http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/Auto...reut/index.htm

...some so bad that they will even steal to get it

All Escalades come with Onstar and can be tracked with GPS. It tacks some nerve to steal one.

 

I wonder how many of those "stolen" Escalades were stolen by choice from owners who had gotten over there head with car payments and gas bills.

 

I really like the Escalade from an interior standpoint and especially from a powertrain standpoint - but the looks on the outside are too flashy for me - even with the basic 18" wheels.

The Yukon Denali looks just about as flashy to me - except in a more gaudy way, albeit without the 'baller' name plate associated with it.

If they could make a Tahoe with the same drivetrain as the escalade and sell it for like 10 grand less that'd be ideal to me - BUT they'd be dumb to do that as it would erase the strides they've done to in order to create solid seperation between the Escalade and its bretheren as to avoid people making too many 'rebadge' comments as they have in years past (and reasonably so.. especially with the 800s!)

 

My exterior styling preferences got all jumbled in the changeover from the 800's to the 900's.

In the 800's I liked the Escalade best, Yukon second, and Tahoe last.

In the 900's I like the Tahoe best, the Escalade second, and the Yukon last.

One detail thing that disappointed me in the Yukon was the lack of chroming the bars on the grille of the non-Denali models. For 06, they chromed the bars of the non-Denali Envoy's, and I think it made a somewhat cheap looking grille look very classy.

Here is our 06 Envoy SLT:



Here is the old style:

 

A ~355HP 6.0L DoD version of the Tahoe comes out later this year. I've read it will have a 6 speed automatic too, but that is not confirmed.

 

I might be able to overlook 45 or so missing ponies for the addition of DoD (which I think the Escalade does not currently have?) Plus I'd guess those 45 ponies in the Escalade would be spent primarily making up the difference in weight between the two.

Any links or sources for the rumor?

 

I've read it in a number of places but this is the only link I could find quick, it is for the Avalanche, but I've heard all 1500's will get optional 355HP 6.0Ls to go up against the 345HP Hemi. You could probably pick up 15-20 of those missing horses with a nice CAI.

 

That brings up another point - it seems the Avalanche's chassis is mostly identical to the Tahoe's like last generation. How does that related to the trucks. IIRC last gen the Tahoes only had 5 cross-members on a fully boxed in frame with hydroformed frame rails. The Trucks on the other hand were much the same except with 9 cross-members, which to me sounds like it'd create a frame superior in strength.

So I guess my question is I wonder if I was cross-shopping the Avalanche with the Silverado, what the differences would be in the terms of the actual frame/chassis? It seems unlike last gen that the trucks will have a considerably different interior design than the SUVs and SUTs.