Road test: 2015 Cadillac Escalade

Climbing aboard the latest luxurious small country on wheels.

The Cadillac Escalade is essentially the same vehicle as the GMC Yukon Denali and the Chevrolet Tahoe. Courtesy General Motors

Shy and retiring types needn’t ­apply – the Cadillac Escalade really isn’t for you. However, if you’re partial to showboating and don’t mind drawing attention to yourself by driving the biggest people carrier this side of a Winnebago, give it a try. Because luxury cars the size of small countries don’t come much better ­value than this.

I’m fully aware that the Escalade’s Dh302,000 entry fee isn’t exactly loose change for the majority of us, but when you stack it up against some of its purported rivals, you can’t help but feel you’re getting a whole lot of flash for not that much cash. Then again, however, is the Range Rover an Escalade rival? The Caddy’s off-road abilities have yet to be explored, but it’s probably safe to say you won’t see it scaling the slopes of Mount ­Kilimanjaro ­anytime soon or tackling the harshest climes known to mankind. So what could be deemed to be the Escalade’s closest rival?

That would be the top-of-the-range GMC Yukon Denali, then. And here’s the rub: the stupendously large XL (what else could they call it?) Denali is available for Dh282,000 – 20 grand less than the Escalade. But it isn’t a Cadillac, is it? It’s a GMC, and they’re trucks, aren’t they? Well, yes and no, because while the Escalade might have the badge of America’s finest, it’s essentially the same vehicle as the Yukon and the Chevrolet Tahoe. It’s a truck all right, it just happens to be a really posh one.

This badge engineering has served General Motors well over the decades, despite being more overt than the platform-sharing of many of Volkswagen’s brands. Take the same vehicle, engines, gearboxes and all, and modify the nose sections, rear ends and the interiors. Voilà, you have three vehicles to share the development costs that will each appeal to different types of customers on differing budgets. We’ve already driven the new Yukon and Tahoe models (so much improved over their ancestors it’s almost laughable), so there’s no point in going on about how the Escalade goes and rides, because it’s the same as a Yukon Denali. In other words, it’s comfortable in the extreme, refined, quiet and surprisingly composed under hard braking and cornering, thanks to the new magnetic suspension set-up.

What differs is the way it looks outside and in. From the side, you’d be hard-pushed to spot any changes between the Cadillac and its lesser siblings, but the front end is vastly different. Indeed, it’s simply vast. A sea of blingy chrome, slashes, vents and the brand’s signature vertical lighting is at first a shock to the system, but it can grow on you over time and is fully in keeping with the unapologetic character of this most conspicuous resource consumer. Initially, I’m embarrassed to be seen in it, so ostentatious is its appearance.

Out back, however, is where the styling gets a bit left field, because the Escalade has been treated to rear lamps that stretch almost the entire height of the (massive) tailgate. The look is all a bit Volvo estate and seems ill-judged, but, I suppose, it separates it from the Tahoe – there’s no mistaking it for one of those when you’re in front or behind.

Open the doors and electrically operated steps emerge from both the Escalade’s flanks to assist your access and egress, which is nice, but you have to remember they make a bit of a clunk when retracting and, no, the car hasn’t started to disintegrate as soon as you’ve switched on the ignition. Once ensconced in the Escalade’s soft and supple leather seats, it’s entirely obvious you’re inside a car that its makers have thrown everything at, with the possible exception of the kitchen sink. It is, to use the motoring-classifieds vernacular, fully loaded.

This entire page could be filled with nothing but a list of all the gadgetry at your disposal in an Escalade – from the brilliant multimedia system with its concert-hall sound quality and internet connectivity to virtual instrument displays that are customisable, it’s all there. In my time with the Escalade, my only real gripe is that, when playing my music via Bluetooth, the system’s reaction times to my inputs can be somewhat sluggish. That and the silly-looking, clunky column gear shifter, which belies the Escalade’s American truck origins in a way that even the ­Yukon and Tahoe no longer do.

The cabin is expansive, with seating for seven, and the middle row of individual seats looks brilliant, with an almost Learjet vibe. It’s entirely practical, too, with the seats folding flat at the push of a button to reveal a cargo space that could easily double as a warehouse.

The Escalade is recommended if it’s your kind of thing and you think nothing of stumping up the extra cash for that badge and a whole load of chrome. But whichever way you cut it, it’s a huge amount of luxury car for the money.

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