- 6/20/2025
Comparing the very luxury vehicles used by Detroit-Three car company moguls to shuttle between their primary mansions and their up-north lake places.
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00:00Detroit land yachts ruled the roads in the 50s and 60s, and if you want a modern Luxo barge,
00:08one that can haul the whole family, tow a boat, and cruise to the cabin hands-free,
00:13it's still Detroit's game. To find the best full-size luxury SUV, we gathered a Lincoln Navigator,
00:20a Cadillac Escalade, and a Jeep Grand Wagoneer for a Pure Michigan comparison test. I'm Eric
00:27Tingwall, testing director with Motor Trend, and I'm joined by Frank Marcus, technical director.
00:32And Eric, you are so right. This doesn't get more Pure Michigan than this one. These cars and their
00:37predecessors were all designed and developed in Michigan, and the folks who did that work had
00:42mansions in Oakland County, making that like the number two most affluent county in Michigan,
00:48but they all have places up north which they drive these to, and the most affluent county
00:53in Michigan is Leelanau. So we have come here in these cars. Let's meet the competitors.
01:05The Cadillac Escalade looks as menacing as ever thanks to a mid-cycle refresh that updates the
01:10front end with tall vertical lighting elements. The real draw though is the interior, where designers
01:16lavished attention on the materials of this top, sport platinum model, with striking wood trim,
01:22rich quilted leather, and a lower dash wrapped in textured upholstery. The main infotainment display
01:28stretches 55 inches, and there's a new 11-inch screen sprouting from the center console to handle
01:34climate and seat settings. GM's excellent hands-free SuperCrew system is standard across the lineup,
01:41and sport platinums include a 36-speaker AKG sound system and power opening and closing doors that
01:48elevate the experience. Mechanically, the 2025 Escalade is identical to last year's model. GM's
01:55venerable small-block V8 makes the least power of the trio with 420 horsepower, and it needs 6.2 seconds
02:02to hit 60 miles per hour. But it compensates by making the most noise. The engine is paired with
02:08a 10-speed automatic, an optional four-wheel drive in our test car, which rides on air springs,
02:14magnetic ride control dampers, and the optional $1,800 24-inch wheels. At $125,020 as tested,
02:23the Escalade is the most expensive SUV in the test.
02:30People tend to think Cadillac invented the full-size luxury SUV, but the Lincoln Navigator
02:35blazed the trail in 1998, a year ahead of the Escalade. The OG now enters its fifth generation for
02:422025 with a new exterior design that recycles only the door panels from the last gen, and introduces
02:49a clamshell tailgate. As with the Cadillac, the interior gets the more dramatic makeover. The
02:55Navigator's pillar-to-pillar screen measures 48 inches, making it smaller than the Cadillac's,
03:00but the differences go far beyond size. Where the Escalade's screen stacks right in front of the driver,
03:05Lincoln designers opened up the Navigator's cabin by pushing their screen away from occupants and placing
03:11it at the base of the windshield. The Lincoln Digital Experience, as it's called, is controlled
03:16through an 11.1-inch screen that's placed low enough that it's almost entirely out of your
03:21peripheral vision. Our Black Label test car also includes a 30-way driver seat, 28-way passenger
03:27seat, a 28-speaker Revel audio system, Blue Cruise hands-free driving, and the ability to perfume the
03:34cabin with scents called Mystic Forest, Violet Cashmere, and Ozonic Azure.
03:38While this is a new generation of Navigator, there's nothing in the way of news on the powertrain
03:45and chassis front. The twin-turbo V6 carries over from last year's Navigator with an unchanged 440
03:52horsepower. Working through a 10-speed automatic and 4-wheel drive, it's good for a 5.1-second 0-60 dash.
04:00Adaptive dampers come standard, but air springs aren't even an option, making this the only entrant
04:05with steel coil springs. And while 24-inch wheels are available for almost $3,000, this one rides on
04:13the standard 22-inch wheels. As it sits here, it costs $120,490.
04:23Jeep introduced the Grand Wagoneer for 2022 and hasn't yet given it a mid-cycle refresh,
04:28making this the oldest design in the test. But don't count it out. It enters the comparison as
04:33Motor Trend's top pick in the segment, and with plenty to recommend it.
04:38The Grand Wagoneer is the longest, widest, and with its air springs hiked to their highest setting,
04:43tallest in the test, which pays off in second and third row space. It can also tow up to 9,810 pounds,
04:51half a ton more than the Lincoln, and a full ton more than the Cadillac.
04:56While it lacks the dash-spanning screens of the competition, the Jeep has no shortage of digital
05:02real estate, with four individual displays up front. And Screeniverse buyers will appreciate
05:07that the Jeep has a huge array of traditional off-screen buttons. Feature highlights include
05:1320-way front seats, hands-free active driving assist, a cooler in the front console, and a cabin
05:19camera system for checking in on the kids. Even without a comprehensive refresh, the Wagoneer
05:25does get better for 2025, with a 30-horsepower bump for its twin-turbo inline-six engine.
05:31The smooth and strong powerhouse now makes a whopping 540 horsepower, giving the Jeep a
05:37commanding advantage in straight-line performance. The heaviest vehicle in this comparison test,
05:42at 6,282 pounds, the Jeep sprints to 60 in 4.6 seconds.
05:48Torque is dispatched to all four wheels through an 8-speed automatic, and the body rides on air
05:54springs, electronically adjustable dampers, and 22-inch wheels, which is as large as they come
06:00from the factory. Our Grand Wagoneer Series 3 Obsidian checks in as the most affordable
06:06vehicle in this test, at $119,290.
06:10I'm joined in the Escalade with Alex Stocklosa, Deputy Editor at Motor Trend.
06:19This Escalade to me is the sportiest of the trio, by quite a large margin. It's got that loud V8 rumble,
06:29the steering's the best of the bunch, it's a little bit harsher than the Jeep, but it feels more buttoned
06:36down. I attribute a lot of that to the magnetological dampers. Those things are magic. They use them in
06:43Corvettes for good reason, right? Yeah. What do you think about the handling of this thing?
06:48Yeah, it's definitely more connected than either the Jeep or the Navigator, and while the Navigator
06:54seems kind of on the firmer side like this does, it doesn't have the same payoff. It's kind of jittering,
07:02and there's a lot of head toss, and this still seems capable of comfortably smoothing over bumps in
07:09the middle of the corner. It just hangs in there, you know, a lot better than either the other two SUVs.
07:16Yeah, it's by no means, what I say, is it harsh or does it ride badly, right? It's just a little bit more firm,
07:23and it feels very intentional. So I'm a big fan of the small block V8. Frank, I think, is a little
07:31more skeptical of it. It's obviously down on power. Where do you fall on the small block V8? Is it
07:37appropriate in a $120,000 luxury vehicle? Is it underpowered today? Does it need to go or should it
07:44stay? I was doing a little bit of this jigsaw puzzle in my head earlier, which is that the Jeep feels like it
07:52most deserves a V8, because it matches the vibe of, you know, it's a little more relaxed and
07:59comfortable and wafty. And this sort of deserves a powertrain that's as sharp as the Jeep's,
08:06just for that, given that the rest of the feel is buttoned down, it's reactive and, you know,
08:13sportier. So having that little edge in your throttle response would be better. But the V8 sounds pretty
08:19good. When you say that the Cadillac should have the Jeep's engine, I don't disagree with you from
08:24a performance standpoint, right? That engine is fantastic. By far the best engine in this comparison
08:31test. I do think if Cadillac were to overnight go from naturally aspirated V8 to twin turbo six
08:38cylinder, they're going to hit the same problem that Jeep and Ram and Dodge are hitting right now,
08:44which is the people love their V8s. They've come to expect them. And if you give them something else,
08:51even if it's better, they are extremely skeptical of it. The V8 works. And I know Frank pointed out
08:56that there's this kind of, like we'll do it right now, this exhaust whoosh at wide open throttle,
09:03especially at the upper revs. You're hearing this kind of whistling from behind us. And yeah,
09:10it's, that's a little bit untoward, but the rest of the time, if you're just driving around normally
09:14not foot to the floor and you get on it, you get that V8 sound without that going on. And it's, it's
09:20kind of like a Chris craft sensation, like get the nice little low rumble. It's very pleasant.
09:27I think if Cadillac can learn anything from Lincoln and Jeep in this competition, it's yeah,
09:34maybe you do need to move to that turbocharged engine, whether eight cylinders or six cylinders,
09:41but maybe you need to do it gradually, right? Ford and Lincoln have been doing this for
09:46more than a decade now, making their EcoBoost turbocharged engines a thing, right? And offering
09:52that EcoBoost turbo engine alongside a V8. Yeah. So that customers have some time to pick up on,
10:00Oh wow. This is what's better about these turbo engines, tons of low end torque,
10:05hopefully a little bit better fuel economy. Um, that's, you know, that's kind of the mistake that
10:12Stellantis has made is just replacing them, you know, dynamically, this Cadillac has a lot going for
10:20it. It also has a lot going for it as a stylish, modern luxury vehicle. Love the interior here.
10:30I think the infotainment system isn't perfect, but it's well enough done that I would tolerate it
10:38to live with this design, the materials, the execution's incredible, right? The brushed aluminum
10:45look trim, real wood, kind of heavily covered in a high gloss finish here. It's working. It's working.
10:53It's okay. I would love to see a matte finish there. Really love the wool on the door panels and lower
10:59dash a little bit of piano black here and there used sparingly, which is how it should be used.
11:04If you're going to use it at all. The Cadillac has a just right amount of Corvette in its DNA.
11:09The deep V8 rumble and the wide bandwidth of the magnetic ride dampers make it feel like the sports
11:15sedan of the group. And yet it's equally capable of being a relaxed, comfortable cruiser. It rounds
11:20out the luxury car package with cutting edge tech and a cockpit that justifies the $125,000
11:27price. Put it all together and this Escalade update feels like more than a mid-cycle refresh.
11:37Frank, what do you think about the interior of this Grand Wagoneer?
11:41Well, it is flawless in terms of materials. There's nowhere I can feel, okay, maybe in the bottom of the
11:48side bins here is some plastic, but it's soft touch and wrapped and stitched and sewed pretty much
11:57everywhere. And you can't say that about the Lincoln. And even the Cadillac has a few hard plastic bits.
12:04They're hidden. They're down low. But nevertheless, that is a difference that sets this vehicle apart.
12:11Yes, although the Cadillac distracts the eye and the finger with its brilliance in the stuff that's
12:18up above. I mean, that is the most wow interior. I feel like this one's a little more staid,
12:24a little more old school in its approach, don't you? It feels traditional, a little bit dated,
12:30I'd say, in terms of the layout, the shapes, the just the way things are trimmed out.
12:36It doesn't really look all that modern. Gorgeous. And if you've come up to the Jeep world,
12:41this is the nicest Jeep. There's a Ben, you know, and it feels and looks exactly like what it is,
12:48which is a mainstream brand making a premium vehicle. And there's a difference there, I think,
12:55between a luxury company making a luxury vehicle, right? Which is where they design it from the outset
13:01and the base model up through the top trim, they're all going to be very luxurious. Of course,
13:06this vehicle, there are cheaper variants of it, lower trim levels that don't have the stitching,
13:12the same soft touch materials in all these places. Right. I love the color combinations too,
13:18the high contrast. I just hate all black. And fortunately, I don't think any of these is 100%
13:25black. Yeah. All right, opening it up. This is the high output inline six twin turbo,
13:32three liters, 540 horsepower. That's up from 510 horsepower last year. This engine has been criticized
13:40and kind of, I don't know, saddled with the, that it's responsible for the death of the Hemi V8.
13:48I actually quite like this engine. What do you think about it? You know, it does make more sense
13:53on an efficiency standpoint. An inline six is the inherently smoothest choice of any of these
14:01engines in this competition. And sure enough, it is very smooth. It is quieter to me than the others,
14:08partly because they just chose not to pipe in a bunch of engine noise in the speakers.
14:12Yeah. I, especially in this application, have no complaints about the way this engine sounds.
14:18No. Or runs. It's spectacular. Yeah. It's a luxury vehicle. It should be smooth. It should be torquey
14:24at a, at a low end. And I think, you know, the Hemi, the 5.7 and even the 6.4,
14:32they're getting pretty long in the tooth. Right. And they were always, even compared to other
14:37naturally aspirated V8s, a little bit slower and a little bit thirstier. They never really progressed
14:43the way some of the small blocks from GM progressed. So to me, it was time. And the engine they came up
14:49with is such a vastly better engine that we should be celebrating this. And nobody should be ashamed to
14:55drive a product with this engine. So with the torque bonus that you get with this engine, you don't miss
15:01the two gears that you're down. An eight speed versus a 10 speed, uh, seemed to me to be no problem.
15:07Yeah. And the transmission to me is a really nice balance of never being harsh, but shifting quickly.
15:13And you can feel those shifts. The Lincoln has a, a, a nice way of kind of making shifts disappear,
15:20which is very fitting of its character. Uh, this car, you feel the shifts, you're aware of them.
15:26Um, but they aren't too much. They're not harsh, right? Absolutely. All right. We've got a little
15:34bit of a sweeping corner here. These vehicles are all huge. You don't think of them as cornering
15:41vehicles, things that are meant to be driven all that hard. The Jeep to me is the one that's kind of
15:48most balanced, right? And splits its time between being soft, luxurious, isolating a little bit,
15:57and yet also feeling fairly composed through corners. I did notice when you switch back to auto
16:04on the straightaways, you do feel a little bit more, uh, wafting or, or float, but when you're turning or
16:11breaking it, it, it pins that stuff down pretty well size wise. I mean, this one is the longest and
16:21widest. Yeah. And I like the rear seat entertainment system in this one, the best just because of the
16:27options, right? It gives you Amazon prime and Netflix kind of the obvious default choices that you would
16:35think anybody would have to have. Right. You do not have to bring in a device with an HDMI output
16:43to enjoy the screens, which it seems to do, to use this front passenger screen, for example,
16:49uh, you do kind of need to bring something in. Yeah. That front passenger screen is a little bit
16:55weird to me. It's kind of angled such that it catches outside sunlight and glare. It always feels dim,
17:01no matter how bright you turn it up. Like you said, it doesn't have any built-in streaming,
17:07but you can, the one nice thing I'll say as a parent, you can control the rear screens from that.
17:12So if you're on a family road trip, whoever your passenger is, is in charge of navigation and keeping
17:18the kids entertained. And they can do that without leaning into the back seat or using a remote and
17:23asking the kid what's on the screen now. Right. And it's, it's better at controlling the back
17:28screens than it is at depicting entertainment. Jeep's Grand Wagoneer has all the right moves
17:33for a large luxury SUV. The engine pulls hard, the ride is plush, and the body motions are nicely
17:39controlled. It's held back by the dated interior design and lagging technology that keep it from
17:44feeling as opulent as the Lincoln and the Cadillac. It has the look of a mainstream vehicle dressed up
17:50for a formal affair, which is exactly what it is. Okay. And I'm going to put us in excite mode here
17:56so that we can, I'm going to hang on, excite the brakes as much as possible. All right. So what
18:03were your predispositions coming into this thing about the Navigator, if any? Uh, you know, looking
18:09at it, it's like really the only one of the bunch that's perched up on its wheels. Like it has that
18:14very like concept car-y, like here's a slab of body on top of these big wheels, even though these are
18:23some of the more modestly sized wheels. Yes. They're about 22s. Yes. And you know, it drives like
18:31that. I feel, I feel very high up in this, even though I'm sure dimensionally we're all, they're
18:38all pretty close, you know, in terms of their roof heights and things like that. It's just somehow in
18:42this, it feels the truckiest of the three. A lot of, I mean, I'm holding on here because
18:50a lot of head toss side to side here. Every time we go over every little undulation near the shoulder.
18:56Well, that's the excite mode. We're, uh, we've got ourselves not nailed down a little bit more.
19:02Undoubtedly. I'm very excited right now. Thrilled. I feel like I'm in the minority
19:07cutting this car a bit more slack. I, for one thing, uh, let's, let's talk about the screen,
19:15because that's a, a big differentiator. Cadillac and Lincoln have gone big on the screens
19:22and, uh, the others have not. This one is quite different from the, this is 48 and the Cadillac is
19:3055. I would say they use the 48 better than Cadillac does the 55. What's your take?
19:35Oh yeah. This is a much more efficient use of the space and it, you know, you can look at it and
19:43glean whatever information you've set it to show you, which is great. I don't love that,
19:48you know, all of it's controlled through this lower display. That's a little bit, it feels small,
19:55just maybe relative to this bigger one, but it's also way out of your line of sight. So
20:00as you struggle with getting CarPlay to work here, you're, you're having to go,
20:06you know, take your glance way off the road and futz around with it. It's the way it works though,
20:11is really, really good. I think it's surprisingly easy to jump in and start setting everything up
20:18and using it because of the way they prompt you on the screen and how those little steering wheel
20:23buttons kind of come to life. And I find this to be less intimidating than some. We're not trying
20:30to show a million things. You can pick, you know, three of five options for the screens over there,
20:38or you can turn them off in calm mode. Also, I feel like we have yet to take the opportunity
20:45to investigate rejuvenate mode in this car. Yes, there's a rejuvenate mode that is only when you're
20:54parked and outdoors because the engine has to run. It rolls the seat back and it plays some nice zen
21:00music and it sprays some nice perfume and it does all this stuff. Yeah, I mean, I certainly would need a
21:09little bit of rejuvenation after, say, a fast drive in this car just because of the bumpy factor. The handling
21:16seems fine, like it kind of hangs in there. It's not unruly or anything, but it's definitely on the
21:22firmer end of the group in terms of ride comfort. And then, you know, you're making a lot of little
21:28corrections at the wheel mid-corner. It just seems to move around on its tires more. Yeah. Handling-wise,
21:34especially that last big sweeping right-hander we came through, there was some undulation and some
21:42Yeah, it runs out of compliance. Funny business, yeah. Once it's loaded up, that's it. Like,
21:46you don't get any more. Whereas in the Jeep and the Cadillac, you could be kind of loaded up in a
21:51corner. Right. And it keeps soaking things up, so you're not, you just, it seems more serene
21:58going around the corner in either of those SUVs versus this one. Right. Most people, most users,
22:04are not going to drive these cars like this. Well, and there's no, but that's, that's a key
22:08point though. There's no payoff, right? It's not like, oh, it's a little bit stiffer. There's all
22:13this head toss and the payoff is more athleticism or occasionally more comfort or something. Like,
22:19it doesn't really strike either of those targets. Right. It's just kind of not quite good at being
22:26sporty and pretty, I think everyone's in agreement. It's not that great on the comfort side of things.
22:33It's, you know, it's a little louder in here. The ride is, again, firmer, but in the Cadillac,
22:38the payoff is it handles really well while still exhibiting nice refinement. But this, the way it
22:44goes down the road is not particularly comfortable nor particularly sporty. Not quite where you'd expect
22:51it to be given the price point. Right. The Lincoln's buttery twin turbo V6 and the innovative Lincoln
22:58digital experience are first-class fixings, but the Navigator is let down by its graceless ride.
23:05While it's the newest vehicle here, the chassis feels like it's at least a generation behind the
23:09Cadillac and Jeep. The interior materials and relatively loud cabin also come up short of genuine
23:15six-figure luxury. With 500 miles of highway driving and a tour around Leelanau County's
23:22undulating two lanes behind us, it's time to rank these full-size SUVs. The Lincoln Navigator lands
23:29in third place. We like the idea of an SUV that abandons all sporting pretensions and leans into
23:35isolation and comfort as the ultimate luxury. Lincoln seems to like the idea too, but the Navigator
23:42gets the execution run. As good as the powertrain and interior concept are, they can't smooth over
23:47the Navigator's rough edges. No $120,000 vehicle should feel this discombobulated on a lumpy road,
23:55especially one designed and engineered in Michigan. Jeep's Grand Wagoneer rides into second place on
24:02the strength of its 540 horsepower engine. It's also the most comfortable of this bunch thanks to its
24:09stiff structure and supple suspension. The Macintosh sound system can turn even the most basic pop fan
24:15into an audiophile. As luxurious as the cabin is though, the Grand Wagoneer lacks the sense of occasion
24:21you get in the Navigator and Escalade. And the infotainment and hands-free technology lag behind
24:27the rest of the field. That means the Cadillac Escalade is our winner. From the power doors to the
24:34interior design to Super Cruise, the Escalade exudes more ambition than Eddie Cadillac built in the past
24:4060 years. It isn't the quickest or most comfortable of this group, but as an incredibly well-rounded
24:45vehicle, it is every bit as quick and comfortable as it needs to be. It's effortless in day-to-day
24:52driving and surprisingly fun when driven swiftly. It blends modern technology and timeless luxury with an
24:58impeccable sense of style, and it proves that Michigan still knows how to make world-class luxury.
Recommended
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