Tested: 2024 Cadillac XT4 350T AWD Sport Is Competent but Lacks Star Power

Now in its sixth year, the XT4, Cadillac’s smallest and most affordable SUV offering, has grown to become the brand’s third-bestselling model, and yet it lives in the literal shadow of the Escalade and gets just a fraction of the attention garnered by the pavement-scorching Blackwing sedans. Such is life for subcompact luxury crossovers: leased often, loved rarely.

Cadillac hasn’t done a whole lot to stoke the fire since the model’s 2019 launch, with revisions since then limited mostly to equipment changes. For 2024, however, the XT4 gets a more substantial update. It starts up front with a redrawn fascia that features a more horizontal motif, aping the look of the larger XT6 and the Lyriq EV. The exterior design tweaks extend to the tail and also bring a new look to the wheels. A new dash makes way for an ultra-wide (33.0-inch) curved-screen display, also lifted from the Lyriq.

Behind the pretty face, things in the engine room are unchanged this year. All XT4s continue to be powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that musters 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.

The modest mill gives the lie to our test car’s Sport badging, with a quarter-mile result of 15.4 seconds at 92 mph and the benchmark run to 60 mph taking 7.0 seconds. This segment doesn’t exactly bristle with scintillating performers, but the XT4’s 60-mph time trails rivals including the BMW X1 (5.4 seconds), the Volvo XC40 B5 and the Lincoln Corsair (both 6.1), and the Lexus NX350 (6.6). To its credit, though, the Caddy’s 2.0-liter utilizes a twin-scroll turbocharger that helps reduce turbo lag, aiding drivability in the real world. Note that the XT4’s rolling start, 5-to-60-mph acceleration time of 7.3 seconds matches the Volvo’s and betters the Lexus’s. The nine-speed gearbox is also game, willing to downshift in answer to a flexed right ankle.

The direct-injected turbo four’s induction honk is typical of the species, and it reaches 75 decibels under wide-open throttle, receding to 69 decibels at a 70-mph cruise. Both figures are noisier than what we measured in the Corsair, although the wide-open-throttle number is no worse than our results for an Audi Q3.

One odd element of the all-wheel-drive XT4’s drivetrain: It remains front-wheel drive unless the driver selects AWD via the console-mounted Mode button. And the car reverts to front-wheel drive at each startup, so all winter long, XT4 drivers must remember to stab at that second button if they want the benefits of all-wheel drive.

Fuel economy estimates are fractionally different this year, with the AWD model’s city figure up by 1 mpg and the highway number down by one, netting out to 25 mpg combined versus 24 previously. (The front-drive version also sees 1-mpg differences in its city and highway estimates, but the result is the same 26-mpg combined rating as before.) We got 26 mpg in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test and averaged a rather disappointing 20 mpg overall.

Those EPA numbers are on par with others in the segment, but many of this Caddy’s rivals offer more economical alternative powertrains. The Corsair can be had as a hybrid, while the Lexus NX is available as a regular hybrid or a plug-in hybrid. Volvo and Mercedes, meanwhile, both offer an EV version of their small SUVs.

Our test car was optioned with the Active Sport Suspension (adaptive dampers), a standalone item priced at a modest $700. We didn’t find that the adaptive dampers lived up to their promise of simultaneously improving ride and handling. It’s likely that the standard suspension setup would be more comfort-biased, and of course smaller wheels provide more tire sidewall to cushion sharp impacts. Rolling on 20-inch wheels (18s are also available), the XT4 let too much road harshness filter through, although body motions are well controlled. At the same time, we wouldn’t characterize this car’s cornering as lively—more like stolid, with plenty of understeer and lateral grip of 0.86 g. The steering has some weight to it but is not progressive in effort buildup.

The XT4’s big news is inside, in the form of a Really Big Screen. The digital instrumentation and the central infotainment screen merge under a single piece of glass that makes for an impressive presentation. Borrowed from the Lyriq EV, the new digital display features a Google-based operating system, and its resolution is as sharp as any you’ll find. There’s a welcome hand rest at the base of the screen, and we appreciate that Cadillac also has retained its rotary controller on the center console. Another plus is that there are still physical buttons for most climate controls. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connections are wireless, although their displays aren’t able to fully utilize the digital acreage.

Look away from the outsize screen, and the interior is less dazzling. The subdued design doesn’t scream luxury, and while the materials don’t seem cheap, neither do they have the wow factor of some rivals, such as the Mercedes GLB or the (larger but no more expensive) Genesis GV70. Tall drivers may find that, even with a power-adjustable steering column, the wheel is too far away. In the rear seat, the cushion is comfortably up off the floor, and still headroom is good. Knee clearance is only just adequate for a six-footer sitting behind a similar-sized driver. Cargo space is pretty good for the segment, with 23 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 49 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks flattened. That translates to seven carry-on-size bags with all the seats up or 21 with them folded.

The price of entry climbs by $1600 this year, the base Luxury going for $39,090 before options, while the Premium Luxury asks $42,690 and the Sport $43,190. That’s with front-wheel drive; all-wheel drive tacks on another $2500 in all three cases. Our all-wheel-drive XT4 Sport was larded with more than $11,000 in extras, eroding the value proposition. The $57,215 as-tested figure puts it up against the 312-hp BMW X1 M35i or even a well-equipped Genesis GV70 2.5T.

Stick closer to the starting price, and the XT4 makes a lot more sense. Even if it’s probably never going to be celebrated in rap songs or race for pink slips at a drag strip.

Joe Lorio has been obsessed with cars since his Matchbox days, and he got his first subscription to Car and Driver at age 11. Joe started his career at Automobile Magazine under David E. Davis Jr., and his work has also appeared on websites including Amazon Autos, Autoblog, AutoTrader, Hagerty, Hemmings, KBB, and TrueCar.