Car test Cadillac Escalade

Americans and Europeans have the necessary similarities, but the differences are particularly striking when it comes to cars. Where we in Europe just think it’s crazy enough and the Volkswagen Tiguan is already considered a big box, Americans are a bit, well, less inhibited. The equally enormous and opulent Cadillac Escalade in the current American car range is perhaps the best example of this. The Escalade is quintessentially American, yet known worldwide. This is mainly due to the major role he plays and played in all kinds of video clips on MTV, with the hip-hop ‘scene’ in particular embracing this model.

Escalade’s biggest competitor is Lincoln Navigator

There the Escalade was up against the car that is also its biggest rival in the real world: the Lincoln Navigator. The genre in question is that of the large SUV, even by American standards, but in a luxury jacket. That’s right. Since time immemorial, Ford and GM have based their largest SUVs on the chassis of the ‘full-size’ pick-up in the range. Based on the Ford F-150, we know the Ford Expedition, which serves as the basis for the more luxurious and more expensive Navigator. At General Motors, the Chevrolet Silverado gives up its ladder chassis to the Chevrolets Tahoe (‘short’) and Suburban (long). The Cadillac variants of those models are known as Escalade, the long version with the addition ‘ESV’ (Escalade Stretched Vehicle). When we talk about ‘the Cadillac variants of’, you can take that literally. The Escalade has always shared more than just its platform with the similar models from Chevrolet and GMC, and is irreverently a Tahoe or Suburban with a different nose. Yet there is more going on.

Standard Cadillac Escalade longer than Range Rover

The current Escalade appeared in 2020 and is still nice and fresh. Our photo model is a copy with the standard wheelbase and length, but we still have no shortage of length. At 5.38 meters, even a standard Escalade is longer than the long version of the latest Range Rover, just to name a European alternative. It is taller and wider and has a shape that is typical and unique for top American SUVs. That is very straight-lined, with an enormously high nose, a gigantic grille and an almost vertical tailgate. That flap can be opened in two ways, just like many BMWs: just the window, or completely. In the back, even with the regular version, a very usable amount of luggage space is hidden, also behind the third row of seats.

Not really spacious

However, we cannot say that the space is really used optimally. Due to the technical characteristics of this car – longitudinal engine and that ladder chassis – the models in this segment are not necessarily more spacious than the SUVs that are a size smaller on the outside, unless you take the long variant. Even so, seven people find a fairly spacious place in the Escalade, in the 2-2-3 arrangement that is so typical for Americans. So a three-seater in the back, where only the view of the immensely thick C-pillar spoils the fun somewhat. You can fold the rear row of seats electrically, the middle seats fold forward manually, but quite easily. So far it’s all new to Europeans, but the Escalade doesn’t really differentiate itself from a Tahoe.

Giant touchscreen

That changes if we move up another row, to the front seats. Escalade drivers enjoy a completely individual dashboard, with a much higher quality and even more modern appearance than its ‘lesser’ brothers. In 2022 it is no longer so easy to distinguish yourself as a car manufacturer with screens, but Cadillac managed to do it by apparently placing the digital instruments separately in front of a gigantic touchscreen, which therefore beeps from the right and left behind that ‘clock shop’. Even to the left of the steering wheel is a small touch screen, where, among other things, information about journeys and consumption (don’t be alarmed!) can be called up. Very handy. The rest of the digital environment works just as quickly and logically. The operation is via touch or with a handy rotary knob. Moreover, it looks slick, that shiny screen combination. Together with the dark wood and the many beautiful details, it actually provides a real premium experience in the Escalade, which is also neatly finished. If we look closer, we still see some Chevrolet influences. For example, the switches on the steering column and the buttons for the window controls do seem to come straight from the Tahoe, where they undoubtedly fit better into the overall picture.

Speaking of passes: the Escalade only just does that on the narrow Dutch roads. For the photography we actually get him into a parking garage, but that requires quite a bit of maneuvering. On the highway, the Escalade feels more in its element. Make no mistake, this is definitely not a terrain executioner. Four-wheel drive is possible, but is more intended for extra grip in the snow and on an occasional gravel path. This is primarily a car for the long distance, where the occupants are just not lulled to sleep in peace and comfort. In the case of the Escalade, air suspension is responsible for the comfort. It keeps the 2,700 kg car well under control and actually makes it very comfortable, although it does not work as refined as with a Range Rover. The steering is indirect, but still offers quite a bit of counter pressure. Typically American is that the brake requires a bit more force than we are used to in Europe, although it brakes fine in the end. Acceleration is no problem at all. What is called: with 462 hp, the Escalade is actually just fast, although we feel very little need to kick it on its tail often.

6.2 V8 standard

The 6.2-liter petrol V8 is the standard engine for this car, which is actually also available as a (six-cylinder) diesel and, more recently, as an even faster V-series. None of that necessary, because this 6.2 suits him like cheddar on a hamburger. At least half of the ten gears of the silky-smooth automatic transmission seem superfluous, because the Cadillac takes off smoothly and smoothly regardless of the speed. It’s done in a wonderfully lavish way that we don’t really know anymore in Europe, and it’s accompanied by a roll that is almost inaudible and yet powerful. Pretty good, that unrestrained.