Reddit: 7,081 unique comments from 17 subreddits via Octoparse
• YouTube: 8,057 unique comments from 76 videos via Octoparse
• Contact us for raw data access

Official Sources

• EPA Fuel Economy Data – Cadillac LYRIQ
• Cadillac LYRIQ Official Specifications
• DOE: Driving More Efficiently
• DOE: Tire Efficiency and Rolling Resistance
• DOE: Regenerative Braking Energy Recovery

Independent Tests Referenced

• Car and Driver LYRIQ Range Test
• Edmunds LYRIQ Real-World Test
• AAA Cold Weather EV Range Study