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2017 Cadillac XT5 cuts weight, adds room over SRX [UPDATE]

UPDATE: This post has been updated with a full set of official photos. Impressions on the interior and exterior have also been added. The attention of Cadillac fans may be focused on the new CT6 sedan, but the most important new vehicle in the New York-based company's quiver might be the all-new XT5. Cadillac officially unveiled the SRX replacement today ahead of its full debut in Los Angeles next week. Short for Crossover Touring 5, the new XT5 drops 278 pounds over the old SRX, while offering an extra 3.2 inches of interior space. The XT5's face balances the best parts of the Escalade and CT6's fascias, with a strong egg-crate grille and prominent LED accent lights. It looks good scaled to a vehicle of this size. The taillights curve up and over the rear haunches, which feed into a strong shoulder line that runs towards the front of the car. It's a solid look, and one we're looking forward to seeing in person. The interior looks very, very nice, with warm leather and wood trimmings. The steering wheel, with its large, central wood accent, looks remarkably good. In fact, it might be one of our favor parts, if only because it's such a bold piece of design. We aren't crazy about the sheer abundance of buttons on the wheel, though. All four spokes are covered, and it just looks kind of cluttered. As is the trend nowadays, the center console features a floating bridge design with plenty of storage space underneath. Our early impression of the leather-wrapped dash is positive, although as is so often the case, we need to get a hands on before rendering a final judgment. There are no major surprises under the hood. Like the current SRX, the XT5 utilizes the same 3.6-liter V6 as the CTS and ATS sedans. Start/stop has been fitted, which should provide a boost in fuel economy although no mileage figures have been published yet. Cadillac will also offer a standard 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder XT5, although for reasons that aren't clear, it's only for the Chinese market. This seems like a misstep in our eyes, considering the XT5 will challenge the likes of the BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes-Benz GLC – all of which offer four-cylinder turbos. With the V6, the XT5 delivers 310 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. While there's more total horsepower than the Lexus, Audi, or BMW, the 3.6 still faces a torque deficiency versus the turbocharged X3 xDrive35i or supercharged Audi V6. The XT5 has a standard eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade's triple curved OLED screens are gorgeous

The centerpiece and crown jewel of the 2021 Cadillac Escalade is the triple OLED screen setup facing the passengers. It’s an imposing cowl with 38 inches of screen real estate in total, and itÂ’s a Cadillac Escalade-exclusive piece of technology. An interesting and unique feature like this has the potential to set Cadillac apart from the stiff competition in the luxury space.  Its appearance is just like that of the Cadillac Escala concept. We donÂ’t often get to see interior concepts carried into production, so thatÂ’s exciting on its own. The layout consists of a 16.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All of the screens are curved and use OLED technology, which is commonly used on the screen of your Android phone, iPhone or TV. It allows for the deepest blacks, best contrast ratios and extremely vivid colors. In short, an OLED screen is going to look better than an LCD screen, and thatÂ’s why Cadillac is using it. We sat down with a few folks who could tell us more about it. Phil Kucera, Cadillac interior design manager, gave us some background on the decision to implement this tri-screen layout. “To be honest with you, it was a high-end leadership decision,” Kucera says. “There was a lot of, 'Hey maybe we donÂ’t put that on the base level. And why do you have to use OLED?' Because OLED is not the cheap way to go. So the fact that it stayed that size and remained OLED Â… I would bet that youÂ’re going to see other people doing something like this. There was a real push to try and get here first.” Sounds like the screen could have ultimately been a victim of cost-cutting measures. WeÂ’re glad it made it into production, because it looks promising. Sameer Gupta, GM's engineer manager responsible for infotainment, walked us through the new digital landscape. If you didnÂ’t like the old Cadillac software from before, youÂ’ll be happy to learn that this system is a completely new user interface, sharing nothing with any software before. Gupta told us that this is “a complete first-of use of this interface.” “When we started doing the system, we envisioned a system that had rich graphics, but was also simple and adaptive,” Gupta told us. After spending some time poking around in an Escalade, we can report that the new menus are full of rich graphics, pleasing animations and snappy transitions.

Next-gen Cadillac Escalade debuting October 7 in NYC

Cadillac will unveil the next Escalade in October, at an event in New York City. It will be the sole member of GM's large SUV family to not get a debut at the Texas State Fair, which we don't think is all that surprising, considering the kind of clientele attracted by the big Caddy.
The new truck, from the few teaser images and spy shots we've seen, has evolved with the rest of the Cadillac range. We've got a glimpse of its tall, thin headlights, which look like an evolution of what's on the current truck. Expect some kind of egg-crate grille, reminiscent of the new CTS and ATS, while Cadillac's CUE system should feature heavily in what we hope is a thoroughly revised cabin.
The event takes place on October 7, so check back then for more info on the all-new Escalade.