2025 Cadillac Escalade vs 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe, available in Canada in XRT, Luxury, and Ultimate Calligraphy trims, maintained its fifth-generation design introduced in 2024. This three-row SUV featured a chunky, boxy appearance with a long wheelbase, flat hood, and snub nose. Its H-shaped LED headlamps, reminiscent of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, added to its distinctive look. The Santa Fe offered vibrant colours like Terracotta Orange and Atlantis Blue, breaking away from the typical greyscale of many SUVs. However, the rear design suffered from mismatched proportions, with pixelated H-shaped LED taillights positioned lower than ideal, affecting the overall visual balance. Each trim had unique wheels, ranging from 18 inches on the XRT to 21 inches on the Ultimate Calligraphy. Inside, the Santa Fe accommodated seven passengers, except for the Ultimate Calligraphy trim, which featured captain's chairs in the second row. The interior boasted leatherette, leather, or Nappa leather upholstery, though some squeaks and rattles were noted during testing. The inclusion of physical HVAC dials was appreciated, but the fan speed buttons proved less user-friendly.

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade, the largest and most expensive Cadillac, continued to embody old-school luxury while distinguishing itself from its Chevrolet and GMC counterparts. The updated design featured a new front end, aligning it stylistically with Cadillac's EVs, with large vertical headlights and horizontal daytime running lights. The rear retained tall, vertical taillights reminiscent of classic Cadillacs, and 24-inch wheels were introduced for the first time. The Escalade offered standard and long-wheelbase ESV body styles, with various trims including Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport, and the high-performance Escalade-V. Inside, Cadillac focused on differentiating the Escalade from other GM SUVs, featuring a 55-inch OLED curved display spanning the dashboard. The interior offered a range of leather options and curated motifs, with the Premium Luxury Platinum trim showcasing Whisper Beige upholstery and wood trim. Despite its shared platform, the Escalade's interior exuded luxury, making it hard to believe it shared components with a Chevy.

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe came equipped with a standard 2.5-litre turbocharged engine, delivering 277 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque, with all-wheel drive (AWD) standard across the lineup in Canada. An eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission handled shifting duties. The Santa Fe Hybrid, a separate model, combined a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, producing a total of 231 hp and 271 lb-ft of torque, also with standard AWD. The Santa Fe exhibited stability in corners, with firm brakes and responsive steering, though turbo lag was noticeable during acceleration. The gear selector, located on a stalk on the steering column, required some getting used to. The XRT trim featured 30-inch all-terrain tires and 21.2 cm of ground clearance, enhancing off-road capabilities with improved approach, departure, and breakover angles. However, the Santa Fe was not designed for rugged rock crawling, better suited for graded dirt roads with minor obstacles.

For the 2025 Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac discontinued the Duramax turbodiesel inline-six engine, leaving the naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 as the sole option. This engine produced 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, though it fell short of the Lincoln Navigator's twin-turbo V6. The Escalade-V retained its supercharged 6.2-litre V8, delivering 682 hp and 653 lb-ft of torque. All Escalade models featured a 10-speed automatic transmission, providing a balance of low and high ratios for efficient highway cruising. In Canada, four-wheel drive (4WD) was standard on most models, with the Escalade-V featuring a performance-oriented all-wheel drive (AWD) system. Magnetic Ride Control damping was standard on all but the base Luxury grade, though the Escalade's body-on-frame construction limited its on-road handling compared to unibody competitors. The V8 engine provided quick acceleration and a pleasing sound, but the brakes lacked confidence, prompting consideration of the Performance Upgrade Package with Brembo six-piston front calipers.

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe XRT trim offered heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, and a 115-volt outlet for powering off-road accessories. The Ultimate Calligraphy trim added heated second-row seats, ventilated front seats, and a premium audio system. The Santa Fe excelled in interior space, boasting the most third-row legroom in its class. The second-row seats featured adjustable cushion angles, and both the second and third rows could be folded for increased cargo capacity. Folding the third row provided 1,148 litres of space, while folding the second row expanded it to 2,267 litres. With all seats occupied, there was still 413 litres of cargo space. The rear opening was widened to 127.5 cm, with a height of 81 cm, facilitating the loading of bulky items. Most trims could tow 1,587 kilograms, with the XRT trim capable of towing 2,040 kilograms.

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade offered both short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase configurations, with the ESV model providing additional cargo space and third-row legroom. The Escalade accommodated up to eight passengers, or seven with second-row captain's chairs. It boasted ample interior space, with best-in-class first-row headroom and legroom. The standard-length model offered 722 litres of cargo space behind the rear seats, 2,064 litres behind the second row, and 3,412 litres behind the front seats. ESV models further increased cargo capacity to 1,175 litres behind the third row, 2,664 litres behind the second row, and 4,043 litres behind the front seats. The Escalade's towing capacity reached 3,675 kilograms for the standard-wheelbase model and 3,628 kilograms for the ESV, comparable to competitors like the Range Rover and Lexus LX.

In Canada, the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe featured a 12.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment and a digital gauge cluster of the same size. The infotainment system was user-friendly, with clear graphics and quick response times. Navigation was available on the Luxury and Ultimate Calligraphy trims, but standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compensated for its absence. Multiple USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad, capable of charging two phones in the Ultimate Calligraphy trim, ensured connectivity. The digital key feature allowed unlocking and starting the car with a phone or Apple Watch, with the option to share the key with trusted individuals. The Ultimate Calligraphy trim offered a digital rearview mirror and a head-up display. Bluelink app connectivity was standard, providing remote climate control, location alerts, and over-the-air updates.

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade embraced high-tech features with a 55-inch door-to-door display, incorporating a digital instrument cluster, central infotainment touchscreen, and front-passenger touchscreen. Climate controls were managed by a tablet-like touchscreen with a rotary dial. A 19-speaker AKG audio system was standard, with a 36-speaker version available, along with an augmented-reality head-up display and night vision. The Escalade retained standalone wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with a hard button for vehicle operation. The smaller control screen featured haptic feedback, though physical knobs were preferred. The optional Executive Second Row Package included 12.6-inch screens, dual wireless chargers, and upgraded seats with massage and headrest speakers, enhancing second-row passenger comfort.

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe offered a comprehensive suite of standard safety features, including adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors, forward collision avoidance assist, lane keeping and following assist, a driver attention monitor, and safe exit assist. Additional features like rear parking collision avoidance assist, side park distance warning, and Highway Drive Assist were available on higher trims. The Highway Drive Assist feature combined adaptive cruise control and lane following assist, though its performance varied in heavy traffic. The top trim included a blind spot avoidance feature and a Blind View Monitor. The Santa Fe received a four-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA and a "Good" rating from the IIHS, except for "Acceptable" scores in the headlight and LATCH categories.

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade came equipped with standard driver assist features such as adaptive cruise control, blind-zone steering assist, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and braking, traffic sign recognition, and a 360-degree camera system. GM's Safety Alert Seat provided warnings through vibrations, in addition to audio and visual alerts. The Escalade also featured teen driver monitoring and Super Cruise, GM's hands-free driving system. Super Cruise allowed for hands-free driving on mapped roads, though the handoff to manual control in construction zones was abrupt. Current crash test ratings from the IIHS and NHTSA were unavailable at the time of writing.