Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

The 2010 Cadillac SRX is a luxury crossover SUV available in four trim levels: base, Luxury Collection, Performance Collection and Premium Collection.

Even the base model features a solid roster of standard equipment, including 18-inch alloy wheels, an electronic parking brake, a leather-wrapped tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, leatherette upholstery, an eight-way power driver seat, 60/40-split-folding and reclining rear seatbacks, dual-zone automatic climate control, rear climate vents with separate fan control, and an eight-speaker Bose sound system with a CD player, USB jack and satellite radio.

The Luxury Collection piles on LED headlight accents, a panoramic sunroof, front and rear parking sensors, an adjustable-height power liftgate, a more flexible rear cargo area (includes a "U-rail" containment system and a retractable cargo shade), remote engine start, driver memory functions, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, heated power-folding exterior mirrors with driver-side auto-dimming, power-adjustable pedals, leather upholstery, an eight-way power front passenger seat, heated front seats, wood interior trim and Bluetooth.

Step up to the Performance Collection and you'll be rewarded with 20-inch alloy wheels, xenon headlamps with washers, foglamps, variable-assist power steering, a 10-speaker Bose surround-sound audio system and a hard-drive-based navigation system with a back-up camera. The top-of-the-line Premium Collection tacks on keyless ignition/entry, tri-zone automatic climate control, rear-seat audio controls, ventilated front seats and heated rear outboard seats. All-wheel-drive Performance and Premium Collection models also receive a sport-tuned suspension with continuously variable damping.

The base SRX has no available options. The surround-sound stereo and the navigation system are optional on the Luxury Collection, and a rear-seat DVD entertainment system can be specified on any SRX equipped with the navigation system.

Powertrains and Performance

The Cadillac SRX comes standard with a 3.0-liter V6 rated at 265 horsepower and 223 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed automatic is the only available transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard with this engine, with all-wheel drive optional on all but the base model. All-wheel-drive Performance and Premium Collection models are offered only with a turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 that pumps out 300 hp and 295 lb-ft (late availability). It also gets a six-speed automatic, though this one's noticeably more responsive than the base unit. All-wheel-drive models also have a specialized rear differential that applies power to the outside wheels for improved cornering traction.

In performance testing, a front-drive SRX with the base V6 loped to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, which is a half-second to a second off the pace set by all-wheel-drive rivals. As for the peppier turbocharged motor, GM projects a more competitive 0-60-mph sprint of 7.6 seconds.

EPA fuel economy estimates for the base V6 are 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined for front-drive models. All-wheel drive knocks those figures down to 17/23/19. GM says the turbocharged SRX will achieve 15 mpg city/21 mpg highway.

Safety

The 2010 Cadillac SRX comes standard with antilock disc brakes, stability control, front seat side airbags, side curtain airbags and OnStar.

Interior Design and Special Features

The SRX's interior is probably its single most appealing aspect. Picking up where the CTS sedan's ground-breaking (for GM) interior left off, the SRX dashboard layout features high-quality materials, mostly solid build quality and an attractive design. However, the center stack buttons are hard to distinguish from each other at a glance, and their layout is sometimes haphazard. The standard electronic parking brake is a nice touch, but it doesn't immediately lock the car in place, so on hills the car lurches a bit before settling down.

The SRX's backseat accommodations are adequately comfortable, but rear headroom is lacking for taller folks. Cadillac put a lot of thought into the cargo area, however -- the power tailgate (standard on all but the base SRX) has a two-position height setting so the tailgate won't whack low garage ceilings, and the nifty U-ring track in the cargo floor allows a fence to be erected for containing fragile cargo. Maximum cargo capacity is an average 61 cubic feet, but there are a useful 30 cubic feet behind the rear seats.