With a number of racers on staff always looking for a competent and comfortable tow rig and multitudes of road trips to be taken around the country, the SUVs in our long-term fleet tend to be as popular as Shania Twain in a bowling-alley karaoke lounge. We knew we had to spend some time with one of GM's new GMT900 full-size trucks and naturally selected the most powerful and flashy of them all, the cushy Cadillac Escalade.

We went full glut on the options sheet and ended up with middle-row buckets to match the fronts, a rear-seat DVD player, navigation, XM radio, a backup camera-and a sticker over $60,000. Decked out in Tuxedo Black with a light-tan leather interior-Cashmere, in Cadillac-speak-our Escalade is a formal beast.

Big on the Outside, but Less So on the Inside

Right away, logbook pages began to fill with complaints about space in the Brobdingnagian ute. Even in the front seats, our tallest staffers complained that the sunroof cut into their headroom. Meanwhile, those in the second row had to eat their knees, and we removed the third-row seats entirely-no small task in the Escalade.

Talk back in the forums:
For transporting multiple passengers, towing, and a twist of luxury, what other SUVs do you see as viable substitutes?

With a number of racers on staff always looking for a competent and comfortable tow rig and multitudes of road trips to be taken around the country, the SUVs in our long-term fleet tend to be as popular as Shania Twain in a bowling-alley karaoke lounge. We knew we had to spend some time with one of GM's new GMT900 full-size trucks and naturally selected the most powerful and flashy of them all, the cushy Cadillac Escalade.

We went full glut on the options sheet and ended up with middle-row buckets to match the fronts, a rear-seat DVD player, navigation, XM radio, a backup camera-and a sticker over $60,000. Decked out in Tuxedo Black with a light-tan leather interior-Cashmere, in Cadillac-speak-our Escalade is a formal beast.

Big on the Outside, but Less So on the Inside

Right away, logbook pages began to fill with complaints about space in the Brobdingnagian ute. Even in the front seats, our tallest staffers complained that the sunroof cut into their headroom. Meanwhile, those in the second row had to eat their knees, and we removed the third-row seats entirely-no small task in the Escalade.