Denali Beats Escalade

2500HD 8.1 · July 23, 2007

Just thought I would share a little story. The other night I was driving home from a car show when these teenagers in mommy's Escalade cut me off. They keep weaving in and out of traffic for a mile or two, and then got stuck at a stop light next to me. They punched it, but I didn't care. Next stop light, same thing. There was a guy on a crotch rocket revving his engine trying to get us to race. I wasn't paying much attention. I had the A/C cranking and I was changing radio stations.

The light turned green, and again the Escalade punched it. I figured, what the hell, so I hit it about 3/4 throttle. We were dead even until about 30 mph, then I started pulling him to 50, then I let off. I pulled him a good 1/2 car length between 30 & 50. Mommy's Escalade was probably stock and he had didn't have the A/C on. No idea what year or how many miles, but the kid was definitely on the throttle. I just have a K&N filter with the stock air box, Airaid MIT, and screen removed from the MAF. New NGK plugs and Taylor wires, but that's it. The Escalades had a few more HP than the Denalis, and it was fun to show up the little punk. I know a Denali is no race car, but once in a while its nice to have a little fun and be safe too of course.

omegafiler · July 23, 2007

Awesome. I'm guessing it was a GMT-800 Escalade as well. Nice run though! Sometimes those things are unavoidable.

2500HD 8.1 · July 23, 2007

Yea, it was an 800. I'm guessing an 03 maybe. It wasn't older than an 03, and even if it had 100,000 miles, it shouldn't slow down to much from new. I knew another Denali owner would appreciate it.

Sly · July 23, 2007

Just thought I would share a little story. The other night I was driving home from a car show when these teenagers in mommy's Escalade cut me off. They keep weaving in and out of traffic for a mile or two, and then got stuck at a stop light next to me. They punched it, but I didn't care. Next stop light, same thing. There was a guy on a crotch rocket revving his engine trying to get us to race. I wasn't paying much attention. I had the A/C cranking and I was changing radio stations.

The light turned green, and again the Escalade punched it. I figured, what the hell, so I hit it about 3/4 throttle. We were dead even until about 30 mph, then I started pulling him to 50, then I let off. I pulled him a good 1/2 car length between 30 & 50. Mommy's Escalade was probably stock and he had didn't have the A/C on. No idea what year or how many miles, but the kid was definitely on the throttle. I just have a K&N filter with the stock air box, Airaid MIT, and screen removed from the MAF. New NGK plugs and Taylor wires, but that's it. The Escalades had a few more HP than the Denalis, and it was fun to show up the little punk. I know a Denali is no race car, but once in a while its nice to have a little fun and be safe too of course.

Sometimes the old buck has to show the young buck who is boss. Well done!

SubTexel · July 23, 2007

Just thought I would share a little story. The other night I was driving home from a car show when these teenagers in mommy's Escalade cut me off. They keep weaving in and out of traffic for a mile or two, and then got stuck at a stop light next to me. They punched it, but I didn't care. Next stop light, same thing. There was a guy on a crotch rocket revving his engine trying to get us to race. I wasn't paying much attention. I had the A/C cranking and I was changing radio stations.

The light turned green, and again the Escalade punched it. I figured, what the hell, so I hit it about 3/4 throttle. We were dead even until about 30 mph, then I started pulling him to 50, then I let off. I pulled him a good 1/2 car length between 30 & 50. Mommy's Escalade was probably stock and he had didn't have the A/C on. No idea what year or how many miles, but the kid was definitely on the throttle. I just have a K&N filter with the stock air box, Airaid MIT, and screen removed from the MAF. New NGK plugs and Taylor wires, but that's it. The Escalades had a few more HP than the Denalis, and it was fun to show up the little punk. I know a Denali is no race car, but once in a while its nice to have a little fun and be safe too of course.

Cool stuff, seen a few of the newer ones around here and a ton of older ones but old ladies are always driving them and well, they won't race. Oh well.

MotoMedic · July 23, 2007

he had didn't have the A/C on

...and how do you know this again???

yfz450dk · July 23, 2007

Would having the air conditioning on even make that much of a difference?? I've never noticed a drop in performance due to the a/c being on....

2500HD 8.1 · July 23, 2007

he had didn't have the A/C on

...and how do you know this again???

Just a wild guess since he had all 4 windows open. I doubt he had the A/C on with the windows down, but there's always a possibility. It didn't seen to make much of a difference on my end, but I imagine there has to be some loss as little as it might be.

Draenor · July 23, 2007

Dont quote me on it, Not all Escalades are AWD. Giving you the advantage.

Would having the air conditioning on even make that much of a difference?? I've never noticed a drop in performance due to the a/c being on....

It shouldn't, at WOT the A/C clutch should disengage.

2500HD 8.1 · July 23, 2007

Dont quote me on it, Not all Escalades are AWD. Giving you the advantage.

Yea, some Escalades are 2WD with the 5.3L. This could have been one, but no way to tell. I don't think there are many 2WDs out there. I've only seen one.

AthensGaZO6 · July 23, 2007

take it to the track.........racing slow SUVs is dumb enough......doing it on the street is ignorant.

omegafiler · July 23, 2007

You calling my SUV slow and dumb?? wanna race?!

j/k.

I think the point here is that a very expensive caddy with some uneducated kids got schooled by a slightly less expensive Denali. Now they know which vehicle is faster. Everybody wins.

Hawaii50 · July 23, 2007

nice kill. i'll take a denali over a escalade anyday. BUT i did drive on for a day and i must say that it is a slug...maybe because it's so huge? oh well, again, nice kill for the GMC's! d**n kids

2500HD 8.1 · July 24, 2007

Thanks. I don't make a habit out of racing it, and like in this case, I had it 3/4 throttle to 50mph. I'm not going to kill myself over some dumb kids, but it was fun to show them up. I don't consider my Denali fast, but it is faster than most SUVs out there.

Green_Monster · July 27, 2007

Though you are running pretty much the same vehicle, I believe the Escalades weigh more than the Denalis. I know the current Escalades weigh more than the current Denalis. Car and driver tested both vehicles and the Denali runs 0-60 in 6-1 and the Escalade (if I remember correctly) runs 0-60 in 6.5. A little weight difference may have given you a bit of an advantage.........whatever.......good kill though.

I am heading to the drag strip tonight to see what my SCT tune will do. I have a glitch in the MAX tune, so I will only be able to run the 87 performance tune.