2007 Cadillac Escalade Test Drive

Glittering Like Cubic Zirconium

The redesigned Cadillac Escalade is a vast technical improvement over its predecessor. But look at all that chrome...

On the Road

The Cadillac Escalade is far more refined than its predecessor, with precise and nicely weighted new rack-and-pinion steering (trucks didn’t used to have this type of system), an advanced six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift capability in place of the former four-speed gearbox, and a “coil-over” front suspension replacing last year’s torsion-bar springing. For those interested in technical details and auto jargon, a torsion bar is a simple but primitive and heavy spring, introduced to Americans on the original VW Bug: It’s a round steel bar that runs from side to side, across the car and twists to resist displacement up or down of either front wheel. Coil-overs are lighter and more compact coil springs in unit with — i.e. “over” — shock absorbers. Coil-overs reduce weight not carried by the suspension system — called “unsprung weight” — and provide a plusher ride.

The Escalade is, not surprisingly, softer-riding than lesser GM trucks and therefore a little less resistant to side-to-side rolling, meaning it can lean quite a bit through turns. It’s also gigantic, and there’s no real sense of where the corners of the vehicle are. Particularly on the Virginia two-lanes where ForbesAutos.com tested the Cadillac Escalade for two days, you’re valiantly trying to guide a three-ton block of steel through space. Which is why those of us who live on rural two-lanes frequently find such behemoths coming around a corner in the middle of the road.

Cadillac has put considerable work into quieting this truck and eliminating squeaks and rattles. With a truck like the Escalade — which doesn’t use a super-stiff, car-based “unibody” architecture like many new SUVs do, but sticks with the more rugged and traditional “body on frame” setup — that’s no small task.

While cruising, the engine note is subdued but unmistakably powerful. And like Kodachrome film cameras, vacuum-tube hi-fi and vinyl records, the potent, distinctive, lumping thump of a big, American pushrod V8 still attracts buyers who wouldn’t have it any other way.