Sport utility vehicles continue to be the Number One seller in the US, with over 3.2 million sales last year. Every manufacturer has thrown their hat into the ever-widening ring, with over one hundred different models of SUV's on offer. Compact SUV's, mid-size SUV's and full-size SUV's. Prices vary from a little more than US$15,000, for a Kia, to over US$60,000 for a Range Rover. Other luxury models, at around the same price, come from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lincoln and Lexus.
Enter Cadillac's SUV for model year 2002, and the fight is on to garner the 'World's Best' award from the automotive press. The exterior design is bold and elegant with a very Cadillac look highlighted with the new front grille, newly redesigned Cadillac crest, big, vertical front lamp clusters, integrated side running boards, roof rack, chrome door handles, large vertical lamps in the rear and a single, 3-inch polished stainless steel exhaust tip.
It's also the world's most powerful SUV, thanks to a 6-litre Vortec V8 engine that pumps out 257kW and a truly massive 517Nm of torque. The power goes through a 4-speed automatic transmission onto viscous coupled AWD. The suspension gives a great ride at speed, nicely takes on turns, keeps out the bumps when riding over poor surfaces and can even be taken off road - but not too far off... The Escalade tips the scales at just over 3 tonnes.
The front suspension is independent with a short/long-arm setup, torsion bars, HD gas shocks and anti-roll bar. The rear features a 5-link design with coil springs, HD shocks and stabilizer bar. You can also option air-ride suspension that features electronically controlled air-shocks. The Escalade even borrows the Cadillac Road Sensing Suspension and StabiliTrak programs from the Cadillac 4-door sedans. Brakes are also very good - discs all-around with 328mm rotors up front, and 320mm rotors in the rear. Each vented disc is clamped by double-piston calipers and the system comes standard with ABS, Dynamic Brake Proportioning, and Brake Force Enhancement.
On the inside it is roomy with seating for up to eight adults in soft and luxurious Connelly leather. Every high-tech feature, luxury item and creature comfort is found inside.
So, can the 2002 Cadillac Escalade now stand tall at the top of the SUV chain? Well, the one shown here sure can!
Enter Special Vehicles Concepts of Newport Beach, California: tuner car par excellence. SVC owner Peter Cameron and his team of designers and engineers have gone the extra mile to make the all new, 2002 Escalade look bolder, be more powerful, and have enhanced handling.
The cast iron block, alloy heads and forged crankshaft of the great 6-litre OHV, SFI, Vortec V8 engine is capable of handling tremendous amounts of HP and torque, so the only mod that SVC carry out to the engine is a reprogramming of the engine management system to synchronize with the need for added amounts of fuel, air and spark. Providing that extra flow is an Eaton Phase II supercharger boosting to 5 psi which is neatly shoehorned into the engine bay. Just below, the factory headers are taken off and replaced by great performing 'The Other Guys' aftermarket headers to more quickly and effectively exit the hot gases through a SVC-designed, less restrictive, dual cat-back exhaust system with big, 3-inch round chrome tips sticking menacingly out under the bumper. Others will know when you are approaching as this system really puts out a cool sounding growl.
Power is now turned up to 373kW (that's 500hp!) at 4800 rpm and torque is a staggering 809Nm at 3800rpm! The extraordinary grunt is channelled through the GM 4L80-E, 4-speed automatic transmissions and cooler. Torque is delivered to each wheel via a GM-designed, viscous-coupled AWD system. The automatic transmission computer software has also been reprogrammed to handle the extra power, torque and higher top speed.
To get the most out of the available power, the suspension system has been tweaked. SVC brings the chassis down to better hug the road by lowering the front 2 inches and the rear 3 inches, with Eibach springs used. To keep the Escalade flat on the turns, SVC has taken out the factory anti-roll bars and replaced them with custom Hellweg anti-sway bars with urethane bushings. The S/L-arm independent front suspension and 5-link rear suspension remain, except that the HD, electronically controlled, air-ride shocks get reprogrammed for a more performance-like ride, but still with great dampening when driving over poorly surfaced roads. That's right, SVC retains Cadillac's Road Sensing Suspension and StabiliTrak system, the latter which borrows many of the Corvette's Active Handling System programs. The excellent Cadillac MagnaSteer system is also not touched - it gives great feedback from the road and has an excellent on-centre feel.
The SVC Escalade safely and quickly slows down with giant, 343mm Brembo rotors clamped down with Brembo 4-piston calipers along with braided stainless steel brake lines. Cadillac's standard ABS, Dynamic Brake Proportioning and Brake Force Enhancement remain. The standard 17-inch tyres/wheels are discarded and replaced by massive, wheel-well stuffing, Toyo 305/50ZR tyres that are wrapped around gorgeous 20 x 10-inch 5-spoke, cast aluminium Moda wheels.
The SVC Escalade 'War Wagon' is the best performing full-size SUV on the tuner market with 0-97 km/h sprints in only 6.2 seconds, down substantially from the factory spec of 8.1 seconds. On the skidpan, the road holding abilities are seen while pulling .89g's. That's phenomenal for such a huge vehicle...
With a 6-piece aero body kit, SVC turns the big boxy factory model up a notch with bolder lines and sleeker looks highlighted with a colour-matched custom Cadillac grille. Since the chassis has been lowered, the running boards are not needed. In their place SVC has designed beautiful lower rocker panels that cleanly follow the bodylines and contours, giving a more road-hugging appearance. The vertical rear tail lamps are replaced with smoked units, the big, side mirrors are painted, and the ONSTAR antenna is now a high-gain type, and mounted on the roof.
The SVC tuned and tricked out Escalade is unmistakable in a crowd of full-size SUV's and exhibits power and handling characteristics simply nothing like driving a full-size, factory SUV.
SVC interior enhancements include custom carpeted floor mats with SVC logo (front, back, cargo), enhanced burl wood dash kit, soundproofing/acoustical enhancements, and titanium window tinting.
No need to mess around with the stereo system, though, as Cadillac already furnishes the finest system available - a Bose Acoustimass stereo system with 250WRMS of power going through eleven strategically located Bose speakers and playing AM-FM stereo, cassette tapes and from an in-dash 6-CD player. Also included from SVC is a Nokia hands-free auto muting cellular phone, 68mm high-resolution monitors mounted in the headrests, a DVD player, PlayStation2 and wireless headphones.
The SVC version of the 2002 Cadillac Escalade is for consumers who cherish owning and driving the highest performing automobiles, who get a rush going fast whenever possible, and finally, those willing to part with the US$39,150 it will cost you after you give to SVC your newly-purchased US$51,000 Cadillac Escalade...
SVC is located on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach-1000 West PCH, Newport Beach, CA 92663.
www.specialvehicles.com
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