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Argo Sasquatch Is a Little Fun Box Riding on Very Big Wheels, Yet So Much More

What makes an off-road vehicle great at its job? Is it the capability to go over a kind of terrain that's impossible to navigate by other means? Or is it the ability to extract itself from a dangerous situation when one arises? Is an off-road vehicle great because it can keep its occupants safe, no matter what? Or is it because of the way it looks?
Argo Sasquatch 15 photos
Photo: Argo
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Depending on your view on the topic, it could be any of the above reasons, or a combination of them. For Argo, a six-decades old Canadian maker of amphibious off-road vehicles, it probably is all of the above when it comes to their latest product, with a major emphasis on the visual impact it's supposed to have.

You may know Argo. The company makes ATVs, side-by-sides, eight-wheelers, you name it. These machines don't look extremely different from similar vehicles playing in their respective categories, and don't go overboard when it comes to what they have to offer either. But the Sasquatch (aka Squatch) is an entirely different thing altogether.

You see, the Sasquatch is not an ATV, or a side-by-side, or anything like that. It is, if you look at it in a certain, simplistic way, a small fun box riding on four massive wheels. Kind of like another Argo-related creation you might remember, the Sherp, or maybe like the Centaur XT. And just like these two, the Sasquatch packs a wealth of surprises.

Argo makes no secret of what it expects the machine to be: nothing less than the king of off-road amphibious vehicles, but one that takes its occupants over rough terrain in style, offering them a "cockpit experience second to none."

But let's take things one at a time. The four-wheeled beast is four meters long (13 feet), and holds high above the ground a cabin capable of transporting to and fro a total of four people. It's a cabin (called QX4) the likes of which one rarely gets in an off-road machine, with a full panoramic view of the surroundings, only with UV protection included, and bathing in LED interior lighting all around. Climate control, three-point safety belts, and a Bluetooth radio blasting music from overhead speakers are also part of the package, because what's an off-road adventure without comfort, safety, and music?

Argo Sasquatch
Photo: Argo
Other than that, the cabin of the Sasquatch is equipped with a 12-inch touchscreen, used to display for the occupants details about the vehicle and its performance while moving off the beaten path.

It's no secret the Sasquatch's cabin and chassis are supported by four massive tires. How massive? Well, the rubber on this thing is sized at 71 inches, and it's of a design that'll soon be patented to Argo, meaning we can expect to see more of it. Called XT328, the tires have been installed on the vehicle following "countless extreme terrain tests to swim, climb, and perform like no other amphibious offroad vehicle tire."

Because of the way they are designed, with a flat and cupped tread pattern, they are supposed to be able to provide more than enough propulsion over water, grip for side-hilling, and more than enough traction to overcome all kinds of other terrain.

Somewhere in there, under the impressive body of the Sasquatch, Argo hid a three-cylinder engine of Doosan make. 1.8-liter in displacement, it uses diesel fuel to run, and it's linked to a transmission specifically designed for this model by Ontario Drive & Gear: the HTD Automatic e-Steer.

The output of the engine is not disclosed, but whatever the troop it develops is sent to the wheels and then handled through something called Instant Torque Drive System (ITDS). This piece of hardware is supposed to improve "low-end torque while providing the optimal gear ratio, automatically shifting seamlessly through the full range."

Argo Sasquatch
Photo: Argo
A separate Terrain Control System (TCS) makes sure the driver can set up the off-roader and its capabilities, with a single touch, to "match the terrain anywhere on the planet."

Despite looking rather crammed, the Sasquatch has enough room to carry supplies and whatnot. That can be done best in something called a FlexBox, a storage element meant for heavy gear and equipment. In all, the FlexBox can hold 57.5 cubic feet (1,628 liters) of cargo. Separately, a lockable 3.8 cubic feet (107-liter) side storage box is provided, and there are a number of tie-down possibilities.

The Sasquatch is already listed by Argo on its website in a variant called XTX. There is no price sticker to go with it anywhere in sight, so it's impossible to tell how much one should expect to pay for one.

According to the Canadian company, the Argo Sasquatch off-roader should become available for use in the great outdoors starting in the fall of this year. We'll keep an eye on it and update the story as soon as pricing becomes public.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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