Dash design looks dated - Infiniti has had this waterfall design a decade ago, now Hyundai etc have it also.

Materials seem good.

Seats look interesting.

 

The dash design is indeed dated. The vertical waterfall look has been out for a long time and been seen on all recent Cadillacs. Having said that, it's still pleasing and elegant (I like it). But it's not treading any new ground, which bodes poorly for the vehicle's longterm freshness. One can look at Lexus, Audi, and BMW for where the latest dash styling trends are headed (horizontal, not vertical). In a few years, everyone is going to have Lexus dashes and the Caddy could be left in the dust until the next gen arrives.
Agreed, the column shifter brings things down.
Also interesting to note how much richer this interior appears with the wood on upper-facing surfaces. I commented in the Tahoe/Yukon thread it was a waste to bury the wood trim on the sides of the center console, where no one sees it while sitting down. Here, it's ontop, where one can enjoy it's luster for the whole ride. Little things, but makes a difference.

 

I am assuming that a wood and leather steering wheel is at least optional...?

 

Mostly agree, Mike, as far as general looks are concerned, but they appear to have made the same mistake with this new Escalade interior that they did with the XLS (and Lincoln's new MKZ)...using those silly awkward finger-slide touch-sensor bars in the center/lower dash for some radio and climate functions. And I won't even get into the CUE system.

 

It looks very clean! It's so much nicer than my mom's crappy old 06 Escalade.

That giant column shifter needs to go though.

 

Isn't the wood in the current Escalade fake?

 

Column shifter looks a little out of place today, but then that console shifter for an automatic is nothing but an affectation. It's trying to emulate the "sports car" image of a manual tranny, but doesn't really perform to any advantage over a series of pushbuttons on the dash. After all, just how many times on a trip do you actually put your hand on the gear selector?

1. Park to Reverse - back out of the driveway.
2. Reverse to Drive - travel to destination.
3. Drive back to Park - get out of car.

Whether your journey's a couple of blocks or hundreds of miles, that's about it. Can a console shifter justify the amount of real estate it occupies next to your right knee for only three actions? I think not. Unless you're one of those people who constantly rows your automatic up and down through the gears pretending to be Jody Scheckter, you might be better served by putting your lights or wiper controls on the console - you probably operate those controls more than the shifter. We need to rethink the function and placement of the gear selector in terms of how it is used.

 

^
I see what you are saying. The majority of people do not bother using the shifter, so it's stashed out of the way. I think that's a shame though. People are missing out on an opportunity for better driving, more control of their vehicle, and more driver involvement (equals paying more attention to the road, a safety bonus). Shifting your own gears up and down yields optimum control of how you accelerate and deccelerate. Above all us, manual shifting is a safety feature, especially when braking. Many accidents are caused by people slamming on their brakes in wet weather and losing grip, or cornering too fast and then applying the brakes when the vehicle is off-balance. Manual shifting can help ease theose situations.
Having said that, a shifter down low, where the arms rests low and the blood flows much freer, is a natural and comfortable location. Alas, it will never happen in a beast like this. It's not the right demographic.

 

I use an automatic's shifter when driving in the snow in order to hold lower gears. With that said, I don't think there's anything wrong with the column shifter location. It frees up room on the console. As an aside, I don't see anyone complaining about the Mercedes-Benz S-Class' column shifter.

 

it's probably just a pet-peeve for some...I actually prefer the column shifter where it is in a truck/suv of this size, was even used to driving a stick shift panel-van (toyat hiace or mitsu version, cant rmbr) with the shifter located in the column too. that was pretty neat lol