Escalade offers more than ‘bling’

I was hoping that before the 2007 Cadillac Escalade arrived, the rappers would have invented a word to replace “bling.”

Bling is stuck to Cadillac’s SUV like “quirky” once was to Saab. Each term means something, though it’s hard to say what, exactly, and even those meanings tend to get mushy with age.

It may have overstayed its welcome, but bling remains the default descriptor for the Escalade. Despite a makeover that leaves it feeling somewhat more mature, Cadillac’s jumbo SUV still seems to possess qualities the word promises.

The bling-conscious, baggy-pants-and-do-rag crew in my neighborhood basically fell out when they saw me coming. It was a nice, if unexpected, gesture; frankly, the new ‘Slade (as it’s known among the Cristal set), has gone plain-Jane. It’s traded in its body cladding for the taut flanks and crisp lines of Cadillac’s “Art & Science” design motif.

It wears the oversized crosshatch grille, faux fender ports and chrome accents first seen on Cadillac’s 2003 Sixteen concept-car. The look resonated with show-goers and also works in real life: The crisp lines and pronounced angles of the redesigned Escalade may be the best interpretation of the Art & Science conception to date.

Moreover, Cadillac got the Escalade’s proportions right; they de-emphasize its 17-foot, 5,700-pound bulk.

A new technical competence accompanies the cosmetic makeover. The platform, suspension and steering system are all new, and they reflect the platform-development team’s chant, “Lives bigger, drives smaller.”

In fact, the Escalade is probably the best-handling full-size domestic SUV. Fast corners elicit only a reminder of the unruly body lean that once afflicted the jumbo GM SUVs, while railroad beds and other surface undulations no longer send the mass floating skyward. A new coil-spring front suspension, with stiffened suspension mounting points and wider tracks front and rear, do wonders for the Escalade’s stability.

Even shod with optional 22-inch chrome wheels and low-profile tires, the ‘07 Escalade behaves like a grown-up; it smoothes out potholes and shrugs off rutted and broken road surfaces.

A responsive and communicative rack-and-pinion steering system replaces the old recirculating-ball setup, which was neither communicative nor responsive. On-center feel is much improved and bodes well for fatigue-free long-distance driving.

Remarkably, for all its newfound finesse, the Escalade remains a true, body-on-frame truck. The new platform is nearly 50 percent more rigid than the one it replaces, enabling improved suspension tuning and reducing the nasty behaviors once associated with body-on-frame construction.

The Escalade’s standard engine is a 6.2-liter V-8 that turns out 403 horsepower and 417 foot-pounds of torque. It’s matched with a six-speed automatic transmission that easily bests the old four-speed in terms of responsiveness, acceleration and fuel economy. However it imposes a 7,400-pound towing limit; the old tranny could handle 8,100 lbs.

The pushrod engine is the first overhead-valve engine of its size to incorporate variable valve timing, which improves fuel efficiency while broadening the torque band. EPA ratings of 13 city/19 highway won’t impress hybrid drivers, but are respectable for a rig of land-yacht dimensions.

GM’s Active Fuel Management system, which shuts down half the cylinders in low-demand situations, isn’t yet available, but apparently is on its way.

As befits a land yacht, the Escalade offers comfortable seating for up to seven, although the usual third-row boilerplate applies: your grown-up friends won’t be happy back there for long.

The quality of interior materials continues to improve on these big GM trucks. In the Escalade, soft-touch, low-gloss surfaces and fragrant Nuance leather please the senses, panels adjoin along tight, clean seams, and the switchgear works with a nice heft.

Designers relocated the instrument panel down and forward in the dash, improving sight lines and adding to the big cabin’s spacious feeling. The standard audio system is a 5.1 Bose digital surround-sound setup and the optional entertainment system boasts an 8-inch dropdown monitor.

For reasons no doubt budgetary in origin, Cadillac passed on a handful of obvious enhancements. The $57,830 price of entry should fetch an infinitely adjustable power tilt-and-telescoping steering column; the Escalade’s manually operated, tilt-only column offers just three widely spaced indents.

Even value-priced family sedans from Korea now include one-touch power windows, a feature absent on the Escalade, and how hard could it be to install a dead pedal on a rig this size?

The cupholders are pitiably small and the seating system needs attention, the third-row seats are too heavy for easy removal and, when folded, gobble acres of real estate.

The new, second-row power release function is a nice touch, though, as is the power-operated tailgate.

In its few, short years on the planet, the Escalade has achieved iconic cultural status and I suspect it’s in that role for at least as long as the term bling retains its currency. Here’s my plea to the current crop of rappers, though: Isn’t it about time you guys came up with something fresh? After all, Cadillac has.