2015 Cadillac Escalade Review

After just a handful of months on the market, though, the big Caddy received a few key upgrades that brought new technologies – the most important of which being a new transmission – in addition to some slight styling tweaks courtesy of Cadillac’s all-new, slimmer logo. The changes are modest enough to require a close look, but they are probably noticeable enough to create a little bitterness from customers of the pre-makeover 2015 Escalade. As luck would have it, we recently had the opportunity to drive both versions of the new ‘Slade in close succession, and while both gave us a glimpse of what life is like on the A-list, it also revealed how far Cadillac has come.

Excluding the first-gen models, it has never been too hard to spot an Escalade coming at you. This is thanks to the copious amounts of chrome and Cadillac’s expressive Art & Science design language, but the obvious lineage to the other GM SUVs has always left the Escalade with a somewhat cookie-cutter appearance. The 2015 Cadillac Escalade rectifies this situation with its own distinctive look both inside and out. Sure, the similarities between the Escalade and the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and the 2015 GMC Yukon/Yukon XL are still noticeable, but the knife-edged lines of the shared body parts look like they were designed specifically for the Escalade rather than carried over as a convenient afterthought.

The unique styling of the 2015 Escalade starts up front with an imposing face. The new logo is wider and shorter, and it takes up far less real estate in the grille than the previous logo that was about the size of a dinner plate. Across the board, all 2015 Escalade models come standard with full LED headlights including stylish running lights that create a vertical line that seems to cut through the front fascia. These lights flank a massive, metallic three-bar grille that might leave some locomotive cattle guards feeling envious, but the good news is that Cadillac has resisted the urge to tack on lots of bright, gaudy chrome trim. From the grille to the full-width rear strip on the liftgate, all of the metallic exterior trim features a matte finish that resembles aluminum adding to the rich, upscale exterior styling. Less bling is a good thing!

These lights use a clear lens over a black background, which makes the tall, thin light-pipe tube (for the standard/brake lights) stand out even more when illuminated; the turn signals and reverse lights are smaller and are made up of more conventional LEDs. More so than the front end, the hind quarters of the new Escalade gives this Cadillac its own identity not just among the GM SUVs but also in regards to the growing number of luxury SUVs on the market, and this may have been backed up by the fact that we were approached by three individuals on separate occasions to ask of the Escalade’s taillights were aftermarket. Wrapping up this whole look are the 22-inch aluminum wheels that were seemingly inspired by the wheels found on the Cadillac ELR.

If there were any complaints to muster about the exterior styling of this Escalade, it is the lack of exposed exhaust outlets – something along the lines of what was used on the previous-gen Escalade Platinum. Beyond that, the overall appearance of the 2015 Cadillac Escalade is near flawless, and even the added length of this Escalade ESV is disguised well using all of the linear body lines. Our tester was finished off with options that include the $1,695 power retractable running boards and the $995 White Diamond Tricoat paint job.

As much as we found ourselves and others loving the flashy styling, Cadillac nailed it when it comes to the execution of the 2015 Escalade’s interior. GM has definitely stepped up its game with interiors as of late across all of its brands, but this Cadillac is definitely the premier example of GM’s progress. Step inside the new Escalade, and you’ll think you were in the latest Cadillac sedan rather than the production line mate of the Suburban. The instrument panel has been completely redesigned for the Escalade to fit the styling of newer Cadillacs such as the CTS and ATS, while the materials found throughout the cabin are top shelf including the soft leather, real wood accents and the suede accents. This tester came with $2,000 Kona Brown leather option adding the baseball-mitt brown leather seats with perforated inserts and, our favorite part of this cabin, the matte-finished real wood trim. Every inch of the interior portrays the extra effort that Cadillac put into this SUV.

Even better, the interior is so quiet that a tractor trailer idling right outside the driver’s window creates little more than a faint clatter inside the cabin – a result of well-insulated floors and glass as well as the standard Active Noise Cancellation system. Between the materials and the quiet cabin, the interior of the new Escalade feels more like a living room at time rather than a massive family hauler.

This is all par for any vehicle expecting to compete in the luxury segment, and Cadillac kicked things up an extra notch with the amount of technology the Escalade offers. For the driver, this starts with the reconfigurable gauges that can be arranged with three different themes, but the three-gauge look is by far the best.

Inside each gauge, users can also choose from a wide selection of information to be displayed. It is really one of the best-looking and easiest to use gauge clusters available right now, and it is simple to navigate using the five-way toggle on the right side of the steering wheel. The Escalade also offers a color head-up display, a power tilt-and-telescoping column and a heated steering wheel.

Part of the mid-model year add-ons, the Escalade also received the easy-to-use Onstar with 4G LTE (and its built-in Wi-Fi hotspot) and the nifty wireless phone charger mat. Built into the top of the center console arm rest, this inductive charger helps eliminate clutter, but even if you don’t use it, the Escalade still offers 10 possible power supplies from power outlets (including a three-prong 110-volt outlet) and five USB outlets. We didn’t have a chance to use the wireless phone charger, but it’s just one more advantage this Cadillac can claim.

While the heated-and-cooled front seats are the place to be, the rear two rows of the Escalade are no penalty box either. A 6-foot-tall adult passenger will have no problem sitting in any of the Escalade’s seven seating position, and all seats are trimmed with the same high-quality leather as the front seats. Providing optimal comfort for both rear rows of passengers, the standard tri-zone automatic climate control offers separate A/C controls for rear occupants as well as vents built into the headliner.

We doubt there are large numbers of Escalade owners who haul a bunch of stuff in their SUV, but if they need to, there is enough room for just about anything. The power-folding third-row and one-touch collapsing second row make easy work of turning the passenger-friendly Escalade into a cavernous storage locker that can hold up to 94.2 cubic feet of cargo. Total payload for our tester was rated at 1,460 pounds (662 kg), and when the cargo area is full, the Escalade can still haul just about anything most people would need it to with this particular model rated at 8,100 pounds (3,674 kg)

Rather, it comes down to the technology. For some reason, the rear-seat entertainment system uses a drop down screen that blocks most of the rearview mirror rather than headrest-style monitors that many high-end vehicles offer, but the more serious offender continues to be the buttonless CUE infotainment system. Aesthetically, the lack of hard buttons and the all black center stack match the rest of the Escalade’s high-class styling, but CUE can still be aggravating to use with noticeable lag when trying to perform most tasks, which means that you become very familiar with the back button. Even after spending a week with the Escalade, CUE was no less frustrating, and on top of that, this sea of piano black trim is a magnet for fingerprints and dust.

While competitors in this segment are looking for ways to make their offerings more efficient with twin-turbo V-6s (we’re looking at you Lincoln Navigator) and diesels, the powertrain in the 2015 Cadillac Escalade is all about power. Unlike the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and the standard (non-Denali) 2015 GMC Yukon/Yukon XL, the Escalade comes exclusively with the 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V-8. Although it features the same displacement as the previous generation, this new engine now delivers more power with ratings of 420 hp (313 kW) and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) of torque, which stand as increases of 17 hp (13 kW) and 43 lb-ft (58 Nm) compared to the 2014 model year. Direct injection and GM’s Active Fuel Management cylinder deactivation help to better balance power and fuel economy.

As mentioned earlier, Cadillac swapped out the 6L80 six-speed automatic transmission in favor of the new 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmission, and while both gearboxes are great on their own, driving them both essentially back to back highlights the real benefit: smoothness. Adding to the already whisper-quiet interior, the two extra gears create an added level of smoothness that is particularly noticeable under heavy acceleration. Getting on the throttle hard doesn’t return overly aggressive shift points.

On paper, the new transmission also helps to return an extra 1 mpg in city driving with official EPA fuel economy ratings for the 2015 Escalade 4WD with the eight-speed sitting at 15 mpg city (15.6 l/100km), 21 mpg highway (11.2 l/100km) and 17 mpg in combined driving (13.8 l/100km). But hitting these numbers requires Zen-like restraint not to flex the 6.2-liter’s amazing acceleration abilities – for the record, Cadillac says the mammoth Escalade can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than six seconds.

After spending two weeks in two different versions of the Escalade (a 2WD ESV with the six-speed and a 4WD standard-length model with the eight-speed), we managed better fuel mileage from the bigger ESV with an average of 14.6 mpg (16.1 l/100km) in a mix of city and highway driving compared to the 13.7 mpg (17.2 l/100km) we saw from the 4WD model in mostly city driving. These numbers are far from great considering some of the competition, but not all that unexpected either. We were just happy to keep the trip computer’s estimated fuel economy in the double digits.

Although it’s no ‘80s Sedan de Ville land yacht, the 2015 Escalade has a ride that is surprisingly smooth and compliant despite its traditional body-on-frame design and solid rear axle. Citing a negligible improvement in ride quality and a significant added investment in the platform, Cadillac resisted the urge to give the new Escalade an independent rear suspension and instead went with GM’s advanced Magnetic Ride Control suspension system. As Cadillac describes it, this system allows the shocks to “read” the road providing a peak driving performance that acts to smooth out harsher segments of the pavement while stiffening things up in the corners to reduce body roll. In reality, it’s remarkable how few road noises and vibrations make their way into the cabin especially when you factor in the 22-inch wheels.

Similarly, the electric power steering system has been tuned to deliver quick response at low speeds yet it is still perfectly weighted for higher-speed driving. Oddly enough, the only downside of driving the Escalade takes place at low speeds… and in reverse. As a safety feature, the Escalade is equipped with an auto-brake feature that proved to be excessively harsh while backing into a parking spot when the system slammed on the brakes while approaching a small bush (with several feet to spare). This automatic braking just seemed a little too sensitive for the conditions, but if it saves a life or prevents an accident, it’s worth the small hassle. On the cooler side of the Escalade’s safety features, the lane departure warning is able to directionally buzz the driver’s seat cushion to warn if he or she is veering out of their lane. All of these systems help ensure that the Escalade is a little easier and a little more enjoyable to drive in spite of its almost 17 feet (5.2 m) in overall length and almost three tons (5,840 pounds/2,648 kg) of mass.

To ensure that owners don’t have to worry about other people enjoying their Escalade or its contents (a credible concern seeing as how the Escalade is consistently among the most stolen vehicles in the U.S. each year), GM has stepped up its security measures on its entire line of full-size SUVs. The Theft Deterrent Package provides motion sensors, glass break sensors, inclination sensors, fortified door locks, a self-powered alarm system and a steering wheel lock that sounds like a bolt-action rifle being chambered. Speaking of guns, there’s even a hidden compartment behind the center stack controls for you to store your piece. GM’s full-size SUVs have become notorious in recent years for how easy they were to break into and/or steal, but these new security features put an end to all of that.

All this luxury and capability comes at a price, though. Pricing for the 2015 Cadillac Escalade starts at $72,970 while our Escalade Premium 4WD came in at $89,755, and this is not even the top offering either. In conjunction with the new transmission and other mid-model year updates, Cadillac also introduced a more opulent version of the 2015 Escalade by bringing back the range-topping Platinum trim level starting at $90,270.

Cadillac has finally given its flagship model the styling, luxury and technology it needs to move up the luxury food chain to compete against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and Range Rover while showing up rivals like Infiniti QX80, Lincoln Navigator and Lexus LX. A key takeaway from this is that the Escalade now has the styling and quality to go head-to-head against dedicated luxury SUVs Mercedes and Land Rover rather than being stuck in the pool of gussied-up SUVs, which is the case with the other models listed that are based on the Nissan Patrol, Ford Expedition and Toyota Land Cruiser, respectively.

The days of Cadillac selling 60,000 Escalades per year are long gone, but as the market for big, luxurious SUVs picks back up, the all-new 2015 Cadillac Escalade continues to play a critical role in the resurgent automaker’s lineup. And if the Escalade is any indication of what Cadillac has in store for its next-gen offerings, this brand truly has the opportunity to become the world standard for attainable luxury vehicles once again.