The Escalade, manufactured by
American luxury car maker
Cadillac, is not so much favored by
yuppies as successful
pimps and
drug dealers (I'm
deadly serious). The monstrous SUV is heaped with
praise and is seen as the greatest
object of desire, or
bling bling, in gangland
rap. Despite its shady following, the Escalade is an impressive, albeit hugely
gas-guzzling,
SUV.
The engine underneath the hood of this huge beast is an enormous 6.0-liter, high output Vortec V8 producing 345 hp at 5200 rpm and 380 ft.lbs torque at 4,000 rpm, with the rear wheel drive's OHV, 5.3-liter V8 pushing out 285 hp and 325 of torque -- the all wheel drive model is able to tow up to a very impressive 7,800 pounds thanks to all this power. Of course, like any Caddy, the Escalade also shows its power on the corners -- a "road sensing", electronically controlled suspension system, all-wheel traction control, and Cadillac's StabiliTrak stability control system allow for a smooth ride. It also includes a fancy DVD navigation system with GPS, and OnStar communications optional. Very swank.
But of course, mileage is not the Escalade's strong suit. The AWD model gets an abominable 12 mpg city with 16 mpg highway, whilst the two wheel drive claims 14 city and 18 highway. Though the fuel tank is supposedly very large, this is awful for any sort of vehicle. New standards are being set by the government, however, so expect the Escalade's fuel economy to get slightly better in coming years.