The GMC Yukon's reputation for outstanding off road capabilities has been further endorsed by Arabian Adventures, the UAE's leading Destination Management Company, which expanded its fleet of the powerful, full-size Sports Utility Vehicle.
The Yukon is said to be rugged, muscular, and a tireless workhorse. Its power and performance come from a Vortec 5300 V8 engine which is capable of producing 324hp and 481 Nm of torque.
Arabian Adventures have been using the GMC Yukon for almost three years and it has quickly become a favourite with its team of off-road drivers.
"Having been a desert dune driver for Arabian Adventures for many years I have driven just about every SUV on the market and the Yukon takes some beating as the ultimate dune driving vehicle," commented Mitchell Perera, Safari Operations Officer at Arabian Adventures. "The substantial power to weight ratio makes the Yukon easily maneuverable and first timers find it easy to learn how to dune drive because the engine is capable of producing lots of torque."
The Yukon is extremely versatile due in part to its self-leveling suspension. "With up to six passengers, a normal vehicle would slope towards the rear end but the self-leveling suspension on the Yukon ensures that the vehicle always drives level," added Perera. "This adds comfort and stability to the vehicle while negotiating varying angles on the dunes and makes for a much more enjoyable ride. Comfort is one of the main reasons why customers choose Arabian Adventures again and again and we have a lot of repeat customers!"
We recently got a chance to experience the capabilities of the GMC Yukon at a press event held by General Motors Middle East in conjunction with Arabian Adventures. The Arabian Adventures team taught us journalists all about desert driving techniques before giving us the opportunity to get behind the wheel to put the GMC Yukon through its paces on our very own desert dune drive. Three of us went to represent Drive Arabia at this exclusive event that included press from all over the Middle East.
Our designated Arabian Adventures desert driver, Nigesh, showed us the ropes as we ventured into a closed off conservation area in the middle of the desert, surrounded by camels, bushes and dunes. Initial preparation consisted of deflating the tyres on our Yukon, which had smaller custom front and rear bumpers. Then we took turns riding the dunes under instructions from Nigesh, while James, our onboard GM representative, passed jovial comments to lighten the atmosphere. On the first run, Drive Arabia's own Nabeel got stuck really well in the damp sand, requiring a whole team of diggers to roll our Yukon out. After that, none of us got stuck again during the rest of the runs, which lasted for almost three hours.
We more or less mastered the basics of desert driving. Drive up to the base of sand dune, floor the accelerator completely up the slope, tap the brakes just as you go over the top of the dune, and modulate the brakes while going down the slope on the other side of the dune. We sometimes got stuck at the top of some dunes and had to go in reverse or shift to low range gearing to get out, while we took some dunes so fast that we probably flew over the peak, landing with a solid thud on a 70 degree downward slope. And sliding sideways down a dune involves turning into the slide to avoid getting stranded. We believe in our skills more now, especially since we noticed many alleged veteran auto journalists get stuck again and again, or driving at a snail's pace on flat areas, causing a traffic jam in the desert.
The day ended with dinner at a small campsite as night fell, and then we headed for civilization in a fun night drive in the hands of our expert driver. The trip certainly bust a lot of myths surrounding the capabilities of the Yukon when compared to its competitors.
