My five-year-old, bare-bones economy sedan will never quite cut it again. That’s because I’ve just taken an extended test drive with the luxurious 2017 XT5 Crossover all-wheel drive model. While its powerful 3.6L V6 engine made passing other cars utterly effortless, it’s also smart enough to turn off when you’re completely stopped at a red light -- to save fuel. It’s an amazingly smooth and quiet ride that very effectively blocks outside noise.
But it’s the technology inside the car that really blew me away. The hub of it all is Cadillac’s CUE Information and Media Control System, an 8-inch screen on the dashboard. It comes with all of the bells and whistles, including XM Satellite radio, GPS navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bose speakers, etc. But what’s new for me -- although I realize it’s in other new cars now, too -- are the outside cameras. Simple rear-view cameras seem ancient, compared to this system. Not only does the XT5 have a self-cleaning, rear-facing camera for when you’re backing up, it also has a front-facing lens for when you’re pulling into a parking spot. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally bumped license plates with the car ahead or the light pole in front of my own cars, just because it’s a blind spot. This camera removed any guesswork. But even cooler is its “Surround Vision”: To the left of the rear or front camera view on the CUE screen is an overhead view of your car and its surroundings. It’s as if there’s a camera hovering above your car -- an amazing technological feat, really. The car is actually armed with four cameras at various points around its perimeter. So when you’re pulling into a spot, this view pops up on the screen and you can see everything around the car, down to the last detail. If the car next to you is orange, that’s the color it will show up as on your screen. Pulling into a parking lot spot partially blocked with a diamond-shaped cement planter? It’s on your screen. If you look closely, you see your car is really just an icon while the rest of the image appears real. To me, this safety feature is one of the best uses of technology in a car that I’ve seen.
The GPS system is also advanced. First off, everyone who got in the car immediately noticed that when dictating directions to you, the voice uses the word “please” on a regular basis, as in “please turn right in 200 yards.” It’s subtle, but we all loved the politeness. And unlike other GPS units I’ve tried lately, I loved that I could simply speak to this one for directions. It’s a wonderful, hands-free safety feature. Plus it has a dazzling upcoming traffic alert. I was driving I-5 from Orange County to San Diego at the speed limit when a voice interrupted the music to tell me there was a road hazard ahead. Very clever and useful.
The Bluetooth signal is apparently strong. My wife synched it with her phone. The next day, she went walking with a girlfriend. I just happened to drive by them later on -- they were about five houses away -- and the car suddenly synched up with the phone that was now in her pocket. And it held the signal for at least another block.
The XT5 I drove also had OnStar technology, a WiFi hotspot, hands-free rear liftgate, and driver assistance features like lane departure warnings, forward collision alert and front pedestrian detection.
It was seriously difficult to transition back to my car after a few days with the Cadillac. But I now have an entirely new set of expectations when I buy my next vehicle.
