The XT6 is a promising sign of smarter things to come from Cadillac

There was a time when people would say, “Let’s go Cadillac this weekend.” Ooh. That really meant something.

Or, as the Urban Dictionary gleefully notes, at some point people came to say, “That handicapped stall is the Cadillac of bathroom stalls.” (We’re also told that that particular reference was made famous in prisons, then carried over to the outside world.)

2020 Cadillac XT6 Sport. A very solid looking lxury SUV, although the locomotive-style grille could use some taming.

In any case, since the 1970s, General Motors has overseen the debasement of the Cadillac brand. The descent has been steady, even at times precipitous. The pinnacle of luxury and American ingenuity plunged to a punchline.

Now the people at GM have long acknowledged the problem/s, yet have stumbled and bumbled around trying to fix Cadillac. In the latest, GM’s leadership recruited a South African executive from Infiniti via Audi to reinvent Cadillac in Detroit. He was given the keys and he used them to — wait for it — move Cadillac’s headquarters to New York’s midtown, to Manhattan. Cost a fortune to do it, too. Disaster ensued.

Well, that guy’s been fired, replaced by a sturdy, sensible Canadian named Steve Carlyle, the former head of GM of Canada, among other things. Like a good Canadian, he’s unpretentious and hard-working. Caddy moved its headquarters back to Detroit and the brand itself is keeping its head down – focusing on vehicles, technology and customer service.

Now Carlyle wasn’t aboard when Caddy started working on the 2020 XT6 SUV (sport-utility vehicle), but over time I expect him to tame some of the more egregious styling errors of the XT6 (a grille you’d like on a locomotive), while building on the good stuff here – the rig’s ride and handling and overall user-friendliness, especially the accessible technology.

The CUE infotainment system is excellent.

The XT6 also boasts top-grade materials, room for up to seven in a certain configuration, and something called the Cadillac User Experience, or CUE, that allows you to use various apps via your smartphone and manage them all with voice activation that actually works pretty seamlessly. All at a starting price that sneaks in at less than $61,000.

You can shop the XT6 and most other Caddies using a live digital showroom called Cadillac Live. I tried it and was connected to a smart-looking fellow named Wes. He was willing to give me a remote showroom tour. I politely declined once I understood the concept. Give props to Caddy for trying to be inventive, however.

I’ll tell you this about the XT6. It comes in two main flavours, Premium Luxury and Sport. The Sport version is tuned for quicker responses and has fatter rubber (P265/45R21 tires). Sport models get carbon fibre trim inside, versus wood for the Luxury. You get the idea, no?

Regardless, the engine is a standard GM 3.6-litre V-6 (310 horsepower/271 lb-ft of torque) and a nine-speed autobox. The latter’s shifts are excellent, gliding affairs. Very good. The engine has software to shut down cylinders when you don’t need them, to save fuel.

2020 Cadillac XT6 Sport: a spacious rear seating area.

If you have even the smallest interest in driving, the Sport Control all-wheel-drive system with the Sport model is a must. It actually makes a difference in that you’re talking about two clutches in the rear axle module which do something enthusiastic drivers appreciate. That is, through computer wizardry mixed with mechanical engineering, up to 100 per cent of torque can be shifted to the outside rear wheel in cornering. Amazing.

You have the option of dialing up various driving modes with the XT6 – Tour, AWD, Sport and Off-road. Tour mode makes this rig a front-driver which might help with fuel economy, but seems entirely off-point.

The CUE infotainment interface has as its centrepiece an eight-inch touchscreen combined with a central controller. You will not struggle with managing any functions, including the reconfigurable instrument cluster. The readouts are big and bold and completely acceptable. CUE is something to embrace and applaud.

Now be aware, you can easily add thousands in options. You could buy the Platinum package ($5,635), for instance. But you might find the standard fare is all you need.

A functional and flexible cargo area.

I mean, you get all sorts of safety features in the basic package, although if you want the Driver Assistance Package with adaptive cruise control, that’s another $2,275. Something called Surround View Recorder can act like an advanced dash cam, saving a 360-degree view on an SD card in the event of an accident.

What may surprise some who give this rig a test is this: the ride quality is terrific. That is, for a tall truck of a car, the XT6 is comforting, nicely damped and the steering is quite linear. Those in back have lots of room, and the middle row slides forward to make room for those in the very far back.

The XT6, then, has a first-rate CUE system and first-class materials all around. Some of the cleverer bits of technology caught my attention, too. Point is, this Cadillac comes very close to being the handicapped stall of premium crossovers, if you get my meaning.

That’s good.