The 2007 Cadillac Escalade AWD, 2006 Land Rover LR3 HSE, and 2007 Mercedes-Benz GL450 vied for the top spot, but just one emerged as the leader in comfort, practicality, and performance.
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[This piece first appeared in the July 2006 edition of MotorTrend under the headline "State of the Heart, State of the Art."] Despite their extensive capabilities, the bulk of premium SUVs sold in the United States spend most of their time facing nothing more challenging than a slick highway or a compact parking spot at a grocery store. Yet, there’s a straightforward reason for this widely recognized reality: Most owners view accelerating the depreciation of these expensive investments by tackling a trail like the Rubicon as about as enjoyable as enduring quadruple bypass surgery without anesthesia.
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Keeping that core reality in mind, we assembled three top-tier contenders that shine in delivering stylish, comfortable, and adaptable transportation for everyday users. Each comes standard with four- or all-wheel drive, seating for seven, and the muscle to enhance the good life while keeping ample capability in reserve for handling the harshest elements of nature.
The well-known entry here is the Land Rover LR3 in its top-tier HSE trim. While it alone boasts genuine 4WD hardware—such as a dual-range transfer case and adjustable Terrain Response suspension—to cater to those who regularly indulge their wilderness instincts, the LR3 is equally at ease navigating the demands of Rodeo Drive. Competing with this icon of modern SUV design are two newcomers for 2007: the Cadillac Escalade and the Mercedes-Benz GL450. In contrast to the LR3, which utilizes Land Rover’s hybrid body-frame construction, the Cadillac is a traditional body-on-frame design built on the new GMT900 truck platform. Meanwhile, the newest member of Mercedes-Benz’s growing sport/utility family is a true unibody offering that shares many design elements with its M-Class and R-Class relatives. For the record, the Mercedes includes standard downhill-speed regulation and hill-start assist features. It also offers an off-road package with a low-range gearset and enhanced ride-height capabilities, an extra not present on this specific model—nor on any Escalade’s options list. One final point: The original plan included an Audi Q7 in this lineup, but scheduling conflicts prevented its participation. Stay tuned.
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All the Luxury, None of the Mud
Picking up right where its predecessor left off, the new Escalade dominates the attention-grabbing contest. Its more sharply styled sheetmetal features an even stronger dose of flash that tends to make the other two, though stylish in their own ways, seem somewhat subdued. The Escalade’s high-profile glitz extends to its cabin as well, where soft materials are plentiful and the blend of aluminum, leather, wood, and wood-like materials creates the kind of appealing first impression that was so noticeably lacking in earlier days when this Wreath-and-Crester was merely a dressed-up Tahoe/Yukon.
The Mercedes and Land Rover adopt more understated strategies for passenger comfort, but each earned significant points from drivers and passengers as the miles accumulated. All three vehicles offer plenty of the right features in terms of power assists and premium amenities, though a few odd quirks appear in the specific feature sets of each. The GL450 shares much with the M-Class in this area as well, including real burled-walnut trim and making leather upholstery an option—one that was notably absent in our otherwise fully loaded test vehicle. Like the Cadillac, it did include extras such as a navigation system and rear-seat DVD player.
Our GL450 also featured the best seats of the group, led by optional multicontour, supportive front buckets that endear themselves by offering a pulsing back massage on demand, even when covered in standard M-B Tex rather than Nappa leather. Angular and nearly lacking brightwork, the LR3’s space-efficient interior nonetheless boasted the finest leather and plenty of thoughtful details in HSE trim, headlined by navigation and premium harman/kardon audio systems, tri-zone air conditioning—a standard feature on the Escalade and an add-on for the GL-Class—plus an optional cooler box in the center console. While the Cadillac also includes Bose sound and a power rear liftgate as standard, Mercedes relegates a top-tier h/k LOGIC7 Surround Sound setup and electric hatch activation to the GL450’s extras list.
As for driver-related drawbacks, the Escalade’s somewhat coarsely indexed and manual-only/tilt-only steering column seemed noticeably out of place in a vehicle that cost $66,110 as tested, and even the welcome availability of power-adjustable pedals couldn’t make up for the ongoing absence of express-up power windows. Driving much in bright sunlight also makes the glare from the Cadillac’s aluminum dash trim bothersome, affecting readability of its clock and optional nav system. And while the Escalade’s buckets look attractive, they proved lacking in lateral support. Beyond the previously noted absence of leather, our $68,075 as-tested GL450 drew the most criticism for its still complicated COMAND system, less user-friendly Navigation package, and undersized side mirrors. Topping the LR3 complaint list are the austere/industrial look of some trim elements and more hard-touch surfaces than anticipated in a vehicle that starts at $56,175.