Cadillac SRX test drive since 2005 SUV
Cadillac SRX V8
In the new millennium, the Cadillac brand seemed to have found a second wind. The company's production program is developing very dynamically. Only in 2003 several fundamentally new model rows appeared at once. We have already met the CTS sedan, now the turn of the SRX SUV has come.
A cursory glance at the Cadillac model is also capable of causing a slight confusion among an experienced expert. Everything is extremely confused here: pickups and SUVs are adjacent to cars, and frankly old-fashioned models reluctantly share the area of \u200b\u200bshow rooms with avant-garde news. This is a direct consequence of the Cadillac brand crisis adopted several years ago. The bet is made on an extremely aggressive strategy to change the image of cars and the brand itself, as well as the creation of fundamentally new models. Therefore, such classic models such as De Ville are still produced for conservative customers, but the fate of the brand is more connected with the success of new models. The most important thing is that General Motors and Cadillac unit finally began to pay much more attention to the requirements of the market. It is thanks to this that the Escalade luxury, ESV and ECX pickups, built on the basis of Chevrolet models and bringing the solid profit of the company appeared. Now is the time for cars for cars that can refresh the Cadillac easy program. The first to appear CTS - an interesting sedan, offering to look at the brand cars in a new way. The former clumsiness remained in the past - its design is rapid, and the chassis in many respects corresponds to European canons. A little later, the Extravagant Roadster XLR appeared, designed to become a worthy opponent of Mercedes SL and Jaguar XK8. But perhaps even more we were waiting for another premiere from Cadillac - the new SRX SUV.
Probably, it is in such a model that the Cadillac brand now needs most. SRX debuts in the SUV segment, in its qualities as close as possible to cars. A generally recognized legislator of this genre is the BMW X5, which first combined behavior on the asphalt of a sports sedan with forms and dimensions of a traditional SUV. And to this day, it is the X5 that remains a role model, despite the appearance of a number of excellent followers, including a couple of VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, as well as Nissan Murano and Infiniti FX45. The new model from Cadillac is designed to select customers from these cars. But, as often happens, the creators of the novelty cared not only the alleged volumes of sales. SRX should also demonstrate the progressiveness of the Cadillac brand, its ability to keep up with the times, the ability to follow the latest market trends. It is no coincidence that this SUV, along with CTS, will receive the right to represent a brand in Europe, where they are very critical of the novelties of American companies. In early 2004, SRX should officially appear on the Russian market. Dynamics and aggression
We must pay tribute to Cadillac designers. In a short time, they were able to develop a new brand style - under their own name Art & Science. For the first time, such a design appeared on Cadillac concepts a few years ago. Then few believed in the quick embodiment of a new style on serial machines. Now, thanks to the CTS sedan, these chopped surfaces are firmly fixed in our minds. Moreover, everything happened so quickly that no other automaker has yet managed to adapt this style for his models. Cadillac style remains unique, and this cannot but flatter the owner of the new car.
During an external inspection, SRX has to not only pay attention to separate interesting details, but also get used to the general proportions and appearance of the car. With the same with the usual X5 height, Cadillac is more than BMW 17 cm. Most of this advantage falls on the wheelbase, reaching a solid 295 cm. Therefore, at the first meeting, especially when evaluating the machine from a long distance, SRX successfully pretends to be a passenger car - elongated in The length of the station wagon. Its silhouette is extremely dynamic - behind a beveled front, there is a tightly knocked block of the passenger salon, which intrigues an unusual line of glazing. Almost flat surfaces, many straight lines - this approach to the design of the car attracts its novelty. We especially note the solution of the rear of the SRX: the glass of the rear door and the beveled blocks of the side glasses look one. Stylish and extremely spectacular. But the main bet in Cadillac was made on branded lighting equipment. In front, everything is already familiar with CTS, there are differences only in the color scheme and size. But the rear lights are simply admired. It becomes clear how much the potential for individualization of cars is laid down in the use of the latest LEDs. Under the transparent, dark caps, spectacular compositions of red or yellow dots are hidden - depending on the necessity. And the driver who goes after the SRX does not notice or ignore these signals will be extremely difficult. The powerful illumination of headlights is also impressive. The SUV with such a formidable front end will have no problems with breakthroughs on the left row of highways.
Functional and interesting But the design of the SRX interior causes dual feelings. On the one hand, SRX here demonstrates many interesting and new solutions. But it is in the cabin that they are combined with elements in the traditional American style. And not everyone recognizes such a union harmonious. In short, the Cadillac interior simply does not have enough harmony and integrity that distinguish the BMW X5.
In recent years, Cadillac has made an incredible way in many areas of automotive, in particular, in the creation of interiors. From the archaic of the past, a step towards German standards has been taken. And in the case of SRX, it is easy to notice where it was possible to succeed, and where not yet. The instrument panel with stylish scales with bright silver backlight is definitely good. And then the central console is upset, which simply does not correspond to this high avant -garde spirit. The yellow backlight of her displays, smooth and frankly cheap plastic will disappoint the owners of German top models. At the same time, the very arrangement of elements, they are controlled only by positive emotions. With ergonomics, everything is already fine, but with the materials of the finish is not very good. And from the abundance of wooden inserts you experience a slight confusion. They look extremely conservative, which does not quite meet the bright and fresh concept of the car.
But the SRX salon conquers its size. However, this space is not always used rationally. Doors are distinguished by massiveness and heaviness. But they open access to two rows of seats with a convenient landing. True, the front stand is too tilted forward, which is why in the first minutes of the trip the front passenger will feel not quite comfortable. But the rest of the free space here is enough with a large margin, while the front seats are distinguished by an incredible width that even rollers of lateral support do not conceal. Passengers of the third row of seats were less lucky. In these places, tall people on long trips will be close and inconvenient. The legs space are very limited here, according to this indicator, the SRX loses not only full -sized Tahoe models, but also the Volvo XC90 classmate. It is no accident that in the USA the third row of seats is proposed for SRX as an option. At the same time, by pressing only one button in the trunk they can be folded by receiving a completely even floor. Such practicality will delight many, because with three rows of seats, the SRX trunk is quite modest.
If the DVD player and the game console can already be called unique options for the American SUV, then the huge glass hatch of Ultraview remains in memory for a long time. It allows you to open fresh air access by half the cabin. This solution favorably distinguishes SRX from competitors.
Quick and boring The technical characteristics of the car provided to us for the car were forced to treat him seriously. Under the hood is V8, which with a volume of 4.6 liters and a capacity of 315 hp. Again, he caused natural associations with X5 and FX45. Northstar engines, which are traditionally installed on Cadillac cars, promised a more lively temperament than Escalade, which has a simpler motor - a Vortec series with two valves per cylinder. Northstar of a new generation can boast of 32 valves and a modern system with variable valve opening phases. In a pair, a 5-band Hydra-Matic automatic machine is installed with it with the possibility of manual switching. The first trial acceleration from its place met our expectations. The accelerator pedal is pressed until the extreme position is an even and quick movement of the speedometer arrow. The short straight line was already over, the speedometer was 140 km/h, and the SRX did not demonstrate the loss of vigor. Alas, weather conditions and a wet roadway did not allow us to check the behavior of the car at speeds above 160 km/h, but, we repeat, the dynamics was impressive. This is also confirmed by independent American tests: it spends 6.6 s on acceleration 0-96 km/h.
Against the backdrop of these excellent indicators in real life, a small surprise is presented by a gearbox. Hydra-Matic is still losing to the German machine from ZF in the efficiency and clarity of work precisely in those moments when the box is required to make a decision on the choice of transmission. If after moving at a constant speed to make an attempt to accelerate vigorously, the Hydra-Matic will switch to transmission down after a short pause, as if demanding confirmation of the need for rapid acceleration from the driver. The further throw will be a fair fee for this delay. At the same time, winning a couple of moments at the machine with a manual switch mode is also unlikely to be possible. Here the same delay awaits us. Truly temperamental drivers can only be advised in urban conditions in manual mode to be limited to II or III transmission, thereby achieving an instant response to press the accelerator pedal. The work of the SRX brakes on the same wet coating frankly surprised. It would seem that brake discs with a diameter of 323 mm in front and 320 mm behind are a reliable guarantee of effective slowdown in any conditions. But the brakes themselves simply amaze with their uninformativity: in the entire range of the course of the heavy pedal, the SRX shows an even slowdown, but without much enthusiasm. There are no complaints about the size of the brake route, but the driver is not able to predict where the car will stop. Such behavior can partially write off on the still not -established brake mechanism of a brand new car. However, we recall that similar symptoms of Mercedes ML do not disappear even after proper run -in.
According to the SRX suspension settings, it is close to German counterparts. On 18-inch SRX wheels, there is quite soft enough, but at the same time quite predictable. The obvious disadvantages include the distinctly audible blinking of some elements in the back, manifested on wavy bumps. The behavior and responsiveness of the car with aggressive driving will have to get used to it. Of course, it is difficult to expect special sensations from an all -wheel drive crossover weighing over 2 tons. At one time, both X5 and FX45 were able to hit us with new emotions, and SRX against their background looks quite a traditional omnivorum. There is no doubt that SRX can like their behavior on the road. Everything is predictable, neatly and without excessive risk. But lovers of thrill should look better at its main rivals. The steering is devoid of the precision accuracy and information content that SUV with real sports ambitions are famous for. Here the bet was made not for severity, but for ease of rotation of the steering wheel. And such an attempt to go to satisfy the requests of mass American clients, obviously, affected the pleasure of aggressive drivers from the process of driving.
Prospects
Let's try to summarize. Cadillac SRX liked the bright appearance, a capacious salon with interesting options and a powerful V8. The weak places include the unimportant quality of the execution of individual parts of the cabin, configured for comfortable, and not to the speedy driving of the checkpoint, steering and suspension. The American car press arranged a SRX magnificent reception, which suggests good sales results in the Cadillac. In Europe, GM has to hope only for fans of real American cars. If the CTS sedan can still be somehow represented in the form of an interesting alternative to the prestigious European models of the segment D, then the Big SRX will definitely not be able to compete with the X5 and ML, especially since it will not receive the diesel version. In Russia, as always, everything is somewhat more complicated. Interest in large, stylish and fast crossovers is great. And the new Cadillac will be able to compete with the same Infiniti FX, having official sales as a serious trump card and, accordingly, a branded guarantee. The only question is whether the potential buyer of SRX wants to come to terms with those truly overseas minor short -workings that he will never find in FX or X5? Let's not forget that for cars worth more than 80 thousand dollars, the highest requirements are usually imposed ...
Some technical characteristics of Cadillac SRX V8
(manufacturer data)
Dimensions, mm: 4950x1844x1722
Base, mm: 2957
Front/behind, mm: 1572/1580
Clerence: 208
Trunk volume, l: 238-1968
Equipped mass, kg: 2015
Engine type: gasoline V-shaped 8-cylinder
Working volume, cubic meter. See: 4572
Max. Power, L.S./rpm: 320/6400
Max. moment, nm/rpm: 427/4400
Drive: complete
Transmission: Automatic 5-band with the possibility of manual switching
Tires: 235/60 R18/255/55 R18
Max. Speed, km/h: no data
Acceleration time 0-100 km, s: less than 7
Fuel consumption (city/highway), l/100 km: 24.0/18.0
Top volume, l: 76
Fedor Oldin
Source: Avtopanorama magazine
