Cadillac Escalade IQ’s Low Ride and Arrival Modes Are the New Rich People Party Tricks
Who’s going to care that you drive the latest, greatest electric SUV if it can’t drive sideways? Or with its bumper scraping the pavement?
The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is a lot of things, but subtle ain't one of 'em. Then again, it isn't targeted at understated businessmen—it's for people who want everyone else to know they're rich.
That's why the electric SUV has Low Ride Mode, which allows it to drive slowly with its suspension slammed to the ground. And then there's Arrival Mode, a feature that turns all four wheels and allows the Escalade IQ to move diagonally. Combine the two, then, and you have a flashy party trick that's sure to impress a crowd of startup CEOs.
Low Ride Mode is a just-because feature. Cadillac says it's meant to "enhance...the Escalade IQ's presence." Indeed, if you roll up in a luxury barge on 24-inch wheels with the bumper scraping the pavement, it's sure to catch people's attention. It's not uncommon for premium rides like this to have a super-low suspension setting, but most of them raise back up once you shift into drive. Not the Caddy, though.
Sure, there are lots of modified Escalades out there that can hard park like this. The difference is that this one comes this way from the factory. It may even have a better stereo system than those custom jobs if you spec it with the 40-speaker AKG Studio Reference setup.
As for Arrival Mode, it's a lot like the GMC Hummer EV's CrabWalk feature, just for a different setting. Whereas that's meant to help navigate tricky off-road obstacles, this is a power play that turns all four wheels in the same direction to navigate tight spaces. That's actually useful considering the Escalade IQ is nearly 19 feet long, and an even bigger one is coming.
There's just as much emphasis on this feature "making a statement," as Cadillac says. I can see people being impressed by it as you pull into a snazzy restaurant, but if you're using it in the airport drop-off lane, I imagine there will be just as much if not more honking than usual.
The high-end auto segment has been missing party tricks like this ever since Mercedes-Maybach ditched E-Active Body Control, also known as Bounce Mode. Teslas can still fart, but that's so 2018. What you really need now to be hip is a 9,000-pound SUV that throws sparks in the Nobu parking lot and pulls sideways into the valet line.
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