The Cadillac SRX itself is a competitive crossover that can run with the Lexus RX350.
GM is recalling 2013 Cadillac SRX crossovers with 18-inch wheels because the lug nuts loosen and some wheels are falling off. The lug nuts are coated with a blue-tint Teflon coating that allows them to loosen. If this happens, a grinding or rattling noise can occur, and a vibration is felt in the steering wheel. If ignored, the wheel studs fracture sending the wheel on its own way.
No accidents or injuries have been reported because of this safety defect. GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove and reinstall the wheel nuts by performing a tire rotation, free of charge as required by U.S. safety regulations. The recall is expected to begin by 3 June 2013. Owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300 about campaign number is 13116.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.gov about NHTSA recall 13V202000.
Quick Take – SRX Impressions
The SRX itself is a good vehicle. Of all the wrongheaded views held by auto enthusiast writers, none is more pervasive than the proposition that luxury vehicles have to be rear-wheel drive. The Lexus RX series, built from the Camry, demolished that assertion more than a decade ago. Not only did the RX300 vault Lexus to the number one sales spot in the U.S. luxury segment, it ended the reign of body-on-frame, rear-drive trucks as the basis for luxury vehicles, though some still exist today albeit selling in small numbers. Moreover, Lexus had customer satisfaction and quality levels that embarrassed German and American makers. It still does.
The SRX crossover that debuted in 2010 is built from a GM front-wheel-drive architecture that offers relative efficiency in a mid-size package for five adults. Two V6 engine choices and front- or all-wheel-drive, let customers decide what is best for them. In addition, changing from a rear-drive to a front-drive platform allows significant fuel economy increases. It’s quiet and smooth.
The active, on-demand all-wheel-drive-system includes an electronic, limited-slip differential that distributes torque as needed from side-to-side along the rear axle, and from the front axle to the rear axle on the SRX. It is a slick system.
With drier disc rotors, when the driver does apply the brakes, the system operates more effectively with likely shorter stopping distances on wet roads
Moreover, since 2012 SRX uses its electronic stability control (StabiliTrak) to dry automatically wet brakes. This is not as frivolous as it may seem on first glance: with data that predates Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, the U.S. Department of Transportation says 620,000 crashes on the nation’s roadways in 2009 – or 10% – occurred in the rain.
The so called “auto dry brakes” work with SRX’s automatic windshield wiper system or when the standard windshield wipers are operating and the SRX has been traveling more than 20 mph continuously for four miles without using the cruise control. A slight amount of hydraulic pressure is generated by the software, which pulses pressure to the SRX’s brake calipers at intervals to dry wet brakes while the car is moving. With drier rotors when the driver does apply the brakes, the system operates more effectively with likely shorter stopping distances on wet roads.
Read AutoInformed on:
