This post comes to you from a particularly good spot — Milford, Michigan. My enthusiasm comes not from the Milford Chamber of Commerce, rather it comes from two days spent with some special guests driving the upcoming Cadillac SRX Turbo. That’s right – turbo. It’s the first turbocharged Cadillac ever offered in the US, and it joins the option list for the new SRX this fall.
Here’s the brief: This new 2.8-liter V6 generates 300 hp and 295 lb-fts of peak torque. The turbocharger is nicely integrated (this is a lux crossover, after all) and gets you to that peak torque level at just 2100 rpms. The 2.8-liter turbo will occupy the top of the range in the SRX model lineup, as it comes only with AWD and the uplevel real-time damping suspension. The addition of the turbo is really for that small segment of lux crossovers buyers looking for just a little extra.
We spent a couple of days letting some guests test its performance. Fun. But don’t take it from me: Follow the links for reports on how the day went with some auto experts:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/07/first-drive-2010-cadillac-srx-2-8t-adds-more-power-and-agility/
I don’t see the point of using the 3.0 V6 unless you want to force the performance-minded to pay several thousand more for the turbo. You risk losing potential customers who hear or discover that the standard engine is only adequate but don’t care to buy all the bells and whistles of the Turbo model. The manufacturing cost (and EPA mpg) of the 3.0 and 3.6 must be nearly identical.
I gather the 3.6 is too much engine for the Haldex AWD, since they aren’t combined on the LaCrosse, either. So offer the 3.6 with FWD only, and the AWD with the Turbo only, and drop the 3.0 if you want to keep it to two engines.
What kind of oil life can people expect with the turbo?