This vehicle, of course, has become one of the media's glamour vehicles and currently is quite popular with Hollywood celebrities, Rap singers, and professional athletes. The basic design, of course, is nothing out of the ordinary. It is built on the same platform as, and is simply a redone version of, the Chevrolet / GMC full-size pickup and SUV platform, which has spawed the Tahoe / Suburban / Avalanche, Yukon and XL, Silverado / Sierra, and of course, other versions of the Escalade...the 2WD, ESV, and EXT.
This is not a cheap ride, and spending this kind of money for one's vehicle is not something to be taken lightly. There are some important things, though, both good and bad, that you need to know about this vehicle before you shake hands with the salesperson and sign on the dotted line.

So....lets' get to some of those things...........................

http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/...model=escalade

Model reviewed: 2006 Cadillac Escalade AWD
Base price $57,280
MSRP $60,770

Drivetrain: 6.0L V8, 345 HP, 380 ft.-lbs. torque, 4-speed automatic with tow/haul mode, full-time AWD.




PLUSSES

Plenty of towing and carrying power....up to 8100 lb. trailer weight with the AWD version.

Hulk Hogan chassis.......body-on-frame construction derived from Chevrolet trucks

Seamless, inobtrusive AWD.

Solid, heavy doors.

Versatile, well-equipped interior with foldaway second-row and folding, removable third-row seats.

Full set of engine and transmission gauges

Two different 17" and four different 20" wheels available from Cadillac.

Plenty of room inside, with a high roofline.

Low noise level.

Smooth ride over small bumps, especially by truck standards.

4 / 50 warranty better than most other GM products.



MINUSES:

Lousy, poorly designed Push-and Pray brakes

Glitzy, luxurious-looking interior, but very cheap materials.

Slippery, leather, captain's chair-style front seats.

Welcome-to-the-Morgue paint colors.

Mediocre paint job for a $60,000 vehicle.

Interior creaks and minor rattles.

Porpoising fore-and-aft motions typical of large, high-center-of-gravity SUV's.

Overboosted power steering.


The first impression you get of this vehicle, as you approach it, is exactly what it in fact is, despite the big, chrome grille and Cadillac headlights ........a redone Chevy Tahoe / GMC Denali for more money. Walk around it, look at the paint, open and shut the big, heavy doors, feel the hardware and trim, and this vehicle simply screams GM all over. Climb inside and you are greeted with a nice, rich-looking interior on the surface, but, with the exception of the real-wood and leather steering wheel which looks and feels nice and the nice, detailed, chrome-ringed gauges, is just cheap GM plastic with a little glitz added to it. Almost everything inside except the steering wheel and the solid seat anchors, IMO feels like it came from Wal-Marts.The dash, though, like most GM trucks, does have a nice, full-set of engine gauges and a transmission-temperature gauge for towing....some nice touches. As befits a $60,000 people-mover, though, there is a lot of comfort, convienence, and entertainment equipment inside, too much for me to go into detail here on every single item....you will spend a long time with this vehicle going through the Owners' Manual and learning all the systems.

On the road, the 6.0L V8, with its 380 ft. lbs. of torque, will move this vehicle, which weighs the better part of three tons, easily and without any problems. The AWD system lacks a low-range transfer case for serious off-roading but operates continuously and does not need any driver input, as of course befits a luxury SUV. The ride, as also befits a luxury SUV, is quiet and smooth over small bumps.....perhaps the smoothest-riding SUV I have ever driven, even more so that the Lincoln Navigator. The suspension just glides right over small bumps with a muted distant thud, but there is some fore-and-aft porpoising motion, which is common on large, high-center of-gravity SUV's. I also detected it in the Navigator last time I drove one. Handling, as expected, shows sharp body lean and understeer, with what is IMO overboosted power steering.

Obviously, this is no economy car. With this vehicle's weight and power level you are talking some serious gas bills, too....on premium gas. Depending on what gas runs in your area, you are talking anywhere from $60 to $90 for a fill-up, with mileage in the low teens the majority of the time....lower than that when towing a heavy trailer.

One good feature of the interior is the versatility and the way that the second-row seats fold back up against the backs of the front two Captains' chairs. The third-row seats, which are best suited for children or small adults, offer a choice of folding up against the second-row seats to expand the cargo area even more, or they can be unlatched and taken completely out of the vehicle.

Now.....I want to get to what I consider this vehicles's hands-down worst feature....the brakes. Folks, trust me.....this is no Porsche 911 in the brake-pedal department. GM has a history of brake problems in virtually all of its full-sized truck-based vehicles, and this one ( still ) is no exception. The feel in the brake pedal of this vehicle was almost identical to my former boss's 2003 Suburban when he bought it new and I checked it out for him...excessively spongy, long stopping distances, and very little reaction when you push on it. It is very important, for anyone contemplating a purchase of this vehicle, to check the brakes thouroughly when test-driving and see if he / she feels safe in it. I found ( just like with other similiar GM trucks ) that I had to leave plenty of room in front of me to get stopped...if you tail gate other vehicles you are probably going to rear-end them. This vehicle just does not slow down with any authority when you push the pedal.....even when you really stomp on it...and I have some pretty big, heavy well-muscled legs.

IMO GM needs to do a major redesign of the braking system on all of their large truck-based vehicles. Although I am not an engineer, it feels to me like a combination of inadquate power assist combined with too-small a master cylinder, too-small wheel cylinders, and not enough brake-pad-swept area on the rotors. I am also concerned about what kind of reserve stopping power the brakes will have towing a heavy trailer and adding even more to the vehicle's load.

So.....my verdict. This is a big, heavy, expensive, powerful, gas-guzzling truck-based SUV that offers a smooth, quiet ride by truck standards, plenty of towing capability, interior room and comfort, and luxury on the surface.....but with cheap-quality materials under that glitz, so-so build quality, and poorly designed brakes. If you don't have a lot of traffic in your area where you will be using the brakes all of the time, and if you can stand the Sponge-O-Matic feel of the pedal and lack of reaction, then consider one for a purchase. My honest opinion, though, is that there are better large SUV's on the market for this kind of money.....the Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470 being two of them even though they don't have the Escalade's huge frame or towing capacity.