Caddy Test drive Event NYC with Pics
09-13-09, 03:19 PM
#1
Caddy Test drive Event NYC with Pics
I had an opportunity to attend yet another driving event. This time it is Caddy.. Sorry for not giving you guys a heads up about this one but I am sure there will be others 
.. This event was well organized. I was able to drive each vehicle in a timely manner with not much of a wait. The food was excellent & was prepared on site by Executive Chef of STK in NYC, Todd Mark Miller
(Pics of him below).
At this event, I had the opportunity to test drive the 2010 Caddy SRX, 2010 Lexus Rx350, 2009 BMW X5 3.0 & 2010 Mercedes Benz GLK.
Quick impressions ( No long, drawn out, picture-less, story telling here
):
The 2010 Mercedes GLK was the first vehicle that I drove. I must say that the GLK is a small vehicle outside & inside. Much smaller than my X3. Rear leg room for those in back is compromised if the driver & front passenger are over 6 feet.. Putting size aside, this vehicle is quite a drive! Acceleration is swift with the 7 speed auto & body roll is minimal. The motor in this vehicle is powerful enough to get it going but it is very course in its operation. Suspension dampening is excellent with the car feeling like one over the bumps. The steering is more firm that bigger brother ML & feels great! This is one fun vehicle to drive. The My test vehicle was a well equipped version with a sticker price of $50k..
The 2010 BMW X5 3.0 was next.. This vehicle drives.. well, like a BMW.. Firm steering with excellent feedback. This vehicle can sure use some more horsepower.. Granted, the 260 hp N52 is no slouch but this vehicle need more power imo.. This engine is better suited for the X3 than it is for the X5. Stuff the N54 TT in there BMW! The X5 is so much fun to drive... The seats are very comfy & sporty. It is great for the back & occupants will have no problem with leg room.. A shocker to those in the market for a mid-size luxury suv is the price of the vehicle.. The X5 3.0 that I tested has a sticker of $63k as equipped. This made it the most expensive of the bunch..
The 2010 Lexus RX 350 was up.. This vehicle has a nice greenhouse effect once inside. Very bright & airy compared to the others. The seats have very good support & feel very comfortable for the back. There is tons of legroom front & rear regardless of the size of the occupants. The interior imo has too much of a plastic feel to it. More wood or aluminum in the dash area aluminum would be ideal. The steering in this car is more firm than the last gen RX along with the suspension tuning. Much more improved! The vehicle does not wobble in turns any longer and feels more involved than the last gen. An all leather steering wheel would be ideal in this vehicle for better grip.. The engine is very course during acceleration & is much like the Mercedes GLK's. You can feel the motor winding up under your seat. It is not as buttery smooth as the last gen. Sticker price of this vehicle is $47k as equipped..
Last but certainly not least, is the Caddy SRX. Caddy did a wonderful job with the styling of this vehicle inside & out. In a word.. BOLD! This is the best looking suv of the bunch imo. This car is filled with technology. I love huge in your face nav screen, bright guage cluster, & Bose DVD entertainment system. The seats in this vehicle is very comfortable of the back with excellent bolstering.. As far as the drive, the engine in this car is the base V6 engine that Caddy offers for this vehicle for now.. A Twin Turbo 300hp V6 will be available for this Caddy in the fall according to the event folks.. This V6 engine is the smoothest & quietest of the bunch.. No joke.. I was very suprised how quiet & smooth this motor is during idle & acceleration.. The steering to amazement is very light & feels just like that last gen 2RX
The feedback is poor and not confidence inspiring.. The suspension tuning is perfect (firm & planted) but just needs the steering to match. I drove a fully loaded model & the sticker was $49k as equipped...
Pics below... Enjoy...
.. This event was well organized. I was able to drive each vehicle in a timely manner with not much of a wait. The food was excellent & was prepared on site by Executive Chef of STK in NYC, Todd Mark Miller (Pics of him below).At this event, I had the opportunity to test drive the 2010 Caddy SRX, 2010 Lexus Rx350, 2009 BMW X5 3.0 & 2010 Mercedes Benz GLK.
Quick impressions ( No long, drawn out, picture-less, story telling here
):The 2010 Mercedes GLK was the first vehicle that I drove. I must say that the GLK is a small vehicle outside & inside. Much smaller than my X3. Rear leg room for those in back is compromised if the driver & front passenger are over 6 feet.. Putting size aside, this vehicle is quite a drive! Acceleration is swift with the 7 speed auto & body roll is minimal. The motor in this vehicle is powerful enough to get it going but it is very course in its operation. Suspension dampening is excellent with the car feeling like one over the bumps. The steering is more firm that bigger brother ML & feels great! This is one fun vehicle to drive. The My test vehicle was a well equipped version with a sticker price of $50k..
The 2010 BMW X5 3.0 was next.. This vehicle drives.. well, like a BMW.. Firm steering with excellent feedback. This vehicle can sure use some more horsepower.. Granted, the 260 hp N52 is no slouch but this vehicle need more power imo.. This engine is better suited for the X3 than it is for the X5. Stuff the N54 TT in there BMW! The X5 is so much fun to drive... The seats are very comfy & sporty. It is great for the back & occupants will have no problem with leg room.. A shocker to those in the market for a mid-size luxury suv is the price of the vehicle.. The X5 3.0 that I tested has a sticker of $63k as equipped. This made it the most expensive of the bunch..
The 2010 Lexus RX 350 was up.. This vehicle has a nice greenhouse effect once inside. Very bright & airy compared to the others. The seats have very good support & feel very comfortable for the back. There is tons of legroom front & rear regardless of the size of the occupants. The interior imo has too much of a plastic feel to it. More wood or aluminum in the dash area aluminum would be ideal. The steering in this car is more firm than the last gen RX along with the suspension tuning. Much more improved! The vehicle does not wobble in turns any longer and feels more involved than the last gen. An all leather steering wheel would be ideal in this vehicle for better grip.. The engine is very course during acceleration & is much like the Mercedes GLK's. You can feel the motor winding up under your seat. It is not as buttery smooth as the last gen. Sticker price of this vehicle is $47k as equipped..
Last but certainly not least, is the Caddy SRX. Caddy did a wonderful job with the styling of this vehicle inside & out. In a word.. BOLD! This is the best looking suv of the bunch imo. This car is filled with technology. I love huge in your face nav screen, bright guage cluster, & Bose DVD entertainment system. The seats in this vehicle is very comfortable of the back with excellent bolstering.. As far as the drive, the engine in this car is the base V6 engine that Caddy offers for this vehicle for now.. A Twin Turbo 300hp V6 will be available for this Caddy in the fall according to the event folks.. This V6 engine is the smoothest & quietest of the bunch.. No joke.. I was very suprised how quiet & smooth this motor is during idle & acceleration.. The steering to amazement is very light & feels just like that last gen 2RX
The feedback is poor and not confidence inspiring.. The suspension tuning is perfect (firm & planted) but just needs the steering to match. I drove a fully loaded model & the sticker was $49k as equipped...
Pics below... Enjoy...
Last edited by DASHOCKER; 09-14-09 at 06:01 AM. Reason: typos for days omg..
09-13-09, 04:26 PM
#4
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09-13-09, 04:35 PM
#6
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Nice effort from Caddy.
Remember though when Saturn dealers stocked a Camry and Accord so that customers could compare it to the Aura? Didn't work out to well. Saturn's nearly dead and Toyota is selling 50,000 or so Camry's a month.
Remember though when Saturn dealers stocked a Camry and Accord so that customers could compare it to the Aura? Didn't work out to well. Saturn's nearly dead and Toyota is selling 50,000 or so Camry's a month.
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09-13-09, 06:22 PM
#8
Thx for the writeup! Very interesting comparison, I still think the RX is the best of the bunch, but the SRX is much improved...I like the interior better than exterior though.
09-13-09, 07:03 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
DASHOCKER, thanks very much for the excellent write-up and pictures.
very interesting on the SUVs.
GLK seems more like an expensive Rav4 competitor
RX is not meant to be a 'fun' vehicle, but besides the look of the front and the weird asymmetric center dash, i think Lexus has done a great job. that nav screen looks a mile away from the driver, did it feel that way?
X5 is nice, but my goodness that price
the SRX looks GREAT outside. inside, i'm wondering why a modern car needs a GIANT gear shift lever - it's not like there needs to be any mechanical connection usually! it just wastes space. and not a fan of the acre of silver plastic in the middle.
anyway, thanks again!
very interesting on the SUVs.
GLK seems more like an expensive Rav4 competitor
RX is not meant to be a 'fun' vehicle, but besides the look of the front and the weird asymmetric center dash, i think Lexus has done a great job. that nav screen looks a mile away from the driver, did it feel that way?
X5 is nice, but my goodness that price
the SRX looks GREAT outside. inside, i'm wondering why a modern car needs a GIANT gear shift lever - it's not like there needs to be any mechanical connection usually! it just wastes space. and not a fan of the acre of silver plastic in the middle.
anyway, thanks again!
09-13-09, 07:16 PM
#12
This is why there needs to be a mechanical connection between the shifter and transmission, brake pedal and the brakes, gas pedal and the throttle body butterfly, steering wheel and the steering rack, ignition key and the ignition switch. Along with proper drivers education of course.
09-13-09, 10:02 PM
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
Good reviews, thanks for sharing...
Thread about the event and how to sign up here..I go in Nov.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ighlight=caddy
Thread about the event and how to sign up here..I go in Nov.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ighlight=caddy
09-13-09, 10:16 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Remember the thread a couple weeks ago when 4 people have died in ES350 crash because the accelerator was stuck by the floor mat, or whatnot? Had the driver put the car into "N" they would all still be alive. That of course if theres a mechanical connection between the shifter and transmission.
This is why there needs to be a mechanical connection between the shifter and transmission, brake pedal and the brakes, gas pedal and the throttle body butterfly, steering wheel and the steering rack, ignition key and the ignition switch. Along with proper drivers education of course.
This is why there needs to be a mechanical connection between the shifter and transmission, brake pedal and the brakes, gas pedal and the throttle body butterfly, steering wheel and the steering rack, ignition key and the ignition switch. Along with proper drivers education of course.