It took awhile for the brand to realize that the Escalade isn’t for the masses
If the automotive world is nearing its peak in the broadly based utility-vehicle segment, the product planners and designers at Cadillac must have missed the memo.
Slotted between the five-passenger XT5 and the eight-passenger Escalade, the XT6 has room for up to seven souls spread across three rows of seats (or six people with the optional second-row bucket seats).
The XT6 uses the XT5’s platform and is therefore built at the same Tennessee plant, along with the GMC Acadia. Although the distance between the front and rear wheels is identical for both Caddys, the XT6 is about nine inches longer, 2.3 inches wider and three inches taller.
The XT6 even looks like the XT5, with an understated front-end design. The XT6’s roofline slopes to a lesser degree than the XT5’s, and the liftgate is more vertical, which helps provide third-row riders a reasonable amount of headroom and anti-claustrophobia side glass. Similar to the third rows of competing models, in the XT6. adultsized occupants sit close to the floor with their knees pointing toward the ceiling.
The squared-off shape means 25-percent-greater cargo capacity than the XT5, with the rear rows folded forward. With the third-row bench in use, there’s not a great deal of stowage space to be had in the XT6.
Similarities between the two models carry through to the interior where the two dashboards differ only slightly. The XT6’s unconventional gear changer takes some getting used to since you toggle, rather than shift, your selections. Beside it, a rotary dial controls the various functions (i.e. infotainment, navigation, etc.) displayed on the eight-inch touch-screen.
The XT6 scores points for its supportive, yet cushy seats and a whisper-quiet interior that contributes to an enjoyable first-class ride.
Pressing the starter button brings to life a 3.6-liter V6 that’s common to the XT5 and a number of other General Motors vehicles. It’s rated at 310 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque. A nine-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters directs power to the front or, optionally, all four wheels.
Fuel economy is pegged at 18 mpg city, 25 mpg on the highway and 20 mpg combined.
According to Cadillac, it takes 6.9 seconds to launch the XT6 to 60 mph from rest. That’s reasonably rapid for a vehicle weighing in the 4,4004,600-pound range, not that it will matter much to most buyers. But the available power is plentiful and comes on seamlessly. The smooth-shifting transmission also reacts quickly and always seems to be in the right gear, no matter the speed or the throttle position.
Although front-wheel-drive is standard with the $54,300 (including
destination charges) base Premium Luxury trim level, most buyers will likely opt for the $2,000 all-wheeldrive. Either way, you get tri-zone climate control, leather upholstery, power liftgate, power-folding thirdrow seat, panoramic sunroof and an eight-speaker Bose-brand audio system, to name just some of the standard goodies.
The XT6 Sport adds blacked-out grille and trim, carbon-fiber interior fittings, heavy-duty cooling system, dynamic (constantly adjusting) sport suspension and a twin-clutch rear axle. This feature allows all available torque to be directed to either outside wheel when turning (known as torque vectoring).
Options for the Premium Luxury and Sport include automatic parking assist, trailer hitch guidance (the XT6 has a 4,000-pound towing capacity), reverse automatic braking, head-up information display and an infrared night-vision camera that can detect and track otherwise unseen people or animals beyond headlight range.
For families with kids and/or for people requiring more cargo room, selecting the XT6 over the XT5 might be the smart play, especially when the only Cadillac wagon larger than the XT5 used to be the Escalade.