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Will the 2010 Cadillac SRX drive a crossover to profit for GM?
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The 2010 Cadillac SRX has an aggressive stance and visage from the front - plus an air of royalty.
The big car news for this week is Ford posting a profit of $1 billion over the past quarter, which can only make us all wonder how Dodge and GM are doing with our considerable fiscal input.
A lot of the answer depends on the vehicles manufacturers like Cadillac build and how they resonate with the buying public. We can’t help but keep this in mind as we relate our impressions of the 2010 SRX.
The cachet has never really left the Cadillac coat of arms, which actually received a significant boost from the popularity of the CTS. No doubt the company would like a similar reaction to their big crossover dreams.
In the performance part of the equation the SRX scores well with excellent acceleration and cornering for a large vehicle. The standard 3.0-liter direct injection V-6 gets puts lot of oomph into 265 horses. The little engine in the two-ton vehicle climbs like a mountain goat while still getting 17 mpg in town and 23 mpg on the open road.
The huge tires on 20-inch wheels coupled to full time all wheel drive made negotiating the twisting curves of North Turkey Creek Road like riding on rails.
The vehicle proved its winter mastery on a trip to Denver International Airport during our “snow day” Oct. 29. The real time traffic updates were helpful in making a timely passenger pickup, advising us well in advance of slow traffic and blocked lanes.
From the front the SRX has a macho somewhat regal appearance – the kind of vehicle you would expect to protect the Queen had the U.S. ever had one.
The side view is unimpressive, but so far only Infiniti has made the side view of a crossover aesthetically pleasing.
The royal appearance doesn’t quite carry over into the interior save for the ambient lighting, which connects the dash and doors with a slash of soft light at night. Though it features a boatload of technology, as any Cadillac should, the interior’s chrome on black décor leans toward the industrial in spite of the leather seats.
Notable features include a 10-speaker Bose sound system, heated and cooled front seats, and a stunning ultraview sunroof, twin DVD screens on the back of the front seats, rainsense wipers and heated exterior mirrors. The rear seats are not only heated but also recline.
Safety features worth mentioning include a remote starter for those cold mornings, vented disc brakes for sure stops, adaptive Xenon headlamps with washers and one year of OnStar service included.
In conclusion, driving the SRX is a very pleasant experience and it’s well suited to mountain living and the conditions of northern climates. It is a large, roomy vehicle that still gets acceptable mileage.
The bottom line: It comes in both front wheel and all wheel models with your choice of the 3 liter V-6 or a 2.8-liter turbocharged version bumping horsepower up to 300. The base price is $47,540 and the model driven totaled $49,910 with chrome wheels and the rear seat entertainment system.
As with most luxury vehicles, part of what you’re paying for is the Cadillac name. What the country and buying public now have to decide is how much is that name worth?
For more information on the SRX visit Cadillac.com/SRX.
To see what the Crash Test Dummies have to say visit SaferCar.gov. Impact ratings were not available when posted.
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