2015 Cadillac Escalade Review - High Entertainment

2015 Cadillac Escalade Review - High Entertainment - 2015 Cadillac Escalade 4WD premium EcoTec3 6.2-liter V-8, variable va...

2015 Cadillac Escalade Review - High Entertainment -

2015 Cadillac Escalade 4WD premium

EcoTec3 6.2-liter V-8, variable valve timing, active fuel management and direct injection (420 hp @ 50 rpm, 460-feet of torque books @ 4100 rpm) Eight Hydra-Matic speed 8L80 automatic transmission 15 city / 21 highway / 17 combined (EPA Rating, MPG) 15.8 mpg on the 80/20 city / highway, suburban assault road (observed MPG) tested options: Kona Brown Jet Black Accents $ 2,000; Running boards, electric retractable $ 1.695; 22-inch double-spoke aluminum wheels 7 $ 0 Base Price (Premium) :. $ 85,065 * As Price Tested: $ 89,360 * * All prices include $ 995 destination charge

Under the best conditions for 2015 Cadillac Escalade, I could find half a dozen reasons not to drive : He is too tall. Too heavy. Too slab face. Too thirsty. Too big. Too long. Too heavy. Too showy. Too powerful.

But I kept the lead. Like a salmon upstream led by Bear infested waters, the Escalade was calling me to ignore the challenges and instinctively climb power retractable running boards, loosen my belt and start the engine. Who wants to procreate here?

is antithetical to my person. I'm not interested in big, heavy SUVs that cost $ 89,360 and return mileage firmly rooted in adolescence - but anyway, I'm attracted to them

What makes me wonder :. why [?

Exterior
First, despite being completely new for 2015, the Escalade is not in a so. Cadillac managed to change almost everything on the outside of the truck without changing its presence. If you have not seen the 2015 Cadillac Escalade, I guarantee that you will be able to instantly identify when you do.

The outer sheet is decidedly more angular and wrinkled, but the effect is not entirely masculine. The vertical bars on the grid disappeared and lower fairing sport less chrome than before. Overall nose is much clearer, with less chrome, which is actually more enjoyable.

The assembled projector reaches further back on the wheel arches, and a pointed hood axis complete a higher bonnet line looking than before. The Escalade is a full 1.5 inches shorter in height than the outgoing model, but full LED current generation of lamps to form fog lights L in front and below are a more high presence.

shoulders square and angular side view mirrors above the windows and doors of the Escalade shaped purely with the leaders. Very few curves, except the hulking 22-inch wheels (optional on our model) and the gas cap cover adorn the profile. If the Cadillac design language is called "Art & Science", I attribute much of it, and very few of the former to the appearance of the Escalade.

Around the back, the rear lights that reach to the sky (and look like illuminated night goalposts when lit) headline tail. A Caddy badge back and shiny chrome strip linking the two poles together, and a hidden rear wiper cleans things around back. Cadillac has moved the two double exhaust tips outboard Escalade last year under the rear bumper, because consumption is best done openly - or something

for car buyers looking for subtle. This Escalade is not. Despite the toughening even overwhelming blow than the outgoing model comes with side ports and dual exhaust, the current model uses its sloping C-pillar forward and the tall lamps to achieve the same effect.

This Caddy increased 1.4 inches longer and 1.5 inches wider (the trail is only 0.5 inches wider in front, 1.7 inches wider, but at the rear) despite being squatter than its predecessor. Not that much we see; The dimensions of the battleship current 0.5 percent only changed around and it is over 100 pounds heavier, weighing just under 3 tons unladed.

Interior
The Caddy is awash in leather and screens, more space than my first apartment and seating for seven (or eight) -. which is more than my first apartment

Cadillac has updated its instrument cluster center with a high-definition 12.3-inch screen to show speed, speed and temperature. The lower third of the screen can be set to display navigation, entertainment and phone information gleaned from the nearby Cadillac User Experience 8 inches (otherwise known as ARGH).

leather steering wheel Escalade closely mimics the wheel from the XT5, but does not have control of this model on the lower shelves. The Escalade is better for it: easy-access controls for volume, track, cruise control and voice control are better suited to the inch level rather than a driver taking their hands off the wheel and pecking with their index, dis- I. Navigation interface customizable dashboard may take some getting used to, but at least the massive screen Escalade is a larger canvas for example, a screen on an ATS.

Overall, the domestic sports 51.6 cubic feet of available cargo room with the third row folded flat; 15.2 cubic feet with the seats up. The Escalade carrying capacity is greater than a comparable Mercedes GL-Class (51.6 to 49.4) and shrinks the space of a Range Rover (51.6 to 32.1). Unlike those cars, the back seats of the Escalade seem undeniably connected in their bland Lego-GM board: the Escalade shares a common platform with the Tahoe and Yukon and it shows in the way the seats are mounted on the car - not necessarily in the car.

At the rear third row of folding power can accommodate short adults for short trips, or children for long trips. The rear bench power is not exactly opulent, but at least they are shod with semi-soft leather and sports headrests decent size.

deep brown and black leather wrapped leather buckets that were comfortable and supportive for most trips. Unlike the Corvette and ATS-V had instant on ventilation, the thrones of the Caddy never really cooled very well despite the refrigerator humming purring when seats coolers were activated.

Predictably, high ride height of the Escalade and the high point of the hip give it excellent forward visibility. The Escalade drives like the pick-up was based, in that drivers control all they survey. Monitoring the blind spot and lane departure warning (both standard on luxury and upper trim) help largess considerable Escalade, and thank God for park assist, cross-traffic alerts and backup cameras . Rear visibility with the third-row up, or passengers in the second row, is naturally difficult.

DVD Rear Entertainment is standard on Premium and upper trim (available in Luxury $ 1.595) for parents who are still cool to throw another screen before the young'uns keep 'em quiet.

Infotainment
all the changes for 2015 Cadillac Escalade, CUE is not really one of them. The same touch screen system comes back - like it or not - and it is just as messy as before

If I had to live with the single touch screen, I think I could manage .. In the state, the touch controls go beyond infotainment and climate control settings, volume, ride comfort, glove box, the pedal position and more. Word is that Cadillac is close to scrapping the system in future models, but climbing this year will not escape the fire -. And ire

infotainment and navigation General Motors is quite competent - I prefer to Ford and FCA systems. [You can take a horse to water ... -Mark] For example, GM cards are clean and crisp, even better than Apple Maps available with carplay but punching the Home button as a disabled lift effectively kills all the goodwill I had for the system.

over a week, I found myself sufficiently learn the steering wheel to use them whenever I could; pulling on the side of the road to use CUE when I could not

Whenever I could bend the system to my will -. or rather learn to hide massively large two rows of radio presets - I could finally enjoy the Bose 16-speaker system. The whole system is a river in its cavernous interior of the Cadillac with a serious deadlock in the front.

Powertrain
The 2015 Cadillac Escalade Sport 6.2-liter V-8 GM front, used by Chevy Trucks / GMC, which produces 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. Towing to the Escalade 4WD is rated at 8,100 pounds and 7,00 pounds in the longer wheelbase ESV.

The new features bump up before direct injection, variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation, which nets more than 1 mpg in the city and 3 mpg more on the highway. The gains seem doubly minute when considering the model of last year presented a gearbox six-speed automatic transmission and sports this year two other cogs before.

In reality, the 8-speed transmission does more for comfort around the city it does for the cruise route. The smooth gearshift box keeps the V-8 in check and relatively low revs. If you're in the mood to crush the fun pedal, know that the Escalade is deceptively fast as Jerome Bettis; 0-60 mph runs through my shows were still almost 6 seconds.

There is a penalty for all this power, the Escalade can drain his 26-gallon tank like a champion. Buyers in the $ 0,000 SUV segment do not care.

The Escalade may be motivated from only its rear wheels or can be equipped with four-wheel drive for $ 2,0 more. control selectable magnetic suspension is standard on all models and can be switched from Sport Touring mode using a touch near the infotainment screen control. When the car arrived, Escalade has been set in Sport mode with its previous pilot, I can not even.

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uncontrollably, I arrived to beautiful keyfob Escalade in the parking lot, eager to unlock the car and ride . Like a comfortable pair of sweats, the Escalade is mounted, handled and wrapped my back better than other options this week (my own cars).

Unlike sweats, I am actually the Escalade at a steakhouse nearby (I do not eat steak) order 40 days dry years (I do not know how that works) and my senses with Blitz cigar after dinner (I do not smoke).

None of this makes sense, but neither does my predisposition to drive the Escalade.

Around town, the new electric power steering Escalade disputed the heavy SUV into position and parking spaces - with some effort. Maintaining such a big boy apartment in the corners is physically impossible, but the magnetic suspension of the Cadillac has done its best

In his segment, there are other SUVs that do what Cadillac does not claim :. The Range Rover and Toyota Land Cruiser are best off road. The Infiniti QX80 is much flashy and the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class is much sharper. But the Cadillac Escalade is the compromise - as a land yacht full size, it's always seemed pleasant natural