You want to do right by the environment and get a hybrid to help reduce fossil-fuel usage. But what about your bass boat and fishing posse?
-By Bill Heald
These have been crazy times for the auto industry, what with fuel prices bouncing around like a basketball, and a slowing economy. But the engineering elves have been busy nonetheless, and have created some rides that many thought weren’t possible: big, brawny luxury SUVs that have all-wheel drive, deliver excellent power and towing capacity, and still get decent fuel economy. Here are two green yet still mean rides that bridge a gap between two very different worlds.
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CADILLAC ESCALADE FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE HYBRID
Caddy’s bling-encrusted E-Lade has been the choice of affluent types for years, from rappers to brokers and more than a few professional athletes. It has always offered luxury, power, and room to spare, and the rating to tow a variety of exotic toys. It’s also been a target for environmental types due to its robust appetite for fuel, but the new hybrid version may allay some of that criticism. Armed with a six-liter V-8 and a dual synchronous motor system, the Escalade Hybrid purrs along in slow traffic on electric power like a giant golf cart, but with an exceptional sound system. Ride quality is good yet the suspension is firm enough to make the Cadillac handle quite well when driven by an eco-warrior in a hurry. You give up next to nothing by paying a premium for the hybrid drive train, for mileage improves with only a partial loss of towing capacity compared with the ordinary Escalade. My only real gripe is a third-row seat you have to remove completely in order to help your comely neighbor move—a problem shared by the nonhybrid as well.
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SPECIFICATIONS
Body style Full-size SUV PERFORMANCE
0–60 8.64 seconds |
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CHRYSLER ASPEN LIMITED HYBRID 4X4
The Chrysler Aspen is a fairly new vehicle in this class, and the hybrid version uses the company’s famed 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 mated to an electric motor system. Like the Escalade, the Aspen uses a two-mode automatic transmission that both companies claim aids highway mileage and manual ratios if desired. The interior is cavernous and well-appointed, and the third-row seat folds flat into the floor to expand cargo capacity. The Aspen feels more powerful than the Escalade and indeed is quicker off the line, but the Cadillac has a better suspension. The Aspen is also rated to tow a bit more, but both can handle a lot of payload as well. The Aspen’s hybrid system can also propel the big beast on e-power alone in stop-and-go traffic, and as with the Cadillac, this is where the most dramatic improvement in mileage is experienced. In both of these vehicles, the hybrid system integrates very smoothly with the gas engine, making the green driving process a painless and even luxurious affair.
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SPECIFICATIONS
Body style Full-size SUV PERFORMANCE
0–60 7.96 seconds |
