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| 2019 Cadillac Escalade, via allcarseveryday |
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| 2019 Lincoln Navigator, via allcarseveryday |
The Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade have been huge rivals since their conception, even though the Cadillac always seems to come out on top in terms of vehicle quality and sales. In fact, in previous years, there was barely any contest, as the Cadillac was redesigned in 2015 and the Lincoln had only received minor updates over the years and was still based on the aging Expedition. 2019 is different though, as the Lincoln was freshly updated in 2018, so it is time to compare the two to see if Lincoln has finally made a better luxo-barge. With that being said, let me give you a little information on how I do my comparisons. First, I use a numerical points value system to evaluate each vehicle on a scale from one to ten Now, let’s start with our first category that I will be evaluating, which is value.
The 2019 Escalade Luxury starts at $80,295. All 2019 Escalades come with key-less access, a hands-free lift-gate, full LED headlights and tail-lamps, heated and power folding mirrors, and 20-inch aluminum wheels, along with rain-sensing wipers. On the interior, it has an 8-inch infotainment system housing Cadillac Use Experience, or CUE for short. The screen is also the display for the navigation system. The audio system is a 16-speaker Bose unit with surround sound. The gauge cluster is a 12-inch color screen that is reconfigurable, and the vehicle is push-button start. Additionally, the steering wheel is heated and leather-wrapped. All seats in the 2-row Escalade we are comparing are leather, and all come heated. The front two captain’s chairs are also cooled, though. It also has a tri-zone climate control system, with the driver and front passengers having separate climate controls as well as the rear passengers. The Cadillac also comes with GM’s OnStar system, 4G LTE WiFi connection, park assist, and a novel gimmick called surround vision. It’s a glorified back-up camera that gives the driver a bird’s eye view of where the vehicle is in space using a variety of sensors, to aid with parking. I have added the Luxury package to the 2019 Escalade, which comes with upgraded 22-inch wheels, a heavy-duty theft-deterrent package loaded with sensors, and a camera feed where the rear-view mirror is. Other big options include a power sunroof, and second row captain’s chairs. The Luxury package also adds a head-up display, which is essentially a pop-up hologram in the lower portion of the windshield that displays key information to the driver so he or she doesn’t have to keep looking further down toward the dashboard. The Escalade also gets a ton of adaptive safety features: the seat will vibrate if you are drifting out of your lane, and the SUV also has rear cross traffic alert, lane keep assist, forward collision alert with automatic braking, and a smart high beam on/off feature. Let’s move on to the Lincoln, which starts at $81,705 with the Reserve package. It has rain-sensing wipers, a blind-spot information system, a leather and wood trimmed steering wheel, a 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, remote start, and the same tri-zone climate control system seen in the Caddy. In the dash is a bigger 10-inch color display that houses SYNC 3, Lincoln’s in-house infotainment system. Additionally, the new Navigator comes with Apple Car Play and Android Auto capability, something the Cadillac is still lacking. The audio system is a 14-speaker Revel unit, and Sirius XM comes free for 6 months, a 3-month upgrade over the Cadillac. The Navigator comes with standard voice-activated navigation, with a pre-paid 6-year Sirius XM traffic subscription. The driver looks at a 12-inch reconfigurable instrument cluster behind the steering wheel, like the Escalade. The rear view and driver side mirrors are auto-dimming, and push-button start comes standard. With the Reserve package, Lincoln matches Cadillac’s bird’s eye camera, heated steering wheel, and power sunroof. The front seats are heated, and the driver’s chair can adjust 24 different ways. Lacking on the Lincoln are heated rear seats and cooled fronts, but it does match the Cadillac’s 22-inch rims. Next, let’s move on to safety. The NHTSA gives the Cadillac a 4-star overall rating, with the frontal test rating receiving a 4, the side-impact receiving a 5 and the rollover receiving a 3. The Lincoln received a 5-star overall rating, with 5-star ratings in all 5 categories save rollover, where it got a 4. As mentioned, the Cadillac has far more active safety features, but the passive safety features on both vehicles are similar. Next, let’s evaluate each truck’s powertrain. The Cadillac comes with a smooth 6.2-liter V8, mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The set-up is good for 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. The suspension setup is coil-overs and GM’s fantastic magnetic shocks. One thing to note is that the Escalade remains rear wheel drive; all wheel drive is an option. The Lincoln does things a little differently, instead opting to use 4-wheel drive, and a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6, good for 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. The Lincoln also uses a 10-speed automatic, and an adaptive suspension. Though the Lincoln’s engine is more modern, the Cadillac has a venerable and arguably better powertrain. Of course, Lincoln is downsizing in the hopes of winning the fuel economy battle, so let’s see if the turbos actually do what they were intended to. The Cadillac’s V8 manages 14 miles per gallon in the city and 23 on the highway for a combined 18 miles per gallon, whereas the Navigator’s V6 achieves 16 in the city and 21 on the highway, for a combined 19 mpg. A bigger engine working not as hard typically gets as good or better fuel economy than a smaller engine working harder, and it shows in the highway rating. It’s up for debate as to whether the V8 or the V6 was the better choice for fuel economy. Typically, people buying these SUVs won’t make their purchase choice based on gas mileage, but both Ford and GM have to raise their Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings, so the Escalade and Navigator aren’t immune. After fuel economy, let’s see which set-up is faster. The Escalade sprints to 60 in 5.8 seconds and takes down the quarter mile in 14.8 seconds at 93 miles per hour, where the Navigator only takes 5.5 seconds to 60 and 14.5 at 95 in the quarter mile. Looks like the turbos put in work at low speed—but let’s see if they can hang with the big-boy V8 in towing. The Navigator with four-wheel-drive can tow a maximum of 8,300 pounds, and the Cadillac can haul an identical amount. No variation here! Next let’s move on to our most controversial category, which is styling. Of course, this is subjective, but it’s still an extremely important part of testing the trucks. Personally, I like the exterior on the Cadillac the best, with it’s bejeweled LED headlights and long taillamps. However, the Lincoln is no slouch in this category, as it too is a looker on the outside, and I prefer the interior of the Lincoln to the Cadillac’s. Sure, the giant screen in the center of the dash sticks up like a sore thumb, but the interior exudes luxury and a modern-ness not found in the Caddy. I also prefer the Lincoln’s shifter placement, in the form of buttons instead of the steering wheel stalk. Finally, let’s look at reliability. According to Consumer Reports, the Escalade’s predicted reliability is much worse than average, which looks even worse compared to the Lincoln’s rating of average. Apparently, neither luxury vehicle is very dependable. Well, that about wraps it up for the 2019 luxury SUV comparison! I hope you enjoyed the article. Below are the ratings for each vehicle. The Lincoln finally took the throne, it looks like.
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| Scores for each category. |
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