Top Gear fans will remember James May’s drive to the top of an active Icelandic volcano in a Toyota Hilux in 2010. That volcano was in the process of erupting and involved real danger. Fortunately, May survived the trip.
The risk factor may not have been quite as high in this GQ video showing a BMW X6 driving up Mount Etna in Sicily. Let’s face it; driving a BMW X6 up paved, gravel, and snow-covered roads to get to the top of a volcano that also has two ski resorts, a cable car, and a train is not the same as driving through still-hot fields of ash and pumice like May did.
However, Etna is still an active volcano and there is almost constant seismic activity going on, so a drive up the mountain could generate some adrenalin.
The X6 in this video is an xDrive30d. Having 413 pound-feet of torque can be handy on unimproved roads and the xDrive can come into play with snow and loose rock. No matter what the surface, comfort is pretty much a given in the X6.
During the video, shots of seismometers seem to show the tectonic activity going on under the X6. However, given the X6’s weight, one might conclude that not all the seismic readings were cause by something beneath the surface.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG. Video courtesy of GQ.]
