Road Test
When cultural historians get around to sorting out the golden age of bling, we'd bet big money this vehicle will emerge as the era's poster car. It's not a distinction Cadillac set out to achieve, and the term makes at least some folks from the engineering and product-planning ranks wince when they hear it. But there's no denying the Escalade's popularity with various high-visibility individuals - professional athletes, X-gamers, pop stars - and there's no denying that, as a consequence, the new Escalade had to upstage the bling quotient of its predecessor.
Looks like mission accomplished to us. Check the bigger grille, inspired, according to the divisional publicity mill, by the Cadillac Sixteen show car of 2003. Check the "tri-element headlamps," with their high-intensity-discharge lights. Check the "front fender vent ports," which neither vent nor port. Check the "layers of chrome accents." Check the optional 22-inch chrome alloy wheels. Got bling? Oh, yeah.
Of course, Cadillac wants us to look past any perception of pandering to the 15-minutes-of-fame folks and look at vehicle virtues. Of which there are many - for a vehicle of this type. The foundation, for example, is the new GMT900 full-size SUV and truck platform, a whole order of magnitude stiffer than its predecessor - 49 percent improved in torsional rigidity, according to Cadillac. That sounds like the difference between linguine al dente and the Brooklyn Bridge, but a little time at the big Caddy's helm does seem to vindicate this assertion. Firmer underpinnings, a wider track (plus three inches front, one inch rear), a new coil-spring front-suspension system, stiffened suspension mounting points, a new power rack-and-pinion steering system, revised four-wheel drive, and an upgraded braking system combine to make this Escalade noticeably more responsive than the previous edition, with shorter stopping distances.
But let us not confuse "noticeably more responsive" with nimble. We're talking agility distinctions among members of a herd of elephants, perceivable within the group but hard to discern by the gazelles prancing around the periphery.
The chassis and suspension enhancements are easier to appreciate in the realm of ride quality. Cadillac publicity materials refer to this trait as an "unwavering ride," which conjures up some intriguing images. Let's say taut but supple, with less of the up-and-down motion of the previous generation, which adds up to a stronger sense of control. The Escalade irons out unruly patches of pavement without resorting to the mushy suspension tuning that still afflicts so many big SUVs, and the steering actually lets the driver know what's going on, a welcome improvement on the overly assisted recirculating-ball system previously employed.
The most tangible dynamic upgrade, though, is one that will be the easiest for customers to appreciate, simply by tramping on the gas pedal. The previous Escalade offered two V-8 engine choices: a 285-hp, 5.3-liter edition in the rear-drive model, and a 6.0-liter version rated for 345 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. That's not exactly tepid, but the '07 Escalade trumps it with a new 6.2-liter all-aluminum cam-in-block (the word pushrod has been banished from the GM lexicon) eight whose increased displacement is enhanced by variable valve timing. Active Fuel Management (formerly known as Displacement on Demand) isn't a feature yet, but GM says it's coming. In any case, it adds up to 403 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 417 pound-feet of torque.
