I got a loaner from the dealer when i dropped our 16 platinum esv off for service. Only drove it about 15 miles but was impressed with its acceleration and comfort. Ride quality was really smooth and fit the stereotype. Possibly a tad bit more road noise, but i was in rain conditions after an even heavier rain so i'll leave that judgement out. I wouldn't expect the entry suv to be this good is my initial impression. I found the driver seat to be more comfortable/padded than the esv which is probably from not having seat massaging and what felt like more padding. Center shift lever wasnt the most intuitive and would take some getting used to, but appreciated the paddle shifters as my other car is a maserati quattroporte and use them often. Beats the heck out of a column mounted up/down button on the esv and wish they all had them as its just another button attached to a piece of plastic at this point. I was expecting it to be a dud like my brothers xts but found it pretty peppy. I also didn't realize the center dial did so much. I think once learned it would be handy, but initially a bit much to take on while driving. Could not for the life of me find the gas guage for a good 20 min, feel it was a major design flaw to make it so benign. The review mirror camera is an awesome feature, lane keep assist felt as good if not better than the esv, and overall was super impressed at how far your money goes in this car. Once home took my son out to play "drive" it in the garage and got to sit in all the seats and check out some more. Back seats were really comfortable as was passenger. Im not a fan of smaller vehicles in general but actually called my mom to tell her to drive it as i think its a great value and would buy one without blinking an eye after that short of an experience. Auto stop start is absolutely as annoying on this car is it is on every single car in the universe that employs it. The most useless feature nobody needs/wants.
got an xt4 loaner impressed in my first short drive..
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2019 Premium AWD XT4 (Atlantic Metallic), 2013 XTS (White Diamond)
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17 Posts
I love my XT4 better than my SRX from the minute I test drove one. Finally a comfortable seat! The gas gauge is hard to get used to mainly because it’s so difficult to see so I’m training myself to look at the miles left instead. I’m not crazy about the shifter pattern and don’t know why they had to change it. Mostly, I am so thrilled Cadillac added the button to turn off that annoying auto stop/start! I just have to remember to turn it off at every start up! Other new GM cars don’t even have that feature! Other than that, to parrot the commercial, driving IS joyful again!
So we had about an hr each direction family drive today in it with our 1.5 year old. Im still very impressed... The ride is just smooth, i didn't notice any of the harsher shutters that our previous 2015 yukon had and to a much lesser extent the 16 esv will occasionally feel. Not apples to apples as ones more car vs a truck, but worth noting. The brake pedal feel seemed to be either too much or not enough. Might be the combo of brakes and the tight gearing of the 9 speed- but it either felt like i slammed them or that i had to really put my foot into it to stop. The initial bite was very strong(too much imo) and the overall power seemed to lack as it slowed. We still have a rear facing child seat (in ca the law is until the child reaches the weight limit of the seat) I'm not really sure my boy could make it much further facing backwards. Hes about 25lbs and tall, but i cant imagine another 10lbs and more height working. It was really tight in back. With the captains chairs i can recline the seat back some to give him more leg room and still keep the seat secure. Our child seat wouldn't fit in the middle(the safest spot) so i went behind passenger seat. Cant imagine having two car seats - for car reasons and dad sanity reasons. Adaptive cruise and lane assist worked great. The shortest gap was a tad longer that the same setting in our esv. At times the esv feels too close depending on speed. In the xt4 it never felt too close, in fact i wanted to be a little closer to prevent the unwanted merges. The rearview mirror camera is great at low speeds but gave me some motion sickness at faster speeds so i turned it off. I never get car sick and can be on boats no problem so I was surprised that it bothered me. Not terribly and could probably get used to it. I tried to dim the brightness, but found the lowest setting still to bright. I think if it could dim a few more notches down it would mimic a natural mirror better and be a non issue. Sweet car, beats the socks of the srx. Sport mode is really fun especially when the boost kicks in. I had a quick solo drive i got to test that out in. Its not a quattroporte, but it can handle! Final thoughts: Its a nice blend of "entry" luxury, sportiness, and comfort. I'm not out comparing it to segment equivalents so i can't speak to that. Obviously compared to the esv platinum there's some area's lacking (most importantly a savings of 60k) but surprisingly all the tech is still there, the ride and comfort was there as well. I must've paid a shitload per pound for the filet and you guys got a really good T bone with the best of both worlds. You'll never get much presence out of a small car, but all in all it delivers everywhere i'd want it to if i was in the market for a vehicle this size. Hope this helps give some perspective to anyone thinking about one or current owners as well.
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25 Posts
Had a XT4 for about a couple of hours today for a loaner. The first thing that impressed me was how roomy it felt. Of course, I've sat in one for a few minutes on occasion but I really didn't get the feel for how roomy it was until after I'd had it for awhile while not playing 20 questions with a salesman barking in my ear. I was fortunate to have one with the technology package so it was interesting to have the speed projected ahead on the window. Accelerating from a stop the car seemed hesitant at first, but once moving and the turbo kicking in, seemed to stay in the sweet spot as far as power delivery. Accelerating from any other speed though the car seemed to want to hunt for the right gear to be in and the roar of the engine was a little bit to much for what I would expect of a $50K car, especially a 'lac.
Start-stop....the car had been doing it for awhile before I realized it was engaging. Once I began to notice it it was almost imperceptible when the car started again with only the slightest of shudders. What I found most annoying about it after awhile was that when it engaged at a stop, the AC blowing would get a little warm before the engine would start to bring the blowing air temp back down at an extended stop. In our hot Texas summers, this would get old really quick. There is always that off button in the center of the console.
Braking....Ok there was something weird to me about how the brake pedal felt. Too save weight I believe the system is electrically driven instead of hydraulically driven. Sometimes I felt I was braking too hard resulting in the car nosediving and the anti-locking system kicking in a little and at other times with almost the same amount of force I felt the car was not slowing down fast enough. I just couldn't put my finger on it.....just felt that the car was a little disconnected from the road during braking maneuvers.
I really didn't have a problem with the shifter. I thought I would, upon using it for awhile, muscle memory kicked in almost right away for me. The touch screen is in easy reach from any driving and the information center in the dash was more that adequate, particularly the ability to scroll through the different settings. The car i drove didn't have the enhanced visibility package so I didn't get to play with the rear view camera.
The car I had was a Silver Sport with light wheat interion. 18" wheels. As far as my wife is concerned, she thought that the car really needed the 20" wheels to set itself apart from every other crossover on the road. The other car in consideration for us is the Infiniti QX50. The interior of the QX50 was very nice....I just don't care for or trust CVT or the VC-Turbo engine.
Start-stop....the car had been doing it for awhile before I realized it was engaging. Once I began to notice it it was almost imperceptible when the car started again with only the slightest of shudders. What I found most annoying about it after awhile was that when it engaged at a stop, the AC blowing would get a little warm before the engine would start to bring the blowing air temp back down at an extended stop. In our hot Texas summers, this would get old really quick. There is always that off button in the center of the console.
Braking....Ok there was something weird to me about how the brake pedal felt. Too save weight I believe the system is electrically driven instead of hydraulically driven. Sometimes I felt I was braking too hard resulting in the car nosediving and the anti-locking system kicking in a little and at other times with almost the same amount of force I felt the car was not slowing down fast enough. I just couldn't put my finger on it.....just felt that the car was a little disconnected from the road during braking maneuvers.
I really didn't have a problem with the shifter. I thought I would, upon using it for awhile, muscle memory kicked in almost right away for me. The touch screen is in easy reach from any driving and the information center in the dash was more that adequate, particularly the ability to scroll through the different settings. The car i drove didn't have the enhanced visibility package so I didn't get to play with the rear view camera.
The car I had was a Silver Sport with light wheat interion. 18" wheels. As far as my wife is concerned, she thought that the car really needed the 20" wheels to set itself apart from every other crossover on the road. The other car in consideration for us is the Infiniti QX50. The interior of the QX50 was very nice....I just don't care for or trust CVT or the VC-Turbo engine.
because the ac compressor has to be running with the engine in order to work- I don't care how much money you spend on a car even when it's idling vs driving you can feel a difference in the a/c temp. These systems need airflow to work properly
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