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Car shoppers seem to love crossovers no matter their shape or size.
And that's why automakers have responded by building crossovers in lots of different shapes and sizes.
A Cadillac [UNKNOWN] the introduction of this new XT 4 which is a smaller crossover of that fits in underneath the XT 5.
But there are so many really good compact luxury crossovers out there.
Does the new XT4 have what it takes to compete in that hot segment?
The Cadillac XT4 is about 8 inches shorter in length than the XT5 and frankly it's more interesting looking too from the [UNKNOWN] headlights all the way back to this angled rear window and big spoiler.
I mean the clear tail lights were a little bit of an on touch but I think they're kind of working as my test car is red paint.
Even though it's the smallest Cadillac crossover, the ST4 still a decent amount of space inside.
With the driver seat adjusted to fit me, I can sit plenty comfortably in the second row seats.
Beneath the power lift gate, you get 22 and a half cubic feet of space with backseats up, and about 50 feet with them lowered Now it's not the most amount of space you can possibly find in this segment.
For reference, it's more than a Volvo XC40 but less than a BMW X1.
Still, I think for more people who are shopping, a vehicle like this, this is gonna be enough cargo space for their needs.
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As those cargo space comparison suggest, the ST 4 is actually kind of an in-between a size-wise.
For instance, it's bigger than a BMW X1 but smaller than a BMW X3.
It's larger than Than an Audi Q3, but smaller than a Q5.
And while that makes it a little tough for me to figure out what it competes against on paper, well for car shoppers it could be nice because the XT4 might be the just right model for them.
Dimensions aside, the XT4's interior is a really nice Nice place to spend time.
I've got comfy, massaging heated leather seats, really good visibility, even despite having that sloping window out back, a bright color trip computer and head up display to provide a lot of information at a glance.
This is a sport trim model, so we've even got carbon fiber on the dash.
Although for one [UNKNOWN] that's kind of the only sporty thing about this XT4.
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That's not to say there's not a lot of horsepower, because there is.
The two liter turbo four engine gives out a competitive 237 horsepower and 258 power feet of torque.
So acceleration is decent.
It's right on par with it's rivals.
The nine speed automatic transmission is very, very smooth which is great for urban driving But when you want to get a move on a little bit you do have to wait a beat or two before the transmission downshifts and you get more power.
So it can sometimes feel a little bit lazy out on the road.
In other respects though, the XT$ doesn't always feel all that special from behind the wheel.
Take the steering for instance, it's very light.
Has a pretty numb and disconnected feeling.
And then there's the rhyme handling my car has the optional continuously controlled damping system but frankly it gives me neither really energetic driving dynamics nor a really plush comfortable ride.
In fact with these optional 20 inch wheel the ride quality is actually pretty brittle and harsh over some bump [SOUND]
Four wheel drive is standard, but you can opt for all wheel drive on the XT4, and when you do you get this torque vectoring all wheel drive system designed to improve traction and handling specially on slick surfaces like snow One of the things that really bugs me is that there's a button to switch between front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive mode when I change through the drive mode settings.
So if I'm driving along in front-wheel drive mode for fuel economy and then it starts raining or snowing, I've got to push the button to turn on all-wheel drive.
The whole point of all-wheel drive is that it's automatic.
Audi and Mercedes crossovers don't make you turn on and off the all-wheel drive.
System.
On the positive side though, the inside of the XT Ford is reasonably quiet, thanks to the part to having a standard active noise cancellation system and it's pretty roomy here.
I feel like I've got plenty of room on the either side of me while I'm behind the wheel.
Pricing for the [UNKNOWN] starts at $36,000 which is pretty reasonable and comfortable to some of its competition.
But prices rise really, really quickly once you start adding on features.
This test car is almost $58,000, which feels like quite a lot of money when you think about its size.
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The Cadillac XT4 is really stylish and has great in-car technology.
I really enjoyed my time behind the wheel.
That I'm struggling to think of ways in which it's head and shoulders above all the other compact luxury cars that was on sale today.
Some of its rivals have nicer interiors, more engaging driving dynamics, so a more comfortable rides.
So as good as the XC4 is You'd be remiss if you didn't test drive some of it's competition before signing on the dotted line.
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