markal49
Well-Known Member
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- #1
After dutifully driving 1,000 mostly gentle miles in the first two weeks of owning my Ranger, last week I hitched up my teardrop trailer for a trip to Moab, UT for some camping, mountain biking and a little off-road driving (trying to keep up with my buddy and his 4Runner).
Bottom line - the truck was great and I am really happy with the purchase (I just hope it's reliable over the long term!). Towing the trailer, which weighs around 1,700 to 1,800 pounds loaded up, was a breeze. The Tow/Haul mode does a good job of keeping it in the right gear, even when climbing up Loveland and Vail passes with a horrible headwind. And the weight of the trailer hardly affects the Ranger. Much better than towing with my previous Subaru. The cameras are very helpful when backing the trailer into my parking spot at home (though I don't use the trailer assist because I'm now used to just steering with the wheel).
The Ranger really drives quite well on pavement. My previous Outback was a Touring XT which was damn near a luxury car. The Ranger is certainly not as a nice a driving experience as that Outback, but it's better than I expected. I have no complaints about the driving dynamics.
Off road, it was great. Contrary to my Outback, this truck is capable of much more than my current skill level. I look forward to learning and hopefully not damaging it too much in the process. On graded dirt roads at speed it was FUN FUN FUN (makes me think I should have ponied up and bought a Raptor).
The technology is mostly good, but CarPlay is wonky sometimes (no sound, or my Gaia GPS app wouldn't load properly, which was a total PITA since we were camped with no cell signal and I had downloaded maps for the area to my phone). I'm hoping things smooth out with updates.
Total distance was just over 1,000 miles, with about 700 of that towing the trailer. The trip meter says I averaged 18.6 mpg for the whole trip. Not bad.
Some details and pics.
We camped in Lower Onion Creek along the Colorado River. We drove a 4x4 road (rated 4 on OnX) up near Dewey Bridge. That one was a little hard for me and we only did about a mile before turning around. Then we drove Gemini Bridges which was easier and a better "trial run" for me in the new truck. As for biking (for those who care) we did Bar M trails, Dead Horse Point, Porcupine Rim and Navajo Rocks (those trails were new to me, the others I'd done before). We shuttled Porcupine ourselves, which meant for a lot of driving, but allowed us to drive down Salt Flats Road, which was really fun along the stretches where we could safely pick up some speed.
Pictures. Waiting for the light at Eisenhower tunnel (never had to wait before). The wind on Monday afternoon was just bonkers. Steady 40+ mph headwinds. By the time I'd reached the tunnel my average MPG was around 12. Horrible, but I knew it was the wind (and eventually I ended up 18+ total).
Campsite near Dotsero, CO on the way out.
Campsite in Lower Onion Creek
Photoshoot along the highway
Follow the yellow brick road
Bottom line - the truck was great and I am really happy with the purchase (I just hope it's reliable over the long term!). Towing the trailer, which weighs around 1,700 to 1,800 pounds loaded up, was a breeze. The Tow/Haul mode does a good job of keeping it in the right gear, even when climbing up Loveland and Vail passes with a horrible headwind. And the weight of the trailer hardly affects the Ranger. Much better than towing with my previous Subaru. The cameras are very helpful when backing the trailer into my parking spot at home (though I don't use the trailer assist because I'm now used to just steering with the wheel).
The Ranger really drives quite well on pavement. My previous Outback was a Touring XT which was damn near a luxury car. The Ranger is certainly not as a nice a driving experience as that Outback, but it's better than I expected. I have no complaints about the driving dynamics.
Off road, it was great. Contrary to my Outback, this truck is capable of much more than my current skill level. I look forward to learning and hopefully not damaging it too much in the process. On graded dirt roads at speed it was FUN FUN FUN (makes me think I should have ponied up and bought a Raptor).
The technology is mostly good, but CarPlay is wonky sometimes (no sound, or my Gaia GPS app wouldn't load properly, which was a total PITA since we were camped with no cell signal and I had downloaded maps for the area to my phone). I'm hoping things smooth out with updates.
Total distance was just over 1,000 miles, with about 700 of that towing the trailer. The trip meter says I averaged 18.6 mpg for the whole trip. Not bad.
Some details and pics.
We camped in Lower Onion Creek along the Colorado River. We drove a 4x4 road (rated 4 on OnX) up near Dewey Bridge. That one was a little hard for me and we only did about a mile before turning around. Then we drove Gemini Bridges which was easier and a better "trial run" for me in the new truck. As for biking (for those who care) we did Bar M trails, Dead Horse Point, Porcupine Rim and Navajo Rocks (those trails were new to me, the others I'd done before). We shuttled Porcupine ourselves, which meant for a lot of driving, but allowed us to drive down Salt Flats Road, which was really fun along the stretches where we could safely pick up some speed.
Pictures. Waiting for the light at Eisenhower tunnel (never had to wait before). The wind on Monday afternoon was just bonkers. Steady 40+ mph headwinds. By the time I'd reached the tunnel my average MPG was around 12. Horrible, but I knew it was the wind (and eventually I ended up 18+ total).
Campsite near Dotsero, CO on the way out.
Campsite in Lower Onion Creek
Photoshoot along the highway
Follow the yellow brick road
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