A TRUCK IN SUV CLOTHING
If bling is your thing and you need a hefty ride, the Escalade fits the bill
When I went to pick up my Cadillac Escalade test vehicle, the person who handed over the keys jokingly asked if I had my hat on backward. There is something to it: Introduced for 1999, largely in response to the Lincoln Navigator that debuted the year before, the Escalade soon gained a following with rap stars and pro athletes.
That helped put a new shine on Cadillac, which was feeling the pinch from overseas competitors. It would follow up with Escalade extended-wheelbase and pickup truck versions, and by 2002 it pulled well ahead of the Navigator.
Why is anyone’s guess, given that both were roomy enough for oversized athletes, but I have a half-baked and completely unverified theory that involves its threesyllable name. Drivin’ downtown in my Cad-i-llac smoothly rolls off the tongue, where Lincoln sticks, and so it became the vehicle of choice in rap songs.
The Escalade was completely redesigned for 2015 and so changes for this year are minor, consisting of lane-keeping assist and some new items in its infotainment system, including Apple CarPlay.
I had the regular-wheelbase model, and the lineup moves through the Luxury trim, the Premium, and the top-level Platinum. All use a 6.2-litre V-8 engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. The fourwheel-drive system, standard on all Canadian-market models, offers RWD, 4High, 4Low and an Automatic four-wheel setting that can be used on hard surfaces.
For all its high-end features, the Escalade is a truck, but that’s not a bad thing because it comes with capability. It offers up to 8,100 pounds of towing capacity, but it also drives like a truck, which might turn off those who expect it to be more sport ute, along the lines of a Mercedes-Benz GLS or BMW X5. As they say, it is what it is.
The interior lacks some of the finesse in those German competitors, and it feels like a truck gussied up with a lot of leather. But the first- and second-row seats are supportive and comfortable, and there’s a lot of room. That ends at the cramped third row, which features hard slabs for seat cushions. The back two rows fold down electrically to produce a flat floor for extra cargo space. The rear hatch opens automatically if you kick your foot under the bumper, and it contains a pop-up window.
GM’s truck engines are really well done, and the 6.2-litre is a smooth and stout performer, cranking out 420 horses and 460 pound-feet of torque. It includes fuel-saving cylinder deactivation — it runs on half its cylinders when full power isn’t needed — which switches seamlessly.
All Escalade models include Magnetic Ride Control, which uses magnetic force on tiny metal particles inside the shock absorbers to instantly tighten or soften the suspension, depending on the road surface. It does a great job of smoothing out the ride over bumps.
Many of the Escalade’s features are accessed via a system called CUE, which stands for Cadillac User Experience. To get things done, you tap the tiny icons on the glass, which vibrates to let you know you’ve hit the right place. It takes too much time away from
the road to look for what you want to do, and sometimes requires too many taps to make it do it, especially when the glass is cold.
My tester had several driver-assist systems, including blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane assist and automatic front or rear braking if you’re about to smack into something. Some warnings are delivered through the driver’s seat, which vibrates harshly if you’re about to do something such as back into another car.
The Escalade is pricey, and unless bling is your thing, I’d suggest also looking at the GMC Yukon Denali, which includes such items as the Magnetic Ride Control, premium seats and much simpler controls for a starting sticker of $6,500 less than the base Escalade. It’s just as good a driver, plus you can wear your hat any way you like.