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2021 Cadillac Escalade Review | What's new, features, photos, Super Cruise price

2021 Cadillac Escalade Review | What's new, features, photos, Super Cruise price


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The 2021 Cadillac Escalade is a heavyweight mammoth that is unapologetically bold and quintessentially Escalade. Its general shape and design still plummets from the same tree as a Chevy Tahoe or Suburban, but there’s no mistaking this SUV’s new look for anything but a bejeweled, bold and brash Cadillac. That said, it does take advantage of all the lovely new engineering enhancements made throughout the GM SUV lineup, including the latest-generation magnetic dampers and a new air suspension system. Combined with the long-awaited independent rear suspension design, these pieces bring the Escalade’s ride up to par with the most comfortable and luxurious SUVs on sale today.

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In addition to the ride improvement, Cadillac’s new interior is a tech and luxury fortress befitting its price. The new triple OLED screens scream luxury, and the design makes it competitive with Lincoln’s gorgeous Navigator once more (a far more comfortable and usable third-row seat helps in that regard, too). Under the hood, there's an interesting new powertrain option with this generation of Escalade: a 3.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-six that brings decent fuel efficiency (23 mpg combined at its best) to a class of vehicle that typically achieves horrendously low figures. In total, with more space, more efficiency and vast improvements in every other category, the 2021 Escalade is poised to stand toe-to-toe with other luxury behemoths.

What’s new for 2021?

The Escalade is all-new for 2021. It’s the model’s first big redesign since the 2015 model year.


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What are the Escalade interior and in-car technology like?

The Escalade doesn't quite achieve the same elevated sense of fashion as Lincoln does with the Navigator, but it nevertheless makes a statement with its tech-forward take on luxury. The 38 inches of curved OLED screens we covered in our Escalade infotainment review dominate the dash in a brazen display of opulence. Large swaths of wood trim stretch across the dash horizontally and also adorn a substantial part of the center console. Your color and design options are plentiful, but it all depends on trim. The purple Dark Auburn is fantastic, and the light-and-airy Whisper Beige is another great option (pictured below). Real wood trim in various colors and patterns can be had, and varying levels of leather and suede coverage are available. Even at its best, though, Lincoln’s Black Label interiors are still a cut above in terms of style and distinctive color options.

There are three screens in total: a 16.9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All three are gorgeous OLED displays. It’s a new take on GM’s infotainment system as a whole. You’ll still be swiping side-to-side through an iPad-esque display of apps, but the UI is totally rethought and appears fresh. Icons are big and easy to press. Nothing is hidden off-screen at any point. It just makes good sense. There are physical buttons and controls for things like the volume knob and frequently used apps like Navigation or Media. Plus, a scroll wheel on the center console provides a second method of navigating through it (Cadillac even designed a dedicated UI that it switches to when you use the wheel). Both wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto come standard, too.

How big is the Escalade?

Huge. Like, it won’t fit in lots of normal garages huge, especially if you get the extended Escalade ESV that measures 226.9 inches in overall length — that safely makes it the largest SUV in production today, even longer than the Suburban and Yukon XL. The concept of the ESV is the same as always this year. It’s the Suburban-ized Escalade, whereas the regular Escalade is equivalent to a Tahoe. Even the small one isn’t small, though. Like its new Chevy and GMC siblings (not to mention the Navigator and literally every other competitor), the Escalade now has an independent rear suspension design, which substantially increases cargo capacity (10.3 cu-ft more with the third row up), lowers the lift-over height, and provides a considerably more spacious third row (a whopping 10.4 inches more than before). Third-row space is still down versus the Navigator, but it offers more space behind the seats as a compromise.

The ESV (pictured below in both Sport Platinum and Premium Luxury Platinum trims) doesn’t offer any extra seating space (a testament to the regular Escalade's size increase), but it does greatly improve cargo capacity. Each configuration offers significantly more space than the non-ESV, with the most astounding difference being room behind the third row; it skyrockets from 25.5 cubes to 42.3 cubes. That puts the ESV into and above minivan territory. Fully-spec’d with the diesel engine and four-wheel drive, the ESV weighs in at 6,182 pounds. It’s a lot of truck to swing around, but it can also move more people and their things than most vehicles on sale today.

What are the Escalade fuel economy and performance specs?

The Escalade’s base engine is the 6.2-liter small-block V8 that serves as the upgrade for both the Tahoe and Yukon. It makes 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, then channels that power through a 10-speed automatic transmission. Either rear-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive versions are available. Fuel economy tops out at 15 mpg city, 20 mpg highway and 17 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive. Opting for four-wheel drive drops each of those figures by one mpg to 14/19/16 mpg.

GM’s 3.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-six is also available. It pumps out a very diesel-like 277 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque to the 10-speed automatic. Fuel economy is hugely improved to 21 mpg city, 27 mpg highway and 23 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive. A similar 1 mpg hit in all categories is felt when you go with four-wheel drive. The EPA estimates that you’ll save $950 per year on fuel costs if you opt for the diesel. Plus, unlike the other full-size GM SUVs, the Escalade’s diesel engine is available as a no-cost option, making it even more appealing.

We’ll also note that fuel economy figures for the ESV are all identical to the standard-length Escalade.


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What’s the Escalade like to drive?