Jumat, 10 Oktober 2008

IS GENERAL MOTORS LAMBDA PLATFORM BIG ENOUGH FOR NEXT ESCALADE?

Rumours abound that with the soon-coming stiffening of miles-per-gallon standards in the United States that General Motors is considering arresting the development of larger Cadillacs (or has already) and that the next Cadillac Escalade won't be on a shared platform with the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe.

No, as the rumour goes, the gigantic Escalade could be a cooperative effort on the Lambda platform - the architecture that's spawned the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse. 

Heresy, you say. Can you imagine such a backwards solution? What 'Slade owner would be willing to sacrifice their magnitude and grandeur? 


Truth be told, of the three generations of Escalade produced so far, only the short-lived first-gen suffered in terms of differentiation. The first real Escalade (2001-2006) was a very unique vehicle, and the current Escalade is about as far from the Yukon and Tahoe as an SUV can get without jumping to a new platform. So fears that Cadillac wouldn't be able to produce a sharp, edgy, high-class Escalade ought to be allayed with that realization.

Ignoring the Escalde ESV and EXT for a moment, have a look at the Numbers below. They show the dimensional differences between all-wheel drive derivatives of the regular Cadillac Escalade and the most luxurious Lambda to date, the Buick Enclave. Now, is it such a stretch.... or rather, such a shrink?

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680 - extra pounds on the Cadillac Escalade

0.7 - extra length of the Cadillac Escalade, measured in inches

0 - difference in overall width, measured anyway you like

2.1 - extra height of the Cadillac Escalade, measured in inches

2.9 - extra length between the wheels of the Buick Enclave, measured in inches

0.6 - extra height of the Cadillac Escalade in ground clearance, measured in inches

7.3 - extra cargo volume in the Buick Enclave, measured in cubic feet

18 - extra passenger volume in the Cadillac Escalade, measured in cubic feet

2.5 - extra seconds required by the Buick Enclave to hit 60mph from rest

3 - extra miles each gallon of gasoline will give you in the city in the Buick Enclave

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