View Full Version : First experiences


Stace
03-21-04, 08:04 PM
I took delivery of my new Escalade EXT on Mar 19th. We took a short trip (120 miles). I was curious about the performance and gas milage for the power train. There a rumors that the engine will do nearly 20 mpg in normal highway driving practices.

I drove the truck for about 20 minutes to get it warm (showing 15 mpg) then headed for the highway. I reset the average milage as soon as I entered the highway. I drove about 60 miles at freeway speeds (75 mph) then returned home on one of the state roads that is very scenic this time of year. When we turned off the highway I was showing 21+ mpg.

The return trip was considerably slower because of the winding, hilly road. When I parked in the driveway the milage read 19.7 mpg.

While it won't stay with the Seville, the performance is certainly very respectful. Acceleration above 60 mph was very good and from a standing start is excellent.

As a comparison, the 2002 Avalanche (5.3 liter engine) I replaced never did better than 18 mpg and normally averaged about 17.

Not to shabby for a truck with only 140 miles on it when we started. Needless to say, I'm well pleased with the truck. Moreover, my lease payments are very close to what I was paying for the Avalanche (would have been a lot less if it were equipped the same).

Playdrv4me
03-22-04, 02:53 AM
I took delivery of my new Escalade EXT on Mar 19th. We took a short trip (120 miles). I was curious about the performance and gas milage for the power train. There a rumors that the engine will do nearly 20 mpg in normal highway driving practices.

I drove the truck for about 20 minutes to get it warm (showing 15 mpg) then headed for the highway. I reset the average milage as soon as I entered the highway. I drove about 60 miles at freeway speeds (75 mph) then returned home on one of the state roads that is very scenic this time of year. When we turned off the highway I was showing 21+ mpg.

The return trip was considerably slower because of the winding, hilly road. When I parked in the driveway the milage read 19.7 mpg.

While it won't stay with the Seville, the performance is certainly very respectful. Acceleration above 60 mph was very good and from a standing start is excellent.

As a comparison, the 2002 Avalanche (5.3 liter engine) I replaced never did better than 18 mpg and normally averaged about 17.

Not to shabby for a truck with only 140 miles on it when we started. Needless to say, I'm well pleased with the truck. Moreover, my lease payments are very close to what I was paying for the Avalanche (would have been a lot less if it were equipped the same).

Somehow because of the way I drive, I never get great gas mileage in my cars, but the mileage youre getting is close to my I6 BMW. I averaged 22.6MPG HWY on a trip from Kansas to San Antonio and I thought that wasnt half bad. Glad youre happywith the truck

hcvone
03-22-04, 02:28 PM
My Escalade gets 12 mpg around town and 16-18 on the highway (depending on speed, if I keep it under 70 mph I get around 18 mpg, at 80-85 mph I get 16 mpg.

Stace
03-22-04, 11:54 PM
I'll be the first to admit that 100+ miles is not a good milage check so we'll see on the first long trip. My wife is planning a 4,000 mile trip this summer to the Seattle area and back. The Escalade should be well broken in by then. She has a pretty heavy foot and pushes the speed limit pretty hard so the milage should be pretty accurate for our driving style.

Our other two Cadillacs do very respectable on milage; the Allante consistently averages between 24 and 27 mpg over 1000+ mile trips and the Seville runs 24 to 26 under similar conditions. My driving style is pretty aggressive; I like to feel a kick in the pants when accelerating and I love the sound of the northstar when it is accelerating hard and I will push the speed limit as hard as I can. I suspect a more conservative driver would add 2 to 4 mpg easily.

hcvone
03-23-04, 06:31 AM
My 575 hp Z06 got over 30 mpg on the highway due to the 2 overdrives that the Corvette has, and it got over 15 mpg around town, of course the Z06 was 3000 lb lighter than the Escalade too.