Platinum chic

The 2009 Cadillac Escalade Platinum's luxury features are sure to attract many and driving the vehicle is a pleasurable experience, says Philip Shane.

SUVs are getting bigger and fancier every day. A taste-maker is what most of us look for in these kinds of cars these days. Some brands are taste-makers every time, and some deliver at a random pace. When it comes to SUVs, one needs to make an informed decision before getting one based on style, utility and reliability. There are too many sub segments and brands to choose from.

The Escalade was Cadillac's first major entry into the SUV market. It was introduced in 1999 and is Cadillac's answer to its Japanese and European rivals. It's been through three generations of good improvements both in design and performance. It is the flagship SUV from GM's stables and is appealing in quite a few aspects and bears striking yet obvious resemblances with its not-so-distant cousins – the Tahoe and the Yukon.

The 2009 Cadillac Escalade is not your average SUV. It's really big and carries itself with a lot of pride and road presence. It's like taking a war elephant into battle instead of a more agile horse. The trade-off unlike what most of us would think isn't the speed – the Escalade is quite fast for a vehicle of this size. Its 6.2-litre Vortec engine can take it from 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds which is quite good for an SUV that weighs around 2.6 tonnes. It's quite abundant in terms of its luxury features as well. The only major disadvantage an SUV of these dimensions has is the handling. It isn't ‘car-like' in its handling, which is what most modern SUVs are fighting hard to achieve these days, but then American cars and SUVs were never about handling in the first place. They're about huge powerful engines and a lot of space.

The Platinum version has quite a refined front grille which it shares in overall appearance with the CTS sedan. The front fender is quite low in terms of ground clearance which means it isn't going anywhere off-road unless you take it off. The Platinum also comes with 22-inch wheels, front fender vent ports and layers of chrome accents.

The interiors are quite spacious and comfortable. The 22-inch wheels with the low profile tyres do affect the ride quality a bit but the overall feel is quite good. The seats are quite large and come with a heating/cooling feature for both the front and second row seats. The second row has two independent seats with a little bit of empty space in between them which I personally think is unnecessary as a full three-seater second row would have been perfect.

The sound system is quite good and well balanced. The DVD-based navigation system is a little slow but it gets the job done. In-cabin entertainment is what this car does best with three separate screens behind the front seats offering individual entertainment to the rear passengers complete with wireless headphones and auxiliary input options in case your kids would like a round of games on their play stations.

Air conditioning as with most Cadillacs is great and well suited for the weather in this region. The foot boards that open and close up with the opening and closing of the doors are quite fancy and add to the overall premium appeal of the car. The electrically operated second row seats and tailgate add to the ease of accessibility for third row passengers and luggage. Third row passengers might get a little uncomfortable on long distance trips given the relatively lesser leg and head room as compared to the second row.

The steering orientation given the seating position would have been a lot better if it had a slight tilt to the front. However, the steering feel and feedback are quite well suited for an SUV of this type. The gear shift lever located on the right side behind the steering wheel is quite common in most American SUVs but involves a lot of hand movement, especially while parking or when driving on the manual sport mode.

Driving the Escalade on the highway was quite pleasing and the weight of the car and hence its stability on straight roads added to the overall ride comfort. Taking quick turns was never its speciality and so it does tend to throw its weight around when negotiating tight corners. However, the overall feel is quite satisfactory.

The 2009 Escalade's 6200 cc V8 Vortec pushrod engine churns out 441 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 565Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. This is an exclusive engine that is not shared by its GM cousins the Tahoe and the Yukon. The Escalade features a 6 speed 'hydramatic' auto transmission gear box with two overdrive gears for optimum fuel efficiency.

The Escalade comes with the Magnetic Ride Control Suspension featured on the CTS-V and Corvette ZR-1 which is an advanced system but apparently quite a challenge on the Escalade given its size compared to the CTS and Corvette.

The suspension does a good job on the highway.

Overall, the Escalade does a good job in terms of luxury on-road cruising and in terms of the abundant entertainment options inside. Cadillac has done a good job at converting the utility-based platform of GM's large SUVs into a luxury-based cruiser with a lot of bling and attitude that appeals to a lot of people and rarely goes by unnoticed.