LOWS: Ancient big-increment tilt column, glare from white-furniture interior, skimpy people space.
EZ WAY DRIVING TEST SOUTH HAVEN TV
HIGHS: Live TV feed from the blind behind, broad center armrest between the front buckets, brawny torque curve. As a rough tape-measure indication, the floors of the unit-body Audi and Benz were about 19 inches above the pavement and the frame trucks were up 22 or 23 inches.ĭespite its largest-of-the-group exterior, the Gator surpassed all others in only one space measurement: It holds the largest hunk of plywood flat on its floor, although the Infiniti holds a piece nearly as big. As a rule, truck-style body-on-frame construction gives a higher eye point, and a higher step-up to enter. If it's a view over the roofs of other traffic that you seek, this Lincoln is a winner. The air-rush sound over the Gator's greenhouse seemed louder than the others, too, even though our sound-level meter didn't back up this perception. Dolling it up with low-profile 275/55R-20 Pirellis may earn style points in the inner city, but we found the dubs to be exceptionally noisy on interstates, where they sang loudly over road textures that the Infiniti and Benz ignored. We promise to look past that.ĭespite a reputation as the smooth and silent type, the Gator disappointed us on several fronts. With its flashy swagger and 403-hp V-8, this new Escalade is already something of a celebrity. The Cadillac Escalade, new this spring, is the first wave of new SUVs and pickups to be based on the GMT900 body-on-frame platform. Those two approaches meet head-on in this comparison. But pickups don't exist as mainstream vehicles in Europe, so European SUVs start from scratch as unit-construction vehicles. The first Ford Explorer, and most of its subsequent competitors, were four-door passenger vehicles adapted from pickup frames and bodies. The SUV as a popular family hauler is an American invention, based on our indigenous pickup truck. Yes, this is a comparison test, one of many we do each year, yet the question to be answered is much larger than the usual "Which is best?" This is America versus Europe-Detroit's newest and most expensive sport-utes face off against the latest choices from Germany for these same customers.
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