Owner Review: 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Luxury
Calgary couple — and their four kids — have plenty of room to roam in all-new, top-flight SUV
Greg Williams Published Mar 19, 2021
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Last updated Apr 29, 2021
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5 minute read Join the conversation
Mike Kwiatkowski and his fiance Haley McLean with their beloved 2021 Cadillac Escalade. Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
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In early February, Mike Kwiatkowski and partner Rachael Tweedy picked up a brand new 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium. The Calgarians are married to the concept of a large SUV, because together, they have a blended family that includes a pair of seven-year-olds, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old – two boys and two girls.
The family takes plenty of road trips, hauling either a holiday trailer, a 22-foot boat or a unit carrying dirt bikes and quads. To ride, the family often heads to the McLean Creek off-highway vehicle area just southwest of Calgary.
“Every other weekend we’re out on the road,” Kwiatkowski says, and adds, “hauling is a priority.”
Prior to the brand-new Cadillac, Kwiatkowski has had two other Escalades, both standard-length versions. One was a 2018, the other a 2015. Before he moved over to GM, Kwiatkowski maintained a 2012 Ford Expedition. He did take a quick look at the Lincoln Navigator before deciding to upgrade to another Cadillac, however.
“The Navigator is a gorgeous vehicle, but the Cadillac took it out, in my opinion,” he says. “Quality in the Navigator is phenomenal, but the Cadillac is something else.”
Redesigned for 2021 and now in its fifth generation, the Escalade is all-new. It’s been altered with a fresh new grille and headlights. Kwiatkowski likes the new style, and says the SUV has been given a more subdued, yet more refined presence.
“It’s not as aggressive looking, it’s toned down, and it looks sleeker with the horizontal headlights,” he explains.
Tweedy’s opinion about the softened exterior is somewhat different. She preferred the boxier lines of the fourth-generation Escalade.
“The new one is more rounded and softer-looking,” she says. “It wouldn’t have been my first choice to make that alteration, I think the older version was a better style.”
Kwiatkowski and Tweedy alternate which vehicle they drive — the other family car is a 2018 Acura MDX — but Tweedy estimates she’s behind the wheel of the Cadillac about 40 per cent of the time.
“I often have all the kids with me, and the new Escalade is much more spacious than the older model. The new one has so much more legroom in the third row, and with four growing kids it’s nice they all have ample room,” Tweedy says.
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium.
GM has dispensed with the traditional solid rear axle and moved to an independent rear suspension system. This created a deeper footwell area for third-row passengers.
“It’s like a swimming pool back there,” Kwiatkowski jokes. “That much more room is a game changer, for sure.”
Plus, their brand-new Escalade is the ESV version – which means it has an overall length of 5,766mm versus the standard Escalade’s 5,382mm.
“With the third-row seats up, there’s room for all of our luggage in the cargo area,” Kwiatkowski says. And he points out, “The second-row seats in the old Escalade didn’t slide, but they do now and that makes a big difference for adjusting them for the best legroom. There’s nothing else out there that comes close to the comfort of this truck.”
One of the biggest changes in the fifth-generation Escalade is the curved organic light emitting diode, or OLED, display. This is a massive 38-inch (on the diagonal) screen that replaces the traditional instrument cluster, and more. It consists of three distinct screens, including a driver information centre, a ‘cluster’ display behind the steering wheel and an infotainment screen.
“It’s a huge digital dash,” Tweedy says, and Kwiatkowski adds, “It’s the most distinctive thing you see when you first get in the vehicle.”
Tweedy says she’s still getting used to the display. “If you’re coming from a traditional vehicle with a regular dash, this is quite large and colourful – it could be distracting if you’re not used to it.”
The screen allows for augmented reality-enabled navigation, where the Escalade’s cameras show a live road view overlaid with directional instructions. An option is GM’s Night Vision, a feature that uses infrared technology to pick up heat signatures of pedestrians or animals, and displays the image on the centre screen.
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium. Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium Photo by Rachael Tweedy
“I think it’s a useless option,” Kwiatkowski says, but Tweedy has a different opinion. “I feel it’s a nice safety feature, as it picks up people or wildlife and it allows me to see where I can’t see. I’m not particularly comfortable driving at night, and living on an acreage outside the city, it’s so dark. Often, people are walking their dog on the shoulder of the road, and if I’m struggling to see in the dark, it’s nice to have that warning they are there.”
Cadillac’s powertrain is a 6.2-litre V8 that makes 420 horsepower mated to a 10-speed transmission. It offers plenty of power for their needs, and it’s a powerplant the couple are familiar with. A 3.0L Duramax turbo-diesel engine is available for the first time in the Escalade, but Kwiatkowski stuck with what he knows best.
It’s over the top in sound quality.
Both were wary of the new ‘joystick’ gearshift control. They say it’s counterintuitive to operate, pushing forward to engage reverse, and pulling back to engage drive. But Tweedy says, “It’s an impressive premium luxury vehicle, and the white glove service we get at Carter Cadillac is very much appreciated.”
In just over a month of ownership, more than 3,000 kilometres have been added to the Escalade. Other favourite features include the 36-speaker AKG premium sound system. “It’s over the top in sound quality,” Kwiatkowski says, and Tweedy enjoys the conversation enhancement feature that allows the family to carry on a conversation without raising their voices to be heard.
Parking aids, such as the rear camera mirror, are employed often by Tweedy as she backs into a space at work. She adds, “The aids would be beneficial in any parking garage – at the airport, any mall or parkade – it’s such a big vehicle, and typically those spots are small.”
Summing up, Tweedy has the final word. She says, “I was hesitant about driving the extended model, but it’s surprisingly agile. It’s a big vehicle, but it’s not cumbersome and there’s enough technology to assist a driver both on the road and in parking situations.”
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