This is the 2024 Cadillac XT4 AWD Sport and the XT4 range is Cadillac’s most affordable, however, it is now in its sixth year and is overdue for a refresh. The good news is it’s had just that and the exterior styling cues have been taken directly from the Lyric. Inside it’s had a major update again taking styling and directly for Cadilac Lyriq EV. Weirdly Cadillac considers the XT4 a luxury subcompact SUV, but it’s larger than this class but smaller than a compact.

At the front, it has a redesigned fascia with a more horizontal motif, copying the look of the larger XT6 and the Lyriq EV. The exterior design at the rear is also fairly subtle but with a new set of wheels, the 2024 model looks genuinely classy.

Under The Hood

All XT4s are powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that offers 235 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission and drives the front wheels or, as in our test car, all four. 0-60 takes around 7 seconds which isn’t too bad for its class and on the highway, you can expect around 28 mpg.

Behind the wheel

One annoying element of the all-wheel-drive XT4’s drivetrain is that it remains front-wheel drive unless the driver selects AWD via the console-mounted Mode button and whatever you select while driving is reverted to front-wheel drive at each startup.

With the drivetrain in front-wheel-drive mode, the XT4 has massive amounts of torque steer under hard acceleration. In all-wheel-drive mode, the AWD drivetrain does sap the power but the torque steer goes away.

There’s no turbo lag either thanks to Cadilac using a twin-scroll turbo so the XT4 scoots off the line like a stabbed rat and if you select Sport mode the handling’s not bad either. Once on the move, the suspension is quite firm but the Continentials stick to the road very well and fast progress can be made despite the lack of power. At least the transmission is well-programmed and never seems to be in the wrong ratio.

The brakes are extremely good with great pedal feel and stop the car with reassurance whenever they are needed at higher speeds with no fade whatsoever. Since the brakes are this good Cadillac should give this car at least 275 hp and 300 lb-ft.

The only letdown is the steering which although direct has very little steering feel and if you go over any uneven pavement, especially mid-corner the wheels skitters in your hand.

Off-Road

Since it says AWD on the rear hatch and it has an off-road mode we had to test it on our not-too-technical off-road section. The suspension in off-road mode soaks up washboard surfaces quite well but it still does ride quite firmly. Our short hill is quite rocky but the Cadilac has enough ground clearance (6.7 inches) to clear anything that might cause damage.

Typically when we test the AWD drive system we drive slowly to see how the car shuffles torque between the wheels rather than blast up as quickly as we can. Surprisingly the Caddy was able to mitigate any wheelspin on the way up and passed the test with flying colors. Since there’s no hill descent control we used the brake on the way down and it didn’t put a tire wrong.

Interior

The interior has been dramatically revised with new seats and cool stitching on the dash, with the choice of black or two contrasting interior color schemes. Quality is very good with little to no hard plastic on or above the armrests.

The traditional gauge pod has been replaced by a 33.0-inch screen that spans two-thirds the width of the dashboard, borrowed from the Lyriq again. It’s super cool and integrates into the dash very well. On start up a huge splash screen is displayed before the menus appear. It’s easy to navigate, thanks to always-on buttons for commonly-used features. Even better, it hasn’t replaced the physical buttons in the cabin, you still get all your climate controls in physical form in a row below the vents.

In the center console, a volume knob sits front and center while a rotary controller serves as a backup for those who don’t wish to put their fingerprints all over the new screen. The resolution is as sharp as any you’ll find and there’s a welcome hand rest at the base of the screen covered in Alcantara.

Then there’s Google Built-In, standard 5G connectivity with Wi-Fi, and three years of OnStar remote access for remote starting, locking and horn/light functions, vehicle location and status, send-to navigation, and on-demand diagnostics.

To the left of the driver, there are 3 displays available, one is standard which displays everything, one displays a huge map and the speedo and clock and the final one is called Clean which only shows the speedometer. It’s all extremely well done.

Pricing

The Cadillac XT4 AWD Sport pricing starts at $44,495, however, you can go nuts on checking the options since it has $11,525 worth. My test vehicle car was optioned with the Active Sport Suspension (adaptive dampers), a standalone item priced at only $700.

It also had the Comfort and Convenience package which gives you massaging seats for both driver and passenger. You also get adaptive cruise, HD Surround vision, Side bicyclist alert, Rear pedestrian alert, a head-up display, wireless charging,  a rear camera mirror, and a 14-speaker audio system.  That takes the total cost including destination to $57,215.

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Verdict

I like the XT4 it drives well on-road and faired much better-than-anticipated job on our off-road hill ascent/descent course. The issue mainly is the powertrain, it needs more power and Cadillac doesn’t offer any hybrid or PHEV powertrains. On the plus side the interior is very good and the new tech is outstanding.

2024 Cadillac XT4 AWD Sport Numbers

VEHICLE TYPE: Front-engine, AWD, 5-passenger, 4-door crossover
BASE PRICE: $44,495
PRICE AS TESTED: $57,215
ENGINE TYPE: 2.0 liter turbocharged and inter-cooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4
POWER: 235 hp @ 5,000 rpm
TORQUE: 258 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 9-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
0-60 MPH: 6.9 seconds
TOP SPEED: 140 mph
CARGO VOLUME: 22.3 ft³, 48.9 ft³ with seat area
CURB WEIGHT: 3,896 lbs
COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 25/22/28 mpg
OUR OBSERVED:  20.7mpg
PROS: Great looking, fantastic new dash, great tech
CONS: Pricey with options, needs more power