The 2015 Cadillac Escalade isn't just a monument to excess, it's the Great Pyramid of excess. Encrusted in chrome, endowed with thousands of cubic inches of displacement, it's as close as Cadillac can get these days to a DeVille with four-wheel drive.
This is, of course, a great thing. Some other luxury utes have faded into the woodwork, and others aren't quite up to the most extreme tasks. GM makes the Escalade precisely for the folks who want everything of everything. They tow, they trailer, they tailgate, and they do not go quietly.
For them, the new Escalade's arrival will be a Super Bowl of surfeit. The Caddy's gone and gotten better, refined itself in the same ways upgraded its full-size trucks--and also, the other full-size SUVs it sells under GMC and Chevrolet banners. Of all of them, the Escalade has the most substantial standard powertrain and cabin and technology upgrades, as well as some truly swanky touches. It is the Cadillac of GM SUVs, and that is no small thing.
Cadillac calls the Escalade's new lines crisp, and more sophisticated. The more firmly pressed panels are handsome, but it's the full LED lighting that creates the most effective drama, front and rear, from the vertically stacked elements on the nose to the rear LED taillights that soar up to the roof and illuminate the Cadillac wreath-and-crest logo.
The interior's a point of pride. Cut-and-sewn upholstery trims out the cabin, with leather and suede tucking neatly next to wood trim, including a fantastic open-pore treatment that looks especially handsome with a new brown hide. From the front seats--which are heated and cooled as standard--the centerpiece of the dashboard is Cadillac's tablet-like CUE touchscreen system, which can be activated by voice, capacitive touch and swipe gestures. In front of the driver, a 12.3-inch display offers a cluster of digital gauges--which the driver can reconfigure into one of four themes. A head-up display that projects selected information over the hood is optional.
As in previous generations, the 2015 Escalade comes in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive versions. Its running gear is derived from that of GM's full-size pickup truck line, so it's one of few large luxury SUVs with a solid rear axle. That said, the big truck now has the brand's Magnetic Ride Control as standard, and the suspension tracks and damps better than the last