First Drive: 2010 Cadillac SRX
07/09/2009, 12:35 PMBy Chris Doane
Cadillac’s new SRX must be giving people in Detroit neck pains. Spend a few days behind the wheel of General Motors’ latest luxury crossover and you’ll see the same neck-snapping reaction from other drivers intent on getting a look at the stylish new Caddy.
Initially, they are drawn to the SRX’s wedge-like, aggressive styling. Then they notice the large Cadillac wreath and crest logo on the grill. That’s when heads tilt to one side and confusion sets in as they realize this is not a Cadillac they’ve ever seen before.
Their slanted gaze continues to follow the SRX as they make their way through the intersection and facial expressions suggest they’re impressed. Right up until the moment that the gawkers run into the back of the car in front of them.
(Fine, that last part didn’t happen, but the rest did.)
Even GM’s mid-morning presentation to us media folk in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, brought out several interested eavesdroppers as the General’s engineers explained the SRX’s new features. Had there been order forms available, the first 10 units would’ve certainly been spoken for.
Gunning for Lexus
Listen to GM execs talk about the new SRX for 10 minutes and it becomes clear whose party they want to crash: The Lexus RX – and With good reason. Through June, Lexus almost 40,000 copies of its mid-size luxury ‘ute, an impressive figure for a down market and definitely a cookie jar GM wants its hand in.
When compared to the old SRX, the entire 2010 model could be considered a breakthrough. This all new, second-generation SRX swaps the tall station wagon look of the first generation for a mid-size SUV bodystyle. The SRX is the first vehicle to hit the road rolling on GM’s new front-wheel-drive based (all-wheel-drive optional) Theta Premium chassis, which will also eventually underpin the Saab 9-4x.
High-tech
Under its hood, GM’s all-new 3.0-liter, direct injected V6 makes its debut under the SRX’s hood. It boasts 265 horsepower and is capable of 25 mpg (with front-wheel-drive.) It’s the only motor that will be available when the car goes on sale shortly, but if you can manage to wait just a few months, a 2.8-liter, turbo-charged V6 with 300 horses will be available. This is the same motor we’ve enjoyed in the Saab 9-3 Aero.
Another piece of kit we know from Saab, the Haldex all-wheel-drive system, has also found its way into the SRX. Given how well this system performed in the Turbo X, we’ve got no problem with the SRX’s partial Swedish heritage, especially since the platform will spawn the 9-4x later this year as the soon-to-be Koenigsegg-owned Saab enters a GM-based product renaissance.
The other trick system in the new SRX is the “FE3” adaptive suspension system. If you’re thinking this is the magnetic suspension system found in the Cadillac CTSv, think again. The system in the SRX, made by ZF Sachs AG, is a continuously variable damping system. What that means is that the car is constantly monitoring the road conditions and continually adjusts the resistance and speed of travel in the suspension system by varying the flow of oil in through the shock absorber tubes. One minute the dampers on the SRX will absorb a Rhode Island-sized pothole, the next minute those same dampers are firmed up through a hard right-hander at 50mph.
The Rx to kill an RX
If GM wants to pick a fight with the Lexus, their timing is perfect: Both models are brand new, but in our opinion, the Caddy soundly destroys the Lexus in styling. .
Unlike the RX, which looks uncomfortable in its own skin with its awkward stance, the SRX is aggressive and sporty.
The Caddy is adorned with all kinds of angular lines and hard-edged sculpting. If SUVs can be sexy, this is it.
The SRX even has a modern day interpretation of the tailfins Cadillac was known for in the 1950s. Inside these “tailfin” taillights, a thin light tube runs top to bottom, illuminated by one LED that makes for a sleek running light as dusk approaches. A similar light tube runs through the headlight cluster. While both are very cool to look at near sunset, it would be nice if they were as bright as Audi’s LED daytime running lights.
Familiar inside
Not to sound like a broken record, but when you look at the interiors of the SRX and the RX, one has a pleasing design and one doesn’t. The Lexus has one of the more bizarre center stacks we’ve seen, with rounded-off triangle shaped panel atop the console. It also has a dash with a few odd lines, the result of the integrated navigation screen. A ho-hum gauge cluster tops things off.
On the Cadillac side, the interior looks familiar. That’s because several parts of the interior borrow heavily from the Cadillac CTS sedan. A very appealing, modern center stack is outlined in aluminum-like trim with lots of angles and large air vents. Above that, you find the pop-up navigation screen from the CTS. While that navigation system is very easy to use with the touch screen, we find it more than a little funny that the system asks you to “please obey all traffic regulations” once your destination is entered. How about 5 mph over?
Moving to the gauge cluster, you find our favorite element, the LCD Driver Info Center. A round, full color, crystal clear LCD screen inside the speedometer shows you fuel economy, fuel range, tire pressure, oil life and speed in addition to other bits of information. It also indicates the speed limit of the road you’re currently driving on, a handy feature for when you spot an officer of the law ahead and there isn’t a speed limit sign in sight to tell if you’re in offender territory.
Almost everything you touch on the dash, console and door panels is soft and you’ll also find elegant stitching across the dash. While the seat bottoms are comfortable, the seat backs are a touch on the firm side, in our opinion. Fit and finish on the inside was largely impressive on our pilot production vehicle, though the quality of the leather wasn’t impressive; GM could have spent a few more bucks here.
We also have a gripe with the location of the door lock buttons on the center stack, which should have remained on the doors – and you won’t want to put anything in the storage compartments between the front seats or in the glovebox. The super-cheap, black fuzzy fabric that lines these compartments sheds worse that a four-legged Persian.
Power-everything is the order of the day, with power-folding mirrors, height-programmable tailgate, pedals, sunroof shade and the massive UltraView sunroof itself. Only the steering wheel misses out on power adjustment. A back-up camera as well as front and rear sensors will make sure you don’t trade paint in the parking lot.
Let’s roll
Combine the Haldex All-wheel-drive with the “FE3” suspension and the SRX starts to handle and feel a little like, dare we say, an Audi. Normally when you point the average crossover vehicle into a corner at brisk speed, you can expect a nice dose of body roll and less-than-stellar road gripping ability.
In “sport” mode, the SRX defies all that. Body roll and pitch is kept to a minimum and lateral grip is there long after we’d expect to be in the ditch. The AWD does an exceptional job of rotating the rear end of the car through the corner.
GM’s new 3.0-liter will give you almost all the power you want, but we felt like it was a little slow getting back on the go at the exit of corners. GM says the final engine tune was still being worked on when our press preview car was built and while that may alleviate some of the problem, you could always opt for the 2.8-liter V6 turbocharged motor with 35 more horsepower. Our hand-timed 0-60 runs with the 3.0-liter netted a roughly 9 second result. On the opposite side of the spectrum, highway cruising produced a 22.5mpg average.
The six-speed Hydramatic transmission clicked off fairly smooth shifts most of the time, however during sport driving, some of the downshifts were a bit on the rough side. In general, we also felt like the pause between gears was a bit too long at times.
Brakes were very strong and the car tracked straight ahead during repeated, hard stops.
The SRX is a very polite vehicle – nearly whispering quiet. Road and wind noise have been reigned in quite well as the result of triple door seals and lots of sound insulation inside the engine compartment. The ride is very smooth, absorbing most bumps and cracks with almost no trauma.
A smooth, luxury ride is very hard to get if you want great handling too. With the SRX, you get both thanks to the “FE3” suspension. Now we just need a better name for that option, and maybe one for the SRX, which sounds rather like RX.
Leftlane’s bottom line
GM finally has a luxury crossover vehicle that not only competes with the Lexus RX, but very well may beat it. Did we mention it’s more than $2,500 less than the Lexus and offers more features?
Best in class styling and great handling characteristics are what the SRX offers and what GM needs to win over the general public.
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