Impression: The 2015 Cadillac Escalade

In our previous article A Night with Cadillac, I mentioned after the dinner we were riding on a 2015 Escalade back to the rendezvous location, there were something interesting on display.

There are one 2015 Escalade ESV and one 2015 CTS VSport sitting inside the exhibition hall. In this article I will share my personal impression on the 2015 Escalade. All photos are taken live in the Road to Table event in Laguna Beach.

The current Escalade is the 4th-generation, beginning from the 2014 model year. One distinguish point I sensed recently is: Cadillac vehicle’s material quality and assembling quality has great improvement during the past two years. Without knowing the brand and related details, just by looking at the Escalade, you may probably even make a mistake to think it is an European luxury brand SUV, like the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, or the Audi Q7 etc.

The sample Escalade on display carries a MSRP of $86,385. You may consider this is a steep price for a Cadillac SUV, but think about its competitors – for example if you optioned a GL550 with similar features, you are probably looking at a 6-digit MSRP, and the GL-class is also made in USA too.

The Escalade ESV is longer than the Escalade, major difference is bigger cargo space behind the 3rd-row seat.

The boxy-shaped incorporated several muscle line, which makes the Escalade appear to be more athletic, visually speaking.

From this photo you can have a rough idea how long the Escalade ESV is:

Another angle, side profile:

Let’s take a look at the interior. The Escalade has fine-stitched and leather wrapped dash, take a look at the high-quality stitching job here:

The leather wrapping also extends to the passenger side. It looks really great together with the wood trim:

The center console is also surrounded by leather wrapping, in this photo you can also see the engine push-start button.

A full view of the center console. I really like the wood trim texture and its color.

The Escalade has the head-up-display (HUD) feature.

Large area of the door panels are also wrapped with leather, decorated with wood trims. This is the driver side:

Front passenger side, notice the quality of the leather stitching.

This is the 2nd row seat door.

Front seats has lots of legroom and also not to mention – spacious head room.

The front seats.

Some photos from the passenger side.

This is the leg room left for the 2nd row seat, after adjusting the driver seat to the position I feel comfortable.

More details:

Even 2nd-row passengers can control the temperature, and also plug-in their portable media players. Notice the back of the center console has stitching leather wrapping:

The Cadillac CUE infotainment interface, you can also see similar system on the new CTS and ATS.

The leather-wrapped steering wheel

Overview of the dash and controls:

One place I recommend Cadillac to improve is the leg space of the front passenger seat. You can see there is a bulge from the transmission tunnel that significantly decreases front seat passenger’s foot well, caused by making spaces for the transmission and the 4WD mechanical systems.

We now look at the exterior again. First, the 22-in rim and the huge P285/45 R22 tire.

Once you open any one of the 4 doors, the corresponding side of running board will automatically extends out; if you closed all doors on the same side, the running board will retract back to the bottom of the car body, like what it shows in this photo:

LED headlights is a must-have on luxury cars nowadays.

The front grille – Cadillac family face.

The Escalade is a truck-based, rear-wheel-drive layout platform. You can see the engine is not sitting in front of the front axle. From the location of the windshield, it indicates the engine is pushed backward towards the firewall.

Generally speaking, the new Escalade is a handsome looking, decently priced full-size SUV, with high quality material and first-class craftsmanship. Compared to other competitors, it is almost the lowest price product you can buy with equivalent features. Below is the full gallery, includes photos not appeared in the above.