2010 Cadillac SRX Review – Not exactly your Grand Daddy's Caddy..

By Holly Roberts

Pros:

• Luxury-car ride
• Very roomy
• Seriously comfortable seats
• Sweet features for both comfort and usability
• Live traffic updates via satellite connection warns you of traffic jams (it was spot on)
• The moving headlights (“Adaptive Forward Lighting”) RULE!!!

Cons:

• Oddball location for the door locks – center of the dashboard.
• Annoying seat heater has to be switched on each time the car is started

Introduction:
Okay, I have to admit: when I think of Cadillac, I think of grandparents.  And great-grandparents. And people (besides Marge Simpson) with blue hair. But when I got into the SRX, it sure didn’t seem like your typical grandparents’ car. It was comfortable, and quiet, for sure. But it was red!  It had neat features, sporty 20 inch wheels, a humongous sunroof, and I could plug my iPod into it and have lots and lots of music! In short: I was considerably more thrilled to drive it once I saw it than when I initially heard I’d get to review it…  And then once I drove it, well…

Fuel Economy:
Advertised: 17 in the city, and 23 highway (19 mpg combined)
Actual:  19.2 mpg

Driving Impressions
The 2010 SRX drove like a true luxury car.  Bumps were smoothed out by the seats and suspension. In fact, it drove so much like a luxury CAR that it was hard to believe that it was a crossover vehicle. While the acceleration from a stop wasn’t great (it never really felt like a huge impediment, however), it did fine at speed. It had a really a nice ride and a very pleasurable driving experience.

The adaptive forward lighting (I call ‘em roving headlamps) was really nice. I have a couple of dark and twisty test roads that I like to use and in some cars… well, it can be a pretty hair-raising experience. The Xenon HID headlamps move with the steering wheel and it really is a nice feature to have. At lower speeds (25 or so), it’s a huge help in less than ideal lighting scenarios.

Build
Not a squeak or thump or rattle anywhere. The car felt heavy (probably because it IS), but extremely solid.

The doors closed solidly. The auto lift-gate was smooth as silk and latched solidly. Moving the seats around, opening and closing compartments, all felt like they’d last a long time without breaking.

Opening and closing windows (and that awesome sunroof!) was smooth and no jerking motions of any kind. Even the navigation system screen sliding up into position and back down into the “hidden” mode was smooth.

I had one really big complaint about the build of the car. Mostly to do with the interior. When the front door was opened, there was a pretty sharp point on the edge of the dashboard. You wouldn’t lose an eye hitting it, but it seemed like it could cause a pretty significant lump or bruise if run into by accident. To me, it really stood out, as every other part of the SRX blended together seamlessly.

Interior Comfort and Ergonomics:
The “Ultra-View” sun-roof.  Oh do I LOVE having tons of sunlight flood the interior of a car. It just makes it feel more open, larger, and more like a convertible (without the requisite open top hair-do and freeze-factor).

I cannot say enough good things about the push-button ignition controls and proximity keys. Nice not having to insert a key into the ignition, unless you really want to, and especially good because you don’t have to dig for keys. The only thing missing was a valet to open and close the door for me.

The advanced navigation system, which features real-time traffic data, was spectacular! I even got to test it out a few times when it warned me of an upcoming traffic jam and it was spot-on. I just didn’t get to run into enough traffic jams to test it out to see if it could navigate me around the blocking conditions. But this was really a great feature.

Other stuff: The cruise control was easy to understand and easy to set.  While I never got a chance to utilize the rear-passenger DVD player, I can see how this would be a great feature for road trips. Just pop a DVD into the deck in the front and let the passengers do the rest. It even came with wireless headphones, so the driver wouldn’t be distracted while the kids (or adults) watched their favorite movie or shows in the back seat.

Initially, I didn’t realize that the center arm rest slides forward/backward. It nearly started off as a “bad”, as I wasn’t able to get a small water bottle into the cup holder.  Then (after way too long), I discovered that the arm pad MOVED and there was plenty of room for my bottle.  Duh.  Genius, just wish I’d figured it out myself, instead of “by accident”.

Everything in the interior area of the SRX felt rich, expensive, comfortable, in the right place and just right.  I really am not a fan of the wood-grain interior stuff, but the Sapele Pommele wood accents were rich, warm, inviting and very lovely.

Performance:
Even with a 3.0L V6 @ 265 hp, the weight of the SRX, which is(close to 4,300 lbs. drags down any  performance the engine might deliver. It seems the engine, with all of its impressive numbers simply lacks torque. Even flooring the accelerator does little but produce noise. With a 0-60 time of 8.2 seconds*, the SRX needs a long runway to get up to speed. Once the SRX is up to speed, the acceleration is zippy and does the job.  But from 0 to 30, or 0 to 40, forget it. You may as well just get used to folks cutting in front of you due to the sluggishness at accelerating up to speed from a dead stop at a traffic light.

* Source: Edmunds Inside Line and egm CarTech

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