There's a pretty good reason the Cadillac Escalade is associated with the suburbs, school runs, and soccer practice. That's because, underneath the SUV appearance, the vehicle is actually nothing more than a family vehicle.
It's not that the Escalade can't be decently capable off-road; it does have a robust body-on-frame structure in an age when luxury-oriented models are looking down on that from the height of their unibody designs. Based on that aspect alone, some people might even consider the Escalade more off-road-worthy than, say, the new Land Rover Defender, for example.
Except we all know it takes much more than that to make a good all-terrain vehicle. There are the things we can see (tires, approach and departure angles) and the things we can't see (lockable differentials or clever traction control systems), not to mention some other stuff that people tend to appreciate, such as robustness and reliability.
With a price tag that can go over the $100,000 threshold, the Escalade can easily be slotted into the luxury department, which is what most people actually do. Despite what certain brands and models might claim, luxury and off-roading don't really go together that well. They can, but they have no reason to.
That didn't keep a certain YouTuber from bringing a brand-new Escalade out on the dunes of Pismo Beach in California. Did they lose a bet? Did they have something to prove? Did they just want to have some fun? We'll never know, but if we were to guess, we'd say they were looking for some YouTube views and new subscribers.
The big Caddy seems to have no problem navigating the sandy environment when, out of the blue, we're treated to the sight of the SUV's 22-inch wheels dug into the loose surface. How did it get that way? Since the video leaves us guessing, we'll just assume the driver did their best to beach it; after all, the title of the video would have been a lot more boring otherwise.
But since this is a heavy behemoth that leans on the luxury side, so had no business being there in the first place, the idea it got stuck is a lot easier to digest. Besides, people usually let some air out to increase the contact patch before driving on sand, but with such low-profile tires, that would have been nearly impossible in the Escalade.
Thanks to a Ford F-150 that happened to be nearby, the fun was quickly able to resume, apparently without further incidents. If you're not a particularly big fan of big white SUVs, sand, or just cars in general, maybe you can at least appreciate the video's soundtrack—a rarity among YouTube's usual royalty-free crappy music.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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