2010 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platnium AWD: The Daddy of All Luxury SUVs

What’s New:

For over a century, Cadillac has always been synonymous with style, luxury and class. Still today that holds true with the top of the line Cadillac Escalade Platinum edition. Yes, this is the daddy of all SUVs.  New for this year the engineering team has equipped the standard 6.2-liter, 8-cylinder engine with GM’s Active Fuel Management technology, which helps increase fuel-efficiency by seamlessly shutting off half of the engine’s cylinders in certain driving conditions.

Also GM has added a locking steering column to the Cadillac, making it more difficult to part from its rightful owner. Conversely, in the likelihood the vehicle disappears, GM’s signature OnStar safety system will be able to easily locate the vehicle. Furthermore, GM has revised the inner door design so as to provide enhance side-impact protection just in case of an accident.

Must Have Goodies:

While the Escalade has been around for approximately 10 years, Cadillac added the top of the line Platinum edition to its line up in 2005. At the time, it was only available in the extended version Escalade. In 2008, when the luxury SUV was last restyled, Cadillac offered the Platinum edition on the short-wheel base Escalade too. And for those who had been yearning to go green, while tooling around in an $80,000 SUV, in 2009, Cadillac added a hybrid model in a short-wheel base configuration only to the Platinum edition.

By stepping into the Platinum edition, you'll be surrounded with such high-end features as heated and cooled cup holders, 22-inch chrome wheels, special leathers, Olive Ash and Walnut Burwood interior trims, a rear-seat entertainment system with three-independent DVD screens and the world's first production LED headlamps to improve lighting at night.

With all of these features included in the vehicle, basically your biggest decision in selecting the Platinum edition is deciding if you should opt for a two-wheel drive or an all-wheel drive configuration in the short-wheel base or the extended length version, which is also known as ESV.

What We Like:

Unlike most SUVs and crossovers, which try to force three rows of seats along with cargo space into a vehicle, the extended length Escalade Platinum does all of this plus more without blinking an eye. This luxury house on wheels can easily accommodate adult passengers in the third-row, while leaving plenty of storage space for cargo. 

Another standout feature on the Escalade ESV we reviewed included GM’s standard blind spot lane-change technology. This safety feature warns drivers of vehicles in its blind spot before changing lanes through the use of audible alarms and flashing yellow lights, which are situated in the outside mirrors. We strongly believe this safety feature should be a government mandate for all SUVs and trucks. This feature saved us from cutting off a lot of vehicles, while changing lanes in the gigantic SUV.

 

What We Hated:

While the extended-length SUV we reviewed is great for road trips and towing, it’s just not practical for everyday city driving. It’s just too much vehicle to be responsible for. To us, the short-wheel base Escalade ESV Platinum edition is capable of doing the same job, but in a more manageable package. We can only imagine how much it will cost, if gas prices resume to $5.00 a gallon again to fill-up the 31-gallon tank. We guess that’s why Cadillac now offers a hybrid edition, which aids in improving fuel-economy.

Also we were surprised that the interior designer didn’t offer a second-row bench seat as an option to middle-row captain chairs. By making this change, Cadillac could actually seat a total of eight occupants in the vehicle, as opposed to seven.

Any Juice:

The 6.2-liter V-8 engine produced 403 horses. This was more than adequate for this monstrous people mover.

The Verdict:

While large SUV sales hit rock bottom last year due to the soft economy and rising gas prices, there is still a market for these vehicles. No matter how fuel-efficient and roomy today’s car-based crossovers are, they still can’t tow  up to 7,800 lbs in the confines of luxury like a Cadillac SUV.

Unlike any other brand, Cadillac does it in grand fashion with it super-luxurious extended version Platinum edition. To get into one, you’ll have to pay a  $20,000 premium over a base Escalade, which starts out at around $65,000. In fact, the premium price $87,630 vehicle we reviewed happened to be an extended length all-wheel drive SUV. Don’t fret over pricing, with the demand of SUVs being at an all-time low, you should be in a great position to wheel and deal and still ride in the lap of luxury. And if you're a true baller, pricing should be the least of your concerns.

Competition: Lincoln Navigator L 4WD