The Escalade comes equipped with powerful headlights.

The Escalade is blessed with one of the brightest and most enormous set of HID projector beams I've ever encountered, and I covetted them madly and deeply. They could double as floodlights, or interrogate suspects from 100 yards.

Steering on the big truck seemed light - but having driven the platform-sharing Avalanche and concluding its steering to be superb - it could be due to the thin, insubstantial feel of the polished wood wheel. Heated leather grips were a redeeming touch, however, and in my opinion, should be mandatory in all vehicles driven by those subjected to our climate.

The handling is quiet, and extremely comfortable. It's a bit on the soft side sacrificing sportiness for plushness. It's an absolutely unruffled cruiser - ferrying its cosseted occupants in glorious luxury, unperturbed by outside noises, unsightly road imperfections or vibration.

Despite its luxurious trappings, the Escalade is ready and willing to go to work. Sharing the same platform as its Avalanche sibling - complete with towing package the Caddy comes with the same trick, versatile Midgate system.

There is no doubt about the versatility of this truck.

Thanks to this neat feature, the truck can morph from SUV to heavy duty pickup truck when needed. The truck's cargo area can be extended by flipping down the rear seats and dropping a gate in the back wall of the cab. I found it surprisingly easy to accomplish - mostly with one hand.

The resultant space is rugged and heavily lined, easily hosed down, and allows the cargo space to be extended from 54.3 cubic feet, to 101 cubic feet.

The bed can handle a 1,487 lb. payload, and is covered with a three-panel locking vinyl tonneau. Unlike the Avalanche however, the Escalade is only available in AWD (with rear-drive available next summer) and lacks the 4-Hi, 4-Lo of its burlier counterpart. It's capable of slogging its way through the heaviest mud & snow, and if anyone is crazy enough to want to take a $90,000 pickup truck offroad -a locking differential means it's probably up to the task.

StabiliTrak system with rollover mitigation technology helps prevent rollover by selective application of individual brakes.

Those who will take the wheel of this vehicle will not go unnoticed.

So - who buys such a vehicle? There's the obvious predilection of rappers and sports stars who love the prominent shiny bits. Entertainment industry denizens gravitate to its "look-at-me" attitude. Die-hard pickup fans with deep wallets who want luxury with their cargo capacity. When trying to determine the demographic that a vehicle would appeal to - I take note of the attention paid to it. Far and away, the most heads turned were overwhelmingly those of urban youth in hip-hop garb, who probably see it as symbol of extravagance and success.

And then there was the blissful young fellow outside one of our most illustrious student watering holes, who embraced the front end of the truck while we were stopped for a red light.

On the one hand, I felt a bit ridiculous piloting such a blatantly conspicuous example of vehicular excess. But I must admit - it sure felt good driving it.


For more details concerning this vehicle, please refer to the technical specifications and to the standard features list.

If you wish to test-drive or receive a price quotation for this vehicle, you only have to perform a retailer / dealer search in your region.


Photo Credit : Lesley Wimbush