IS GENERAL MOTORS LAMBDA PLATFORM BIG ENOUGH FOR NEXT ESCALADE?

Rumours abound that with the soon-coming stiffening of miles-per-gallon standards in the United States that General Motors is considering arresting the development of larger Cadillacs (or has already) and that the next Cadillac Escalade won't be on a shared platform with the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe.

No, as the rumour goes, the gigantic Escalade could be a cooperative effort on the Lambda platform - the architecture that's spawned the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse. 

Heresy, you say. Can you imagine such a backwards solution? What 'Slade owner would be willing to sacrifice their magnitude and grandeur? 

(Click here for Lambda search results from GCBC)

Truth be told, of the three generations of Escalade produced so far, only the short-lived first-gen suffered in terms of differentiation. The first real Escalade (2001-2006) was a very unique vehicle, and the current Escalade is about as far from the Yukon and Tahoe as an SUV can get without jumping to a new platform. So fears that Cadillac wouldn't be able to produce a sharp, edgy, high-class Escalade ought to be allayed with that realization.

Ignoring the Escalde ESV and EXT for a moment, have a look at the Numbers below. They show the dimensional differences between all-wheel drive derivatives of the regular Cadillac Escalade and the most luxurious Lambda to date, the Buick Enclave. Now, is it such a stretch.... or rather, such a shrink?

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680 - extra pounds on the Cadillac Escalade

0.7 - extra length of the Cadillac Escalade, measured in inches

0 - difference in overall width, measured anyway you like

2.1 - extra height of the Cadillac Escalade, measured in inches

2.9 - extra length between the wheels of the Buick Enclave, measured in inches

0.6 - extra height of the Cadillac Escalade in ground clearance, measured in inches

7.3 - extra cargo volume in the Buick Enclave, measured in cubic feet

18 - extra passenger volume in the Cadillac Escalade, measured in cubic feet

2.5 - extra seconds required by the Buick Enclave to hit 60mph from rest

3 - extra miles each gallon of gasoline will give you in the city in the Buick Enclave