2012 Cadillac SRX

The Cadillac SRX’s lead development engineer, Steve Kline, kicked off the debut of the 2012 Cadillac SRX by telling us, “If we’d told you back in 2009 that the SRX would move from number nine in the segment to number two behind the Lexus RX, you probably would have laughed.” Kline is right. C/D loved the previous, CTS-based SRX. Its rear-drive dynamics and interior packaging allowed it to win a comparison test and multiple 5Best Truck trophies but failed to endear it to customers. We would not have believed that a front-drive-based SRX would rocket up the sales charts, but that’s exactly what has happened. For 2012, the SRX gets a major powertrain upgrade that might grow sales even further. The standard 265-hp, 3.0-liter V-6 is dead. New customers should be relieved that they won’t have to spin their engine all the way to 5100 rpm just to access a limp 223 lb-ft of torque. Likewise, the 3.0-liter will be relieved that it has been relieved of the SRX’s 4500-pound curb weight. Cadillac stopped offering the SRX’s previously optional engine, a turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6, earlier this year. Few mourned the loss of the 300-hp, single-turbo six. Its eulogy was probably filled with references to turbo lag, nonlinear power delivery, and the engine’s Saab origins.