http://familycar.com/RoadTests/CadillacEsc.../photos2007.htmhttp://familycar.com/RoadTests/CadillacEsc.../photos2007.htm

Looks pretty tite.

You konw, what would really spice that steering wheel up is to actually put the real Cadillac emblem on it. Like 3-D, know what I mean? Infiniti places it's real logo on the steering wheel, not some image of it.

A plastic cap won't do good on a luxury vehicle.

I LOVE those gauges.

There's a lot of room under that hood to spare. Hmmm..... :AH-HA_wink: I don't know. I'm just guessing. V-series Escalade sounds nice. With a supercharged L92 engine giving it around 450 horsepower. So sweet. Looks like they raised the height of the 3rd row seats a bit. That will make it a little less uncomfortable sitting in back. Still, they should've just scraped the 3rd row and left it to the ESV.

Edited December 6, 200520 yr by Cadillacfan85

Not liking the exterior as much as the current version. Looks like the current version ate too much and got plump.

Meh... I'm still not crazy over it. The old Denali is still the most attractive full-size SUV, exterior styling-wise, IMO.

...what would really spice that steering wheel up is to actually put the real Cadillac emblem on it. Like 3-D, know what I mean?

Check the pic again- it's a bias-relief emblem in the traditional Cadillac cloissone' style, not a flat "image".
infiniti's may be slightly more "real" (or 3-D) because the logo is empty of color or substance (some would say 'just like their cars').

The just departing Escalade is macho, whereas the new one is effeminate.

Well at least it has properly fitting pieces for once....good lord, the huge bumper gap and crooked hood on our $41k Suburban is one thing, but on a $55k+ Caddy, it's just lunacy... :blink: To me, it looks like a vehicle that FINALLY might look and feel worth the high price tag it commands, instead of just going in with good looks alone.

Check out the quality of that wood.

Well at least it has properly fitting pieces for once....good lord, the huge bumper gap and crooked hood on our $41k Suburban is one thing, but on a $55k+ Caddy, it's just lunacy... :blink:

To me, it looks like a vehicle that FINALLY might look and feel worth the high price tag it commands, instead of just going in with good looks alone.

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Agreed 100%

BTW--I am glad about one thing: the GMT900s do NOT have that strange beltline kickup like the 800s had. That was one styling factor that I neither liked nor understood.

That's effing gorgeous. And I hate wood interiors.

Check out the quality of that wood.

[post="53549"][/post]

OMG! That's really really good!

OMG!  That's really really good!

[post="53554"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

You read my mind.

(some would say 'just like their cars').

LMAO!!!

The Escalade has really grown on me!

There used to be a large gap between the Escalade and the more pedesrian Navigator... now it's more like the damn Grand Canyon. And that's not to say the Navigator is a POS. I'd never buy one but it's a decent truck in its own right. I love this truck. I'd love to jump in to one of these after cutting up hot rods and turning wrenches on pushrod V8s and drive off me looking all dirty and sweaty and the truck looking like a million bucks. It's such an oxymoron that way... A big BOF brute of an SUV but yet it's also the most luxurious and refined Cadillac in the past two decades.

Okay....I think it's HOT...! That interior looks to be the best interior GM has EVER done.....from a styling standpoint, fit-and-finish standpoint, switchgear standpoint.... I'm still debating over the actual gauge cluster though.....what happened to the "Bulgari" style gauges and script? AND the tacky column-mounted shifter STILL kills it for me...... <groan> Can't wait to see how they ride, drive, and handle.

what happened to the "Bulgari" style gauges and script?

They ended that partnership.

Wow, I just realized that they bother to leatherwrap the column shifter. Good job on paying attention to the small things, I don't think I've seen that before on a GM vehicle.

Finally.. more people are seeing the light! The Escalade is a HUGE improvement in all categories. Including exterior styling.

Edited December 8, 200520 yr by Cadillacfan85

Wow, I just realized that they bother to leatherwrap the column shifter.  Good job on paying attention to the small things, I don't think I've seen that before on a GM vehicle.

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They've done that for years, going back to the first Escalade in '99:


Lots of people also buy the shifter from a '02-05 model that is both wrapped in leather and has a chrome tip to it, to put in their Chevys and GMCs.

On another note....look at the pic above and think about the difference in the interior of a '99 vs. the '07.... :o

Edited December 8, 200520 yr by caddycruiser

You know, I'll give the interior of the current Escalade a fair pass because it was designed and debuted in a time when a truck was still a truck. Even in 2000, a 'luxury' SUV was defined more by its exterior looks than what was on the inside. Compare the Pathfinder/QX4, Land Cruiser/LX470, even the old Navigator. Crossovers like the RX300 and MDX changed the game, making carlike interiors a price of entry for a large truck-based SUV. So yeah...I wouldn't bag on the Escalade too much given what it competed with in the day.

Take the GMT900 Escalade interior and put it into the GMT800 Escalade exterior and you'd have an awesome large SUV.

is it just me or does a standard Chevy cobalt or HHR have a better HVAC then the escalde... come on no chrome outlines?

I recently had the pleasure of sitting in a new STS which has the same radio and HVAC controls as the Escalade. The HVAC knobs have a very high-quality feel to them. I'm neither for or against having chrome.

ah-ha, I'll agree it's smaller looking in person, but it's a bulky SUV regardless. I can respect everything you said about the last Escalade, it was pretty damn crappy. I beleive the most appealing factor was the front fascia. the headlight and grille design were shockingly good when I first saw it. To this day, I still think it's one of the better looking SUVs out there, just because of that front fascia. I also happen to like the taillights and thier design and think that is pretty Caddy-specific. Judging from the quality of it, the Escalade should have no problem selling, and it is definitely a brand now that demands a lot of respect, and has automatic sales cashed in. But it's a lot more effeminite looking, you've got to admit that. The headlight design and the overall front end, in profile especially, is softer looking. That was the main feature that made the Escalade so imposing looking. The new one looks high tech, has a touch of elegance, but there also seems to be no ruggedness to the design, and all of those imposing features are gone as well. I was never trained to like the Escalade. I saw the front end, I remember in the first Edmunds photos, that gray color, and thought it was fantastic. I was enamored, I thought immediately it was the best design out there. A couple more pictures from Chicago made it look worse, and then the official pictures came out and it was good. Sure it was ungainly, massive, and disgusting, but that front end held a hell of a lot of appeal to it. Elegance, class, machismo, in your face, get out of my way, excellence, freshness, it had it all. Can you tell I'm a little underwhelmed with the new front? ;)

It looks like it's a little bit higher and the exterior design is a little smoother and not as square, I definitley like it a lot.

You konw, what would really spice that steering wheel up is to actually put the real Cadillac emblem on it. Like 3-D, know what I mean? Infiniti places it's real logo on the steering wheel, not some image of it.

A plastic cap won't do good on a luxury vehicle.

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Or the chrystal one off of the Sixteen wouldn't hurt, either.

Looking pretty sweet. I know that there were rumors about a V10 being available for it, any word on that?

is it just me or does a standard Chevy cobalt or HHR have a better HVAC then the escalde...

come on no chrome outlines?

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The Tahoe has chrome outlines but not the Escalade. I guess the designers thought it would be "too much" but I think it would be an improvement with that big swath of black plastic on the center stack.

The more I see of it.. The more I love it..

The fit and finish is amazing.

The new Escalade looks even closer to a rebadge of the Tahoe and Yukon, right down to that bland, dated-looking interior, and the same bodyside moldings and OSRV mirrors. The last Escalade looked somewhat, but not enough differentiated from Tahoe and Yukon, but this one just looks like a plain shameless rebadge other than front end and wheels. It might have more power, but it doesn't have the size or luxury look or differentiation to it that Escalade-or any Cadillac should, and that's very disappointing.

I will never understand some people but I do agree with one poster here. When the trend say you should like it them most nay sayers will. I love it because it is actually refined now.

Nice. Saw a black one on I-69 South a couple of days ago.