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Eric's Autos: Reviewing the 2016 Cadillac Escalade

Eric Peters on

In its Mad Men-era heyday, a Cadillac was the ultimate, the most, over-the-top... and not the least bit shy about it. Big fins - and big V8s. Even bigger attitude. Here's to repeating history.

WHAT IT IS

The Escalade is the end product of giving Cadillac designers a Chevy Tahoe and a blank check. The Tahoe's still in there - somewhere - but you'll never see it without peeling away layers of leather and velour, unbolting all that Cadillac-specific sheetmetal. Well, you might pop the hood.

But then you'll find a kinship with the Corvette - in the form of the 420 hp 6.2 liter V8 that powers the Escalade. And which outpowers every single would-be rival.

Base price for the RWD Escalade is $72,970. Add 4WD and the price ticks up to $75,570. Luxury, Premium and Platinum trim packages are available from there, with the latter topping out at $91,875 for a 4WD version.

In comparison, the Lincoln Navigator is a super-sized blue light special. Its base price is just $61,480 - and you can buy the "L" stretch version for $67,220. But the once-proud Navigator (which beat the Escalade to market back in the '90s and actually sold better for several years) no longer even offers a V8 engine and no matter how many turbos Ford (er, Lincoln) bolts to it, a V6 will never be a V8. Sorry, Charlie.

 

Probably the most direct-comparison cross-shop - at least in terms of shock and awe value - is probably the Infiniti QX80. However it comes in one size only (in between the Escalade and Escalade ESV) and while it's at least got a V8, it isn't a 420 hp V8.

You might also consider the Lexus LX570 - but it's getting long in the tooth (current model, same as last year's model) is a smaller vehicle, can't pull as much - and has a much weaker engine. Plus, it costs more than the Caddy - $83,540 to start.

WHAT'S NEW

After last year's complete overhaul, the '16 Escalade receives a number of upgrades to its suite of standard and available electronic equipment, including Lane Keep Assist and service prompts sent to the owner via smartphone text or e-mail (Advanced Diagnostics). The CUE touchscreen interface in the center stack also has a faster processor for better performance (including faster map loading for the GPS) and the various driver-selectable appearance options for the main gauge cluster have been slightly reshuffled.

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