2007 Cadillac Escalade

[goodcase]

Review: 2007 Cadillac Escalade
by: goodcase


So here is my Makeshift review for now:

First Sight
This having been a surprise to me, it was totally awesome. I looked at the older Escalade and then the new Escalade. And you can tell that Cadillac changed everything. The new Escalade looks more complete with the smaller gap between materials.

The thing that drew me into the truck the most was the 22" chrome wheels. They are elegant but provide a stance to the overall look to the truck.

Inside
Having just got out of the 2002 Cadillac Escalade just minutes ago, I was shocked to see and feel the difference between the two. The quality of materials in the 07' is outstanding.

Even though the Escalade is a truck, you wouldn't be able to tell by the dash and center console. It really looks like a sports car that Audio or BMW would put on the market. The aluminum and wood trim accent peaces add to the beauty that is Cadillac.

The massive gap's and lack luster that were present in the GMT 800 Escalades are gone, everything is put together properly and is screaming luxury.

The new gage cluster is outstanding with the blue glow from the needles and the white LED backlights. Set right in between the Speedometer and the Tachometer is the Driver Computer. The computer displays the amount of oil left in the reserve. You can also run the computer through its setup process (Lock doors when shifted out of park, unlock doors when shifted into park, Tilt passenger mirror when in reverse etc).



Audio/Navigation
I thought the audio and navigation would be pretty hard to use. But Cadillac made it easy and provided you with a little card that has a diagram of all the buttons and there functions, as well as instructions for navigation the navigation menu (no pun intended)

Navigation:

The navigation screen is touch screen and is bright enough to be seen during daylight, how ever if there was a moment when it can be seen you have the ability to adjust the angle with the press of a button. As well, It doesn't show fingerprints so it won't get blurred.

When you first pop in the navigation DVD that is included with the truck, it says "reading disk" then the navigation menu pops right up and shows your location.

There is an option on the screen for POI, which I think stands for Points of Intrest" Once you press it, it will bring up a menu with different options such as "restaurants, gas stations, leisure, restrooms etc" you have three choices, one is show all of the restaurants on the map, or two selecting the restaurant you want and having it tell you over the speakers where to turn and how far it is and three is to bring up the phone numbers, the location and the ability to call them over onstar on the screen.


When you are viewing the map you can push on the "Top, Bottom, Left or right" side of the screen to pan the map. You also have the ability to change the view of the map, IE birds eye view, 3D etc.

When you put the truck in reverse it brings up the Reverse parking camera on to the screen. The actual camera is located right underneath the Chrome accent piece and Cadillac symbol. On the screen you get a full panoramic view from left to right. You also see a portion of the trailer hitch cover which is your guide on where to stop. If you line the line up with the trailer hitch cover and stop your bumper will be right on that line. This is also usefull if you ever have to hook up to a trailer. Just look at the camera and position the ball right under the coupler and stop.

Audio:

The audio system uses the same screen as the navigation. You have tabs on the top of the screen which say "The FM or AM radio station that you are on, The XM radio station that you are on, Which CD you are on(CD1, CD2 etc)

XM radio:
The XM radio portion of the truck is truly amazing. Once you click on the XM radio tab, it brings up the Station number, the station name, the name of the song and the artist. Its organized in a nice fashion as well. If you push the station name which is in the center of the screen it brings up another menu which shows the genre of music on the left side, and the radio station on the right side. Click one of the many genre's of music and then a radio station (e.g. Dance- BPM) and it instantly brings up the radio station loud and clear.

In dash 6 disk CD player:
The GMT 800 Escalade's CD stack looked like it had been added aftermarket. It was a bulky ugly rectangle right in the middle of a nice wood (plastic) panel. The 900 Escalade is built in to the dash and is very easy to use. The CD and DVD player share the same carousel. So you cant have 6 Cd's and 6 DVD's, Its ether 5CD's and 1 DVD..etc.

Loading CD's is very easy to do. You press the hard button beside the CD tray and it will bring up the slot that doesn't’t have a CD in it. Once you pop the CD in, the navigation screen says "reading disk" and then will start to plat the CD. If you press the "CD" tab on the top of the screen it brings up yet another menu. This menu shows the six trays and what is in them, It shows the Artist and the name of the CD if the ID3 tags are available for the reader to read. To select a CD you just press the name on the screen and it loads it and plays automatically.


Once the CD is playing, on the main CD screen, it will show the Track Duration, Artist and song title.


To eject a CD you press the Hard eject button which is also located beside the CD drive. Once the button is pressed the same menu comes up on the screen with the 6 trays, and you simply press the one that you wish to eject.


Rear Seat Entertainment System:

The rear seat entertainment system and be fully controlled from..well the rear seat. There is a little information screen that is placed on the back of the center console. It includes 2 volume knobs, The screen saying what you are listening to(yes it also shows the name of the station and name of song etc), two plugs for wired headphones as well as controlls for the rear seat climate controll.


The Truck comes with two wireless headphones and one remote controll. How ever you have the option to order more headphones if more are required.

The 8" Panasonic Screen is easy to operate. Simply press the button and the screen pops out from its holder about a half inch, and you angle it to where you want it. unfortunately i was only in the truck for about a total of 30 minutes and did not have a DVD on me to test the DVD navigation out. How ever, I will update you on the second part of the review once I see the truck again.

Just below the rear seat information screen are your standard RCA inputs and a power outlet. You have the ability to plug in an external device such as a video game consol, external DVD player, providing that you have a power converter. On the information screen, you press the hard button that says "SRCE" and stitch it to AUX external.

Power Fold Rear Seats:

The rear seats are power folding. Its exactly as it sounds.

The back of the seat folds down, and then the whole seat folds forward allowing better access to the back seats.

To put the seats down, you press the seat down until it locks. Now to get the back of the seat up there is a lever on the side of the seat. This lever tricked me a lot. Your instant reactions is to lift the lever all the way up, but that just unlocks the seat again. After three times trying this I realized that there were two stages to the lever. If you lift it have way up thats when you can lift the back of the seat into position.

Third Row Seats:
They are way more comfortable then the 800 Escalade. They also include a cup holder and little storage containers. How ever, these seats are not automated. To take the seats out to have to manually fold them down and then lift them out of the truck. How ever this is made easier because they are lighter then the 800 Escalade seats.

Exterior:

The overall look has changed drastically from the 800 Escalade. The 07 features a new front grille, side air vents and a 3 stack head light system with is modeled after the Cadillac Sixteen Concept car.

A lot of chrome accent pieces have been added. The rear of the truck included LED brake lights and a Trailer hitch cover which incorporates it into the bumper.

The wheels on the truck have change drastically as well. The 2002 Escalade had 6 spoke 17" aluminum rims. The 2007 has an option for 22" 6 spoke rims.

There are no shared components on the outside from the 800 Escalade. Everything on the 07' is new. And you can tell. The truck has bold stance on the road. The GMT 900 platform added 3 inch's width in the front, and 1 inch width in the back to improve its stability.

The side view mirrors are heated and have an auto fold feature. The windshield wipers have a rain sensor and the washer fluid is heated up to melt the ice during cold weather.

Engine and Transmission:

The engine is a 6.2 Litre V8 that boasts 403HP and 417lb/ft of torque. You can immediately hear and feel the ponies that the engine throws at you. The exhaust sounds 100X better then the previous truck. The 0-60 MPH time, from the research that i have done, is actually under 7 seconds.

The transmission has been upgraded from a 4 speed automatic to a 6 speed automatic with manual control. The transmission performs flawlessly and you can hardly feel the shifts.


Over all the Truck has Changed Completely. Is it a good change. Yes, its an aw some change. To me, Cadillac hit the nail on the head on this one. They improved the quality of materials. They improved the look of the vehicle, and they improved the performance of the truck. But yet it didn't change the price. The truck has a lot of features that I have yet to come across. But I will add to the review once I do.




I didnt notice this section on the forums, but i posted this review in the cadillac discussion forums.

Comments, things to add...keep in mind im 16 and this is my first review.

[asim]

Cool man. Doesn't your dad have the Escalade, or is it you? lol

[goodcase]

Originally Posted by asim

Cool man. Doesn't your dad have the Escalade, or is it you? lol

the faja.