Test drive Cadillac Escalade 2000 - 2006 SUV
By itself
If you think about it, we have a lot in common with the States. And there is McDonalds, and the White House, and gasoline costs about the same amount. In Russia, diesel engines and low -commissions are also disliked, and multi -liter motors and large cars are respected. It is not surprising that more cars from America come to us more than in any other country in Europe.The basis of the American car fleet is not sedans and not Van, but SUVs. In the early 90s, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Blazer quickly gained a lot of fans in Russia - a comfortable unbearable suspension, a powerful and uncrit to gasoline engine, a leather salon, air conditioning and many other magical options that seemed to be unable to come to taste Russian nouveau riches. Since that time, the market has changed significantly. The presidential administration introduced fashion (and to this day relevant) on Gelandewagen, a bunch of Japanese appeared, including with the American pedigree, the Parnish boom began. However, the steady demand for real American SUVs has been preserved.
Meanwhile, a new variety of sports and farm entrusts (SUV - Sport Utility Vehicles) - an elite, representative class appeared in America. The prestigious Ford and General Motors departments took their production. In 1997, the pioneer was Lincoln Navigator, worked on the basis of Expedition (luxury SUV, analogues from GM - Chevrolet Tahoe with twins). At first, this was perceived negatively: they say, this is not Lincolnovsky this business - to burn pots. However, contrary to the forecasts of Navigator, they grabbed the proposal like hot pies, the proposal did not have time for demand. Tahoe was not able to compete with him. GM had no choice but to act according to the same scheme - to build a new model on the finished base by the elite compartment of Cadillac. So Escalade appeared. In 2001, the model was updated, and seriously (the test of the first model, see Motor #5, 1999) - taking into account the criticism and wishes of the owners. (Navigator, by the way, is being produced in its original form.) The body design was solved in the new Cadillakovo style, the first carrier of which was the concept of Cadillac Evoq. From also updated Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon, the car is now different in hood, front wings, rear door, bumpers, plastic lining on wings and doors, lighting equipment. All this is done in the already mentioned style with its characteristic sharp faces. Large transparent headlights visually increase the height of the hood, the front line seems more massive. There are other differences - according to trifles, like chrome linings. Well, of course, there were no huge emblem-heaps and the equally impressive sizes of the chrome inscription Cadillac Escalade.
Small dirty tricks - rails/skis on the roof, the upper trunk, that is. Plastic plugs in the front ends of the skis are tended to fall out on the very first bump. The salon reported that the manufacturer knows about this lack, and implicitly replaces the trunk returned to him with a new one, from which the plugs are also falling out. And so on... The machine that was rolled out for the test was painted with beige -golden metallic - it looks unusual and festive, not as an example of strict black Escalade, which invariably met me earlier. You get inside without difficulty - the openings are very large. The axes of the loop doors are tilted - opening the door by 1/3, it can be released: it will open it to the end, hitting the limiter. If you open the door from the inside, then from the habit, it literally pulls it out of my hands. But the doors are closed clearly, you can’t say anything. By the way, the thresholds are very useful - because of a large road clearance, it would be difficult to climb inside without them. True, they seemed flimsy - bent under the weight of the body.
There are also enough changes in the cabin. New seats. Compared to previous sofas, they can be called sports and, given the quality of the finish, chic. In addition to conventional electro -regulations, there is a pneumatic button of lumbar support and lateral support. There is a memory for two settings.
Access to all controls is very easy. The automatic transmission selector is still on the steering wheel, and I could not get used to it during the test. The steering wheel is set in height and length, the design of the steering wheel itself has not changed. The front panel looks somewhat old -fashioned - large, angular, as in the Americans of the early 90s. Devices are the same as on Tahoe, only framed by aluminum rings. In general, as for the salon, Escalade is not much different from Tahoe, and to give the luxury interior, they used wooden inserts (more precisely, imitation) on the steering wheel, doors, front panel and the central console. The console, by the way, is different than on Chevrolet.
As is characteristic of American models, special attention is paid to the comfort of the salon. The armrests built into the seats, the abundance of cup holders and all kinds of containers, a multifunctional bedside table between the front seats, which are equipped with heating and inserts made of perforated leather (so as not to sweat in the summer), air conditioning (controlled by three rotary switches) ... In the second row, even with fully shifted back There are plenty of front seats. It offers the rear passengers - autonomous climate control and lighting, again, cup holders and an armrest with a box.
The previous Escalade was reproached for the absence of a third row of seats (here he lost Navigator - that has seven places). Now it is, and, in principle, even eight people can accommodate in the car. However, access there is inconvenient - it is necessary to completely add part (1/3 or 2/3) of the second row. To do this, first you need to overturn the pillow forward, and then lower the back (well, at least that the headrests do not need to be removed - they automatically lean back). The operation is quite complicated. Perhaps, for this reason, and also because of a considerable cost, there is no third row in Tahoe.
Escalade luggage compartment with a folded third row of seats is huge. If you remove it, and the second is folded, you will no longer get a compartment, but a whole cargo body. To facilitate the loading of trifles, the rear window opens separately from the door. Probably, in the calculation of women who are probably not easy to close the fifth door raised by powerful springs. I almost forgot about music - in Escalade there is a Bose stereo system with a cassette deck, a cd changer, ten speakers and a subwoofer. As for technical equipment, there is also something to talk about here. Firstly, motors. The obsolete voracious Vortec V8 with a volume of 5.7 liters is replaced by 285 hp. The updated engines of the same family came. Vortec 6000, 6-liter and 345-horsepower, has a truly tank torque-516 Nm. This is the most powerful engine of all that has ever been installed on SUVs. It is used only on all -wheel drive Escalade - this is exactly what we got. There is also a 5.3 liter engine and a capacity of 285 hp. - They are equipped with rear -wheel drive Escalade and all Tahoe. All cars are equipped with a 4-band adaptive automatic. The permanent drive is full with the distribution of torque along the axes in the ratio of 38:62, there are no locking and lowering gears - no one will be kneaded on Cadillac.
Secondly, they updated the suspension, replacing the rear springs with the springs. All four shock absorbers are now active - with a variable stiffness controlled by electronics (as on large Cadillac sedans). Thirdly, Escalade now has a system for maintaining the Stabilitrak exchange rate stability, acting on the principle of braking a slippage of the wheel. The system works both for active security and cross -country ability.
There is practically no engine, there are no vibrations at all. Dynamics - from a place in the quarry, tightly presses into the chair in the first gear, then the acceleration intensity is smoothly reduced - but the speedometer arrow has already exceeded 150 by that time. The declared 8.6 seconds. Up to hundreds are masked by a large mass and excellent sound insulation of the car, the speed is not felt.
It is very easy to manage this huge one. The steering wheel is light both in place and in motion. Dimensions are easily read thanks to clearly marked angles (thanks to the chopped design). Review - I sit high, I look far away, as it should be an SUV. The windshield is somewhat narrowed by a high front panel and a low edge of the ceiling. In reverse no problems - large external mirrors are automatically entered on the rear wheels. In extreme cases, Parktronic will help. The suspension swallows literally everything that the road offers it, comfort - Cadillakovsky. When braking Escalade, it pecks a lot of nose, in corners hesitates noticeably. But there is no longitudinal and transverse buildup - contrary to the expected one. Even with strong rolls, the car remains under control, however, it does not cause desire to make a lounger.
The brakes cope well with three tons of weight, but it is felt that it is not easy for them. ABS works a little earlier than you expect. The pedal force on the pedal is quite decent and, in comparison with the steering wheel, seems large.
What is Cadillac Escalade? Previously, it was just a Chevrolet Tahoe with a maximum set of options forcibly included in standard equipment. Now Escalade is an independent model. High comfort, excellent sound insulation, hurricane dynamics, soft suspension and tolerable handling, for everything - $ 86 thousand. But this is Cadillac.
Text: Sergey Yakubov
Source: Motor magazine [No. 10/2001]
