In a crossover crazy world Cadillac certainly hasn’t given shoppers many reasons to visit one of their showrooms. But perhaps it was worth the wait. This is the first ever XT4.
From subcompact to gargantuan, automakers’ SUV lineups are growing in every direction. But until now, Cadillac’s offerings have started at the midsize XT5 and jumped from there right to the big boy Escalade. So in comes the XT4, compact-sized and priced from $35,790; about $7 grand less than its bigger brother. By my count this Caddy has 8 direct competitors and each and every one of them follows a similar formula; a starting price in the mid-$30s, a standard 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine and the choice of either front- or all-wheel drive.
The XT4 also debuts Cadillac’s new trim strategy. The base model is known as the Luxury trim. From there, there’s the Premium Luxury and Sport models – each with identical pricing but distinctive appearances. While this Sport features gloss black exterior accents, alloy pedals, and a sport steering wheel, the Premium Luxury goes with bright metallic accents. More importantly, this Sport offers the Active Sport Suspension as an option.
It’s only available with the upsized 20” wheels thus adding $2,300 to the price. This setup continuously makes adjustments to the XT4’s ride and handling attributes based upon road conditions and driver input to widen the dynamic range from soft and isolated to greater body control. It delivers as promised, with a sophisticatedly supple ride quality that can also adjust to your sport mode aspirations.
The XT4 has no qualms about taking on your favorite driving road. Utilizing Buick’s twin-clutch all-wheel drive system, sourced from driveline supplier GKN, it offers better performance during acceleration and cornering by splitting torque between the rear wheels. That is when it’s toggled on.
By TestDriveNow Auto Critic Steve Hammes for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Nov. 26, 2018
