This black Cadillac Escalade ESV Sport, based in Orange County, is the rear wheel drive one of our two black ESV Sport trucks, with the earlier curved OLED dash. The long body seats seven with room for a full set of luggage, and the cabin stays dark and unbothered by attention. It is the less expensive of the pair, built for airport runs.
Sport trim on this Escalade means the grille, badging, window surrounds and wheels are finished in black rather than chrome, and Magnetic Ride Control comes standard with it, reading the road a thousand times a second to keep the ride flat. The 6.2 liter V8 makes 420 horsepower and reaches sixty in 5.9 seconds through the rear wheels, with a deep, unhurried note under throttle. On the approach roads to John Wayne Airport and onto the 405 toward Los Angeles, the long ESV body stays composed over expansion joints that unsettle shorter SUVs. Steering is light, tuned for parking rather than back roads, and this is not a truck that wants a canyon.
Black bodywork with black Sport trim and the older curved dash is the more anonymous of our two black ESV Sport trucks, which is exactly what gets it booked for discreet transfers and corporate work out of Irvine and Costa Mesa. With no bright work anywhere, the photograph depends entirely on the light, so shoot it after dark under a hotel canopy near Fashion Island where the vertical light bars are the only detail that reads. Flat daylight kills it. Get low at the front corner for the width, which the black trim exaggerates more than chrome ever would.
Two Escalade ESV Sport trucks live in our fleet, both black, and this is the rear wheel drive one with the earlier curved OLED dash rather than the newer wide screen. It is the cheaper of the pair by fifty dollars a day, with a smaller security deposit. For Orange County pavement, which is all we permit, the missing four wheel drive costs you nothing in practice. Book this one when the budget matters more than the newer dash, and book the other ESV Sport when four wheel drive or the wider display and standard Super Cruise are worth the difference to you.
This is the Escalade ESV Sport, the long wheelbase body in the blacked out Sport trim, black over black. Sport brings gloss black exterior accents in place of chrome, 22 inch wheels, and Magnetic Ride Control standard rather than optional. This car carries the 38 inch curved OLED dash and a 19 speaker AKG system. The ESV body adds roughly 41.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row over the standard Escalade. Power is the 6.2 liter V8 at 420 horsepower, sent through the rear wheels, with a 5.9 second run to sixty.