Compare the2026 Rolls-Royce CullinanVS 2026 Cadillac Escalade ESV

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Cadillac Escalade ESV doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Cullinan and Escalade ESV have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Cullinan has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Escalade ESV’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Cullinan has standard PostCrash, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Cullinan. But it costs extra on the Escalade ESV.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Cullinan uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Escalade ESV uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Cullinan and the Escalade ESV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available night vision systems.

The Cullinan comes with a full 4-year/unlimited-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Escalade ESV’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires sooner.

Rolls-Royce pays for scheduled maintenance on the Cullinan for 4 years and unlimited miles. Rolls-Royce will pay for oil changes, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Cadillac only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Escalade ESV.

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Cullinan have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the engine in the Escalade ESV.

The battery on the Cullinan is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the Cullinan’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Escalade ESV’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

The Cullinan’s standard 6.8 turbo V12 produces 143 more horsepower (563 vs. 420) and 167 lbs.-ft. more torque (627 vs. 460) than the Escalade ESV’s 6.2 V8. The Cullinan Black Badge’s standard 6.8 turbo V12 produces 171 more horsepower (591 vs. 420) and 204 lbs.-ft. more torque (664 vs. 460) than the Escalade ESV’s 6.2 V8.

As tested in Car and Driver the Rolls-Royce Cullinan (base engine) is faster than the Cadillac Escalade ESV:

For better stopping power the Cullinan’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Escalade ESV:

The Cullinan stops much shorter than the Escalade ESV:

For better traction and acceleration, the Cullinan has larger standard rear tires than the Escalade ESV (285/40R22 vs. 275/50R22). The Cullinan’s optional rear tires are larger than the largest rear tires available on the Escalade ESV (295/35R23 vs. 285/40R24).

The Cullinan’s standard 255/45R22 front and 285/40R22 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series front and 40 series rear profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Escalade ESV’s standard 50 series tires. The Cullinan’s optional 295/35R23 rear tires have a lower 35 series profile than the Escalade ESV’s optional 40 series tires.

Having a flat tire is dangerous, inconvenient and expensive. The self-sealing tires available on the Cullinan can automatically seal most punctures up to 3/16 of an inch, effectively preventing most flat tires. The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer self-sealing tires.

The Cullinan has active sway bars, which help keep it flat and controlled during cornering, but disconnect at lower speeds to smooth the ride and offer greater off-road suspension articulation. This helps keep the tires glued to the road on-road and off. The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer an active sway bar system.

The front and rear suspension of the Cullinan uses air springs for a smoother, controlled ride than the Escalade ESV, which uses coil springs. Air springs maintain proper ride height and ride more smoothly.

The Cullinan offers an available adjustable active suspension system, which counteracts cornering forces actively, limiting body roll and improving handling and stability. Cadillac doesn’t offer an active suspension on the Escalade ESV.

The Cullinan handles at .83 G’s, while the Escalade ESV Sport 4WD pulls only .71 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Cullinan Black Badge executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.4 seconds quicker than the Escalade ESV Premium Luxury 4WD (26.6 seconds @ .68 average G’s vs. 29 seconds @ .56 average G’s).

The Cullinan is 1 foot, 4.2 inches shorter than the Escalade ESV, making the Cullinan easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction lowers the Cullinan’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The Escalade ESV doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The Cullinan has 1.5 inches more rear headroom and 1.1 inches more rear legroom than the Escalade ESV.

Flexibility is maximized at the game, campground or a drive-in theatre in the Cullinan when its optional tailgating rear seats are deployed, allowing people to sit facing out of the tailgate. (Do not use while vehicle is in motion.) The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer tailgating seats.

The Cullinan’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the tailgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Escalade ESV’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the Escalade ESV, the Cullinan has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position, outside mirror angle, climate settings and radio stations and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Cullinan to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Cullinan to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Escalade ESV doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.