The interior also is unique to this Caddy, though it shares some hidden components with the Denali, it is remarkable to see the incredibly well designed instrument panel with beautiful round instruments having the design and precision of jewelry. The Escalade will be available with a standard third-row seat with a fifty-fifty split back. The steering wheel will have radio controls on it. Also, let's point out the woodgrain finish and the standard premium On Star system. There are driver and passenger side airbags while the Bose sound system is composed of eleven speakers. The rear center console includes two rear headphone jacks while the center seats have 20-degree reclining seat backs. By the way, there even is a small square hole for holding ...a deck of cards!
And now, for serious business, the new Escalade will come standard with a 6.0 liter 345 horsepower V8 hooked to a heavy-duty four-speed overdrive automatic transmission that are combined to a viscous coupling transfer case. All the Escalades will be all-wheel driven with no lever to change gears. (In the U.S.A., there will be a two-wheel drive 5.3 V8 powered version for some specific states) The 6.0 liter will pump out 380 pounds of torque and some 38% will go to the front wheels and 62% to the rear in normal operation. The viscous coupling will adjust torque distribution when the system starts sensing wheel slippage. To complete the picture, Cadillac added Stabilitrak and hydro-boosted four-wheel ABS equipped disk brakes to the Escalade. Front suspension is built with torsion bars and the rear has coils and the whole system is computer controlled.