• Year: 2006
• Make: CADILLAC
• Model: Escalade
• Trim:
• Body style: SUV
• Mileage: 142875
• Engine: 8 CYL. 6.0
• Trans: Automatic
• Exterior Color: WHITE DIAMOND
• Interior Color: Shale
• Stock: D469A
• VIN: 1GYEC63N96R116366

Getting into any of the Escalade models is easy enough, though requires more climbing up than in, say, the new STS. The exterior door handles are easy to grab. The liftgate on the Escalade and ESV raises with a surprisingly light touch.

Big in every way.

The Cadillac Escalade is one of the most luxurious SUVs available. Escalade, ESV and EXT are big, distinctive vehicles with flashy styling. With their standard 6.0-liter V8, they boast lots of horsepower, though they also have lots of weight to move. These vehicles feel stable on the road and have a relatively soft ride. They are highly capable tow vehicles.

Escalade and ESV come with three rows of seats and are rated to carry up to eight people, but those who intend to carry this many people often are better served by the Suburban-sized ESV. When set up for four people, either Escalade or ESV can carry a mountain of cargo. EXT offers the innovative Midgate system popularized by the Chevy Avalanche, and is a clever and well-executed solution for someone who alternately needs a pickup truck and a luxury passenger vehicle.

Sam Moses reported from the Columbia Gorge, with Mitch McCullough reporting from Los Angeles.

The seats are great, because they not only provide adjustable lumbar support, but another adjustment that nicely squeezes you at the sides. The 14-way power driver's seat comes with a memory feature. His and hers key fobs allow each driver to program their own seat position; unlock the doors with your personal remote entry fob, and the seat slides to your position. This doesn't work when borrowing your spouse's keys, but you'll still be able to press a button near the armrest to get your seating position back. Buttons for the seat heaters are conveniently located here as well.

Front-row roominess and accommodations are essentially the same for the Escalade, ESV, and EXT. A big center console serves as a front armrest and opens in a couple of different ways to reveal storage areas. Two large cup holders, a CD rack and coin holder are all in there. A power outlet inside the center console is handy for plugging in and storing cell phones and other accessories.

The dashboard is squarish, like a big flat tray. A leather-wrapped handgrip runs across the top of the dash on the passenger side, with big stitching that faces out. Walnut burl wood trim adds warmth. Chrome trim and detailed graphics on the instruments emphasizes their stylish, retro-tech look. A transmission temperature gauge is included, reassuring when towing.

The optional navigation system ($2,145) was upgraded last year, with touch-screen technology replacing the joystick used previously. At the same time, the screen itself expanded from 5.8 to 6.5 inches.

The Platinum Edition ESV gets premium interior features and materials, including an ebony and shale dash, shale leather seating surfaces and pleated door-panel bolsters. Seats are both heated and cooled in the first and second rows; even the cup holders are heated and cooled. Walnut burl accents appear on the steering wheel, console, door pulls, window switch bezels and dashboard trim. Chrome trim highlights the steering wheel, speaker covers and gauge cluster. Satellite navigation is standard, along with a DVD entertainment system with separate 7-inch screens for the second and third rows.

On all Escalades, a message center provides status reports including total hours on the engine and miles driven during each of the previous seven days. (Good for checking up on teens, it even reports the top speed reached.) A computer in the center dash allows the driver to program such things as whether the locks operate automatically, how locking with the key fob is confirmed (horn, lights), whether the mirrors tilt when backing up, length of headlamp delay, etc. The steering-wheel audio controls are set into the center of the butterfly four-spoke burl wood trim wheel (so they can't be reached with your thumb).

The climate controls work very well. They are easy to understand and operate, yet quite sophisticated, and allow fine-tuning of everyone's temperature. Likewise, the audio system works very well and the XM Satellite Radio is easy to operate. A six-disc CD changer mounted at the bottom of the center stack is convenient and easy to operate. New Gen 6 OnStar is standard.

Second-row passengers have luxurious accommodations, regardless of model. Captain's chairs are standard on Escalade and ESV; they give second-row passengers front-row comfort. EXT comes with a 60/40 split bench, which is available at no charge on the other two models. The center of the bench seat folds to reveal a virtual fold-down table. Lift the vinyl top and there's a black felt compartment with little round recesses designed for the headphones.

Second-row passengers enjoy their own climate controls, seat heaters, audio system controls, map lights, and adjustable vents. Second-row accommodations for the three models are nearly the same, all within an inch. There's less legroom than you might expect in a vehicle this large, particularly if the front seats are moved all the way back. Big hanging loops make climbing in and out of the second row easier.

Getting in and out of the third row is awkward, however. Leather-soled dress shoes slip on the trim when squeezing by the second row. And it feels cramped back there, with nearly an inch less headroom than in the Lincoln Navigator, and a whopping 9 inches less leg room. At least it's not stuffy. There's an A/C outlet on each side on the ceiling, and rear A/C and heating allow separate control of the third-row temperature. The left side has a glove box for third-row passengers, with only a few fuses stored inside. Both sides have deep cup holders built into the wheel wells, which limit hip room. Three seatbelts are used, something not found on many SUVs, and child-seat tethers are in place.

Escalade is at its best with four people and their cargo, with the third-row seat left at home in the garage. With all three rows of seats in place, the standard Escalade can, in theory, accommodate eight people, but they won't be terribly comfortable. Nor will each of them be able to bring along much more than a briefcase because with the third row in place there's only a foot of storage in the back. So it's no airport shuttle.

The Escalade ESV is a better choice for shuttling a crowd home from the airport. The ESV has nearly 10 inches more legroom in the third row than the Escalade, and an inch more than the Navigator. And even with all three rows of seats occupied (seven or eight people), the ESV offers 45.7 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the third-row seat.

The third row folds up for additional cargo space, and a little kickstand ensures it won't fall back down on Fido. The third row can be removed for still more cargo room and, fortunately, removing it is easy. It's actually a 50/50 split bench, and each 40-pound unit lifts out individually. The second row can be folded down to provide a flat load floor, though the captain's chairs leave a hole between them.

All Escalade models have dual-stage frontal air bags for both driver and passenger. The system is designed to detect vehicle deceleration (or crash severity) and provide an appropriate amount of air-bag inflation. The system also assesses the size of the occupant in the front passenger seat, based on the measured weight in the seat cushion and tension in the belt system; it can then automatically deactivate the passenger-side air bag to help protect smaller occupants. A tell-tale in the rearview mirror that lets the driver know if the system is ON or OFF. (Children are always safer in the back seat, however.) Side-impact air bags are standard for both the driver and front passenger. In addition, side-impact door beams and energy-absorbing foam blocks in the interior help protect occupants.

Powered by the big 6.0-liter Vortec V8 engine, the Escalade, ESV, and EXT offer strong acceleration performance with deep torque for pulling trailers. Punch it and the Vortec's 345 horsepower provides terrific response for passing on two-lane roads. Ease the pedal down on long grades and 380 pound-feet of torque propel the Escalade with authority. These big Cadillacs are easily among the most powerful of all the full-size trucks on the road, and among the quickest SUVs. They accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 8.5 seconds, according to Cadillac. The engine delivers good throttle response, making it easy to control speed when tooling around town.

The four-speed transmission shifts smoothly, particularly around town. Like other full-size SUVs from GM, the Escalade is equipped with a Tow/Haul mode. Press a button on the end of the shift lever, and the Tow/Haul function reduces hunting between gears by delaying upshifts and downshifts. The shifting is also harder and more abrupt. This saves wear by reducing heat buildup in the transmission.

The Escalade, ESV and EXT are all superb choices for towing. The Escalade AWD offers a towing capacity of 8100 pounds. The big ESV is rated to pull 7700 pounds, while the EXT can pull 7300 pounds.

All-wheel drive increases stability and performance in slippery conditions. The computer-controlled system directs engine power where it's needed and compensates whenever and wherever wheel spin occurs. In dry conditions, the front wheels get 38 percent of the driving torque, and the rear wheels get 62 percent. Whenever a wheel slips, the power is transferred forward or rearward, depending on where grip is best, until traction can be restored to regain that 38/62 optimum split.

The computer-controlled self-leveling suspension, with extra-large high-tech Bilstein shock absorbers, sounds impressive on paper, but we found the Escalade a bit floaty. In the Columbia River valley where wind reigns supreme, the Escalade did not feel as stable as it should have. And you can feel the patches on the freeway more than you might like to. On two-lanes with curves, Escalade doesn't feel as agile as a BMW X5 or even a Ford Expedition. That said, the Escalade feels stable on on-ramps and off-ramps. It doesn't suffer from a lot of body roll. And it'll haul a lot of stuff.

Likewise, the Escalade ESV feels stable on the highway at high speeds, but it feels a little softer than a Suburban, and it conveys a distinct impression of being in control of considerable mass. Perhaps that's because the ESV weighs 5,800 pounds, about 600 pounds more than a Suburban 1500 with 4WD.

Brakes are four-wheel discs with ABS, 12-inch diameter front, 13-inch rear, not ventilated. That doesn't sound impressive for such as big vehicle, particularly if it's headed downhill with a trailer at maximum towing capacity. But the Escalade's brakes felt good in hard use on winding roads and delivered stable performance when pressed hard.

Rear Park Assist makes parking these rigs, particularly the ESV and EXT, much easier. By watching a small row of lights at the rear of the headliner, and listening for an audio tone that varies in frequency, the driver can accurately judge how much room is left behind the rear bumper. We found the system often warned us when someone stepped behind the vehicle while backing up in a crowded parking lot.

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