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2012 Cadillac SRX Review
By Marty and Michael Bernstein


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)
2012 Cadillac SRX

DETROIT’S BACK IN THE GAME
WITH A CADDY SUV CROSSOVER

by Marty Bernstein
Senior Editor-at-Large
With Michael Bernstein
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel

The automotive industry is still at a cross road. Sure business is on the rebound but the market is fragmented into a multitude of segments with overlapping characteristics; new pressures, aggressive competitors, enhanced customer expectations, new government regulations all combine with mixed economic signals to produce a difficult marketplace. And for everyone at Cadillac, GM’s luxury division, the stakes have never been higher.

Anticipating these changes is only part of the equation. More significant is targeting a segment that matches your strengths and then delivering a viable vehicle that matches are separate skill sets, but Cadillac has managed to excel in both with its latest sporty SUV Crossover, the SRX, whose slim profile hides a roomy interior with comfortable seating for four adults.

Cadillac is boldly going where no Cadillac has ever gone before. This is not science fiction; it’s a cold hard fact. Detroit’s original luxury brand and former world leader has quickly gained momentum and more importantly market share with each new model introduced.

The SRX, the Escalade of our millennium, is sure to please the harshest of critics, including yours truly. I was never a fan of the big, bigger, biggest mentality, but there are plenty of people who are. There is a real world need for such a vehicle and I am glad that there is because it allowed me to experience another dimension of sight and sound.

The SRX is akin to driving your living room around town. Almost anything you can do at home you can duplicate behind the wheel of this finely tuned motorcar that continues the restoration of Cadillac’s brand image. Living room does not indicate a soft, mushy or floating driving sensation. The SRX is comfortable but has a firmer ride and stiffer handling which is the new benchmark of quality.

The test vehicle had the 255 horsepower V6 which is nice but to me was a bit sluggish. I’d opt for the V8 with 320 horses to power the SRX in any driving situation.

Up front the interior is adorned with two bucket seats that are positioned between the entertainment center, erg the dashboard and center divider. The focal point of the vehicle’s front and the centerpiece of the interior’s design is the 8.5in touch screen display that not only projects crystal clear images of the navigation system’s maps and customized directions, but also rises from the recess of the dashboard. The rear seat independent control of the stereo and TV means there will be no fighting over the remote!

Its functionality and prominence is only further heightened by the angles and varied levels of the dash that converge at this infotainment hub focusing attention to the task at hand. Well, task is the wrong word because there is nothing about the SRX that’s a chore.

On the road or off, the SRX is engineered and more importantly built to handle most situations you will encounter, all while insuring your safety and comfort in a level of style and quality that made Cadillac a quality standard of the world.

Designed to impress, engineered to address and priced to surprise, the Cadillac SRX is in a galaxy far, far away from the competition, when comparing features, options, performance and most importantly, quality. Fortunately, for you its available right around the corner at your local Cadillac Dealer. The MSRP for the test car was $48,785 nicely loaded.