2007 Cadillac Escalade, 2wd Suv, 79,000m: Fully Loaded, Xxf on 2040-cars

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Best car infotainment systems: From UConnect to MBUX, these are our favorites

Declaring one infotainment system the best over any other is an inherently subjective matter. You can look at quantitative testing for things like input response time and various screen load times, but ask a room full of people that have tried all car infotainment systems what their favorite is, and you’re likely to get a lot of different responses. For the most part, the various infotainment systems available all share a similar purpose. They aim to help the driver get where they're going with navigation, play their favorite tunes via all sorts of media playback options and allow folks to stay connected with others via phone connectivity. Of course, most go way beyond the basics these days and offer features like streaming services, in-car performance data and much more. Unique features are aplenty when you start diving through menus, but how they go about their most important tasks vary widely. Some of our editors prefer systems that are exclusively touch-based and chock full of boundary-pushing features. Others may prefer a back-to-basics non-touch system that is navigable via a scroll wheel. You can compare it to the phone operating system wars. Just like some prefer Android phones over iPhones, we all have our own opinions for what makes up the best infotainment interface. All that said, our combined experience tells us that a number of infotainment systems are at least better than the rest. WeÂ’ve narrowed it down to five total systems in their own subcategories that stand out to us. Read on below to see our picks, and feel free to make your own arguments in the comments. Best infotainment overall: UConnect 5, various Stellantis products Ram 1500 Uconnect Infotainment System Review If thereÂ’s one infotainment system that all of us agree is excellent, itÂ’s UConnect. It has numerous qualities that make it great, but above all else, UConnect is simple and straightforward to use. Ease of operation is one of the most (if not the single most) vital parts of any infotainment system interface. If youÂ’re expected to be able to tap away on a touchscreen while driving and still pay attention to the road, a complex infotainment system is going to remove your attention from the number one task at hand: driving. UConnect uses a simple interface that puts all of your key functions in a clearly-represented row on the bottom of the screen. Tap any of them, and it instantly pulls up that menu.

Question of the Day: Worst year of the Malaise Era?

The Malaise Era for cars in the United States spanned the 1973 through 1983 model years, and featured such abominations as a Corvette with just 205 horsepower (from the optional engine!) and MGBs with suspensions jacked way up to meet new headlight-height requirements. There were many low points throughout this gloomy period, of course. The horrifyingly low power and fuel-economy numbers for big V8s during the middle years of the Malaise Era make a strong case for 1974 or 1975— the years of Nixon's resignation and the Fall of Saigon, respectively— as the most Malaisey years. But then the GM-pummeling debacles of the Chevy Citation and Cadillac Cimarron could make an early-1980s year the low point. 1979, the year of the ignominious Chrysler bailout? You choose! Related Video:

Cadillac won't replace XTS after 2019

Cadillac wouldn't be Cadillac without a large sedan, but the definition of just which model fits that bill changed last week. Before the New York Auto Show, that role fell to the XTS. After the New York Auto Show, though, the focus shifted to the CT6. So what's to become of the XTS now that the CT6 has emerged? According to the latest intel, it'll live out the rest of its lifecycle until around 2019, but then drive off to its own funeral like so many limousines and hearses that were built off its platform. This was learned based on comments made by Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen at the closed-door unveiling of the CT6 in Manhattan: "Ultimately, a car like XTS when it reaches the end of its lifecycle, will not be replaced." That'll be bad news for the livery business that – in the post-Town Car era – has come to rely on the XTS as the basis for its stretch jobs. "We will not have a car that will lend itself to these kind of modifications and we will probably withdraw from those markets," de Nysschen told GM Inside News. That's not all the new Cadillac boss had to say, though: he also indicated that the replacements for the ATS and CTS will be positioned differently from the current models: "As we move into the future refining our sedan portfolio, there will be no direct successor to the CTS. There will be no direct successor to the ATS. There is no point to renaming those cars because in the future those cars will disappear." Based on Johan's comments and those we've heard until now, we'd expect the replacement for the ATS to move down a size to take on the likes of the Audi A3 and Mercedes CLA, and the CTS' successor to move down half a size class as well to give the new CT6 a bit more breathing room, and possibly an even larger flagship sedan to be positioned above them all. Related Video: