The new 2019 Cadillac Escalade has not missed a step when it comes to living up to the Escalade reputation. No matter where one is when an Escalade drives down the street it causes a lot of commotion. Whether your reasoning is because of the size, the power, the comfort, or the authority that comes with an Escalade, I don’t blame a signal person for opting for an Escalade over a smaller/cheaper SUV. When it comes to protecting your family while speeding down the highway or down dirt paths, there aren’t any better options. On top of all that, it feels good to drive an Escalade. You feel powerful as you look down on all the other drivers as you pass.
The Size
It is no surprise that one of the first things that everyone notices about the Escalade is its size. Closer to the dimensions of a truck rather than an SUV, the 2019 Cadillac Escalade sits up to seven people comfortably. The most “cramped” part of the vehicle, the third row, still manages to have an astounding 24.8 inches of legroom. The overall length of the vehicle bumper to bumper is 203.9 Inches. It’s 74.4 inches tall and 80.5 inches wide. These dimensions result in a very “large and in charge” vehicle.
The vehicle itself isn’t the only large part of this package. The Escalade is powered by a mighty 6.2L V8 standard, connected to a 10-speed automatic transmission. This engine has no problems propelling the ~5,300 pound behemoth down the road. Due to the large engine and the sturdy frame, this car will have no problem if you decide you want to tow cargo with a trailer attached to the back of the car. In fact, even if you opt for the four-wheel drive option, you have the ability to tow over 8,000 lbs. Thanks to a 26 gallon tank and up to 23 mpg, you’ll be making long trips between fill-ups. Whether transporting cargo or people, there seems to be no shortage of room with the 2019 Cadillac Escalade.
The Power
When you put a 6.2L V8 in a vehicle that only weighs 5,300 pounds, you get plenty of performance to spare. With 420 Horsepower, this vehicle will have no problem getting up to highway speeds. Thanks to the 460 lb-ft of torque, you feel the acceleration. While I wasn’t able to find any stats for the 2019 lineup, this wonderful video from the Youtube channel “The Fast Lane Truck” shows that the very similar 2015 Escalade was able to go from zero to sixty mph in about eight seconds.
For comparison, my Nissan Sentra that weighs HALF of what the Escalade weighs has an average 0-60 time of 10.2 seconds. (According to motorweek.org.) The Escalade may be a big boy, but it’s no slouch.
If these numbers don’t mean anything to you, then think of it like this. If you’ve ever driven a small sedan and then driven a truck, you know how much of a difference it is. In a compact car, you just hop right in, step on the gas, and go. When you hop into a truck you get thrown off by the louder, deeper sounding engine. You need to feather the throttle a bit more, and you can’t just whip out into traffic as you might in a compact car. Even if you’re used to driving around in your two-door truck, you will become overwhelmed with this sensation when you step behind the wheel of the Escalade. With the Escalade, you feel like you are driving a piece of equipment, you don’t feel like you’re behind the wheel of just any old car. If you stomp on the gas pedal the same way you do in your old civic, you’ll quickly figure out you’ve got a lot more car to manage.
The Comfort
So just because the Escalade has plenty of legroom, does that mean that it also has all of the other comforts that you’ve become accustomed to? The Escalade has seven airbags to keep you safe, you can connect your phone to bluetooth, and you can enjoy the HD radio as a standard feature. As for more exciting features, the driver will get to enjoy memory settings on their seat adjustments, the pedals themselves are adjustable, and your hands will be gripping a comfortable, leather-wrapped heated steering wheel. The whole family will be kept entertained thanks to the built-in 4G LTE WiFi, and with a standard wireless charger, you can make sure all of the family’s devices are charged even when someone forgets their charging chord.
All of the comfort features mentioned thus far were features that come standard with the base model Escalade. Once you open up the door to optional accessories, you can turn you Escalade into a palace. If you want, you can have TV screens put into the back of the headrests that connect to a DVD player. If you need more seating space, you can change the mid row from two separate seats into one large folding bench seat. Finally, if you’re into adventure, the Escalade has the accessories to get your equipment where it needs to go. Want to bring your bicycle with you? Instead of throwing it in the trunk, you can opt for the hitch carrier that attaches to the outside of the back of the vehicle. Roof racks are also available. If you plan on bringing some equipment with you, do your passengers a favor and get the proper transportation equipment.
The Authority
We’ve all been there. Cruising down the highway, going ten over the limit, when you look in your mirror only seeing a large SUV in the distance approaching quickly. You slam on your breaks and move over into the slow lane. Then the car passes you. “That wasn’t a cop!” you say to yourself as you get back into the fast lane. You have been duped by the Escalade’s authority. For the past decade or so, police and federal law enforcement officers have been ditching sedans and moving into the SUV market. As such, people are being a little more cautious when they see large SUVs in traffic and on the side of the road. People behave when driving near an Escalade.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Escalade has also become synonymous with celebrities, security, and interestingly the mafia (due to Hollywood portrayals). Rappers love to drive Cadillacs in their music videos, and members of the mafia or a gang seem to prefer to drive the Escalade in movies. While you don’t have to be a gangster or a musician to own one, it would be hard not to feel like one once you get behind the wheel. After all, who’s going to mess with you? You’re sitting up high in a 5000-pound beast that will be long gone before any real threats approach. The Cadillac Escalade is clearly a cut above all of the other large SUVs on the market. The Escalade demands more respect simply because, on the street, Cadillac holds more respect than any other model.
Conclusion
If you can afford it, the 2019 Cadillac Escalade is never a bad choice. As long as you have a need for the size, the power, the comfort, or the authority, the Escalade will fit the bill. This isn’t a car that you get just to commute fifteen minutes to work and back. You get a vehicle like this to go great distances with the whole crew loaded up into the back. Whether you want to keep your family safe or to put this vehicle to work, you won’t be disappointed behind the wheel of the 2019 Cadillac Escalade.
