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Preview: 2010 Cadillac SRX, Detroit Auto Show debutante; info, specs now
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Honey, they shrank the Cadillac SRX! Actually, it’s a brand new vehicle competing in a different market segment. Whether Cadillac anticipated the current flight from larger vehicles to smaller, more efficient models really doesn’t matter. No one else really did either. But the 2010 Cadillac SRX to debut in production form at the North American International (Detroit) Auto Show will abandon its rear drive architecture, V-8 engines and third-row seating.
The new 2010 Cadillac SRX is built around mixture of Theta (Chevy Equinox) and new Epsilon (Buick LaCrosse) transverse-engine front-drive hardware and will also share with the forthcoming Saab 9-4X, but hardly a tarted-up version of anything else.
It will definitely be recognizable as a Cadillac with the same “Art and Design” styling philosophy established by the Evoq concept vehicle and advanced on the Cadillac CTS, with the stacked headlights, distinctive “shield” grille and crisp body countours. A large Cadillac wreath and crest logo on the grille won’t discourage identification either.
Cadillac hopes to ride its quality design renaissance into the mid-size luxury crossover market that has been dominated by the Lexus RX models which have outsold the current Cadillac SRX by a factor of five.Standard equipment for the new SRX will be a 3.0-liter version of the 3.6-liter V-6 used in the CTS but with front wheel drive. All-wheel drive will be optional, as will a higher-output 2.8-liter turbocharged V-6 sourced from GM’s Saab division. Both engines will feature direct injection http://www.examiner.com/x-572-Auto-Review-Examiner~y2008m9d8-How-it-works-Direct-Injection-fuel-economy-and-low-emissions for increased performance. The 3.0-liter will produce 260 horsepower while the 2.8-turbo is rated at 300 and GM claims that direct injection will decrease hydrocarbon emissions by 25 percent. Fuel economy is expected to be in the mid-twenties on the highways.
Combined with the standard-equipment Hydra-Matic 6T70 six-speed transmission that has the ability to maintain a lower rpm at a given constant highway speed, Cadillac estimates the new V-6 engine will return about ten to fifteen percent better fuel economy. A sign of the times, the transmission won’t have a “sport” mode but rather and “eco” mode that alters transmission shift points for better fuel ecomomy.
The optional all-wheel drive functionally resembles the advanced torque-shifting all-wheel drive system of the Acura RDX. Using an advanced electronic limited slip differential (eLSD), the new Cadillac all-wheel drive system can transfer torque between right and left rear wheels as well as front to rear axle. The system can transfer up to 100 percent of torque to the wheel that has more grip, and in cornering or other high-speed maneuvers, eLSD can transfer torque between the rear wheels to balance handling and aid cornering.The suspension system also includes real-time adjustable shock absorbers that work with the all-wheel drive system to smooth the ride on rough pavement without sacrificing control on smoother roads.
The SRX also features a wide track—the wheels are set further apart side-to-side—and along wheelbase for its body size. Eighteen-inch wheels are standard with twenty-inchers optional.
Like the CTS, the SRX will have world-class interior trim and styling with what Cadillac global design director Clay Dean calls “technical precision blends with old-world craftsmanship.” (What, our traditional American craftsmanship doesn’t measure up? Does no one remember Fleetwood? Apparently not).
“Hand-cut-and-sewn coverings on the instrument panel and ambient lighting details convey a finely tailored cabin,” says Dean. Cadillac script logos in the front door sill plates illuminate when the doors are opened.
Like the CTS, the screen for the navigation system rises from the center stack top; three-dimensional imaging is included. Other SRX electronic/power featuers include adaptive headlights that swivel with the front wheels for outstanding night driving, a power liftgate with adjustable height settings, an integrated hard disc drive for audio storage and a dual-screen rear entertainment system.
Standard safety features include front-seat side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, rollover mitigation sensors, a pedal release system (reduces driver broken legs by allowing the pedals to collapse during a crash), trailer stability assist (along with standard stability control) and OnStar. GM says that the SRX was designed to meet European pedestrian protection standards and front bumper height compatible with passenger car bumpers.Final assembly of the 2010 Cadillac SRX will be in a General Motors plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, with production beginning it the second quarter of 2009 and delivery to dealers beginning as shortly thereafter as possible.
Illustraions courtesy Cadillac.
| Body style | five-door, 5-passenger | |
| Layout | front engine, frton-wheel/all-wheel drive | |
| Engine | standard | optional |
| Type | 3.0L DOHC V-6 | 2.8L DOHC turbo V-6 |
| Displacement, cc | 2986 | 2792 |
| Block/cyl. head | alum./alum. | alum./alum. |
| Fuel delivery | direct injection | port injection |
| Compression ratio | 11.7:1 | 9.5:1 |
| Horsepower @ rpm | 260 @ 6950 | 300 @ 5500 |
| Torque, lb. ft @ rpm | 221 @ 5600 | 295 @ 1850 |
| Rec. fuel | reg. unl or E85 | prem. unl. |
| Max engine speed, rpm | 7100 | 6500 |
| Fuel econ. EPA city/hwy mpg | TBD | TBD |
| Transmission | 6T70 Hydra-Matic | AF40 Aisin Warner |
| Ratios/type | 6-sp./auto. | 6-sp./auto. |
| Brakes, type | 4-wheel disc w/ ABS and ESC | |
| Brake disc dia., in., f/r | 13.6 / 12.4 | |
| Wheel size/type, std'opt | 18-in alum./20-in. alum. | |
| Tires, std/opt | 235/65R18 / 235/55R20 | |
| Length, in. | 190.2 | |
| Width, in. | 75.1 | |
| Height, in. | 65.6 | |
| Wheelbase, in. | 110.5 | |
| Trunk/max cargo vol., cu ft | 29.2 / 61.2 | |
| Trailer towing max | 2500 w/o tow pkg / 3500 w/ tow pkg | |
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