Sam CarLegion and company love SUVs, and sport utility vehicles don't get bigger than the truck-based SUVs from the Detroit Big Three. Pictured at Dunville Autodrome in Ontario, these leviathans all weigh in excess of 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilos).
The heaviest of the bunch is the Jeep Grand Wagoneer at 6,358 pounds or 2,883 kilograms. The Ram 1500-based luxury sport utility vehicle doesn't feature a twin-turbo I6 under the hood, but rather the 6.4-liter HEMI that has been discontinued from the Grand Wagoneer for the 2024 model year.
In this application, the V8 makes a stout 471 horsepower and 455 pound-feet (671 Nm) at 4,400 revolutions per minute. Over at General Motors, the Cadillac Escalade uses a 6.2-liter small block with 420 ponies and 460 pound-feet (624 Nm) to its name, with peak torque available from 4,100 rpm. Twinned with the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and technically similar GMC Sierra 1500, the Caddy is estimated at 6,036 pounds or 2,737 kilograms.
As opposed to the ZF eight-speed automatic in the Jeep, the Cadillac uses a ten-speed box that was developed by crosstown rival Ford Motor Company. Speaking of the Blue Oval, the Lincoln Navigator differs from its peers by means of a twin-turbo V6 with 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet (691 Nm) of torque available from 3,000 rpm.
6,078 pounds (2,757 kilograms) put the Navigator between the Escalade and Grand Wagoneer, and curb weight plays a pivotal role in straight-line performance. The same can be said about tires, transmission, and peak torque band. From these numbers alone, it appears that Navigator is the quickest in the quarter mile, but Sam CarLegion first races the Jeep and Cadillac to see which one's worthy of challenging the Lincoln.
Photo: Sam CarLegion on YouTube
Be it a 37- or a 50-mph roll, meaning 60 and 80 clicks in the metric system, the heavier Grand Wagoneer doesn't break a sweat against the Escalade. The same can be said from a dig, with the Jeep posting 5.8 seconds to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) and 14.2 in the quarter.
Although the Cadillac Escalade-V would have left the V8-powered Grand Wagoneer for dead, the naturally aspirated small block in the regular Escalade couldn't do much against the larger HEMI engine. Think 6.2 and 14.7 seconds, respectively.
As for the drag races against the Navigator, the Grand Wagoneer improved to 5.7 and 14.1 seconds, respectively, from the previous 5.8 and 14.2 seconds against the Escalade. Be that as it may, the 3.5L twin-turbo EcoBoost of the Navigator performed better still. We should also remember that FoMoCo and GM use specific transmission calibrations for the aforementioned ten-speed box.
The Navigator crossed the line in 13.9 seconds, while the sprint to 60 miles per hour was dealt with in 5.3 seconds. Not exactly impressive by the standards of the 682-horse Cadillac Escalade-V, but pretty good for a vehicle that weighs this much.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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