2023 Cadillac XT6

Cadillac has numerous fingers in the luxury-SUV pie since it offers two three-row SUVs. At the top of the pile sits the body-on-frame Escalade, and one rung down is the subject of this review, the Cadillac XT6 - a more car-like mid-size SUV with a monocoque body and transverse engine layout. It's based on the familiar C1XX platform which it shares with the smaller XT5 and with various GM SUVs, such as the GMC Acadia. The Caddy has historically faced an uphill battle against rivals such as the Genesis GV80, Audi Q7, and Volvo XC90, and it hasn't been a podium contender, despite offering plenty of comfort and style. With the starting price of the Cadillac XT6 coming in below $50k, it has value going for it and it undercuts most of its rivals. Cadillac is trying to drum up some support for this year's model with a boost in standard features and a few new paint colors, but will this be enough to register more than a blip on the radar of a class awash with talent?

The Cadillac XT6's MSRP starts at $48,595 for the base Luxury trim and the mid-range Premium Luxury will cost you $54,795, both in FWD format, with AWD adding $2,000 to these prices. The Sport comes only in AWD and has a price tag of $60,095. Keep in mind that the long list of expensive extras and packages can push these prices up significantly. They also don't include any extra-cost paints or the destination fee of $1,395.

If you expect the XT6 to offer class-leading driving dynamics, you're going to be disappointed. Torque steer is noticeable when the front tires scrabble for grip, and the pleasure of steering the beast is diminished by an overly light, lifeless tiller. Adding to the woes are grabby brakes, a sensitive accelerator pedal, and an indecisive transmission that together conspire to make smooth driving difficult. It holds the road reasonably well, and handling is neat and tidy enough, but with plenty of lean and no fun to be had. However, the ride is absorbent and well-controlled, so comfort is a strong point. It's not as quiet as we'd like, with too much road noise intruding. The Sport's adaptive dampers are not an unqualified success, for they sharpen up handling only a little and stiffen up the ride too much in their sporty setting while feeling a little floaty and underdamped at the same time. An Audi Q7 is far more composed and pleasurable to drive by comparison. Even the engines are average at best, with the base engine a bit breathless but decent for daily driving, while even the V6 provides no more than middling performance.

The Cadillac XT6 finishes the race well down the field and is in no danger of threatening the class leaders. It's attractively styled, roomy, well-equipped, and comfortable, but that's more or less where its abilities end. The powertrains can do with additional development and neither of the engines will inspire or excite, exacerbated by a transmission that occasionally scrambles for gears. Inside, where you'll spend most of your time, it's not as special and premium as its market positioning suggest, but at least it doesn't demand a huge price tag, scoring relatively well on value. This mediocre blend of talents is not enough to make it stand out from the crowd though, and the minor changes to this year's XT6 do nothing to change that.

Neither the base Luxury nor flagship Sport do justice to their names and the mid-level FWD Premium Luxury is undoubtedly the one to have, especially since it comes even better equipped this year. For a premium of just over $6k over the Luxury, it adds a host of desirable features, with the big-ticket ones being 20-inch wheels, leather upholstery, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, navigation, and a premium audio system. It adds the kind of luxury you expect from a Cadillac and feels a bit more special inside. You're going to spend nearly $4k to add at least the Technology and Driver Assist packages to get nice features such as a camera-based digital rearview mirror, automatic parking, a surround-view camera, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control, and some other important driver assists, but you still come out on the sunny side of $60k, less than the base Sport without any of these packages fitted.