Tsckey
11-25-2002, 21:11
Just got back from a 2500 mile blast to Colorado and back. I've been making this trip a couple of times a year for the past 34 years. I've made it in Porsches, Volvos, Toyotas, Hondas and Dodges, to name a few. This was the most comfortable, stress-free and fastest trip I have made yet. The big, red wonder just thundered along at 80, up hill and down, like my own private Amtrack train. I averaged about 17 mpg, not great, but on the most difficult part of the return trip, from Colorado Springs to Grand Junction, over Hoosier pass, we averaged 20.4. I guess keeping the speed below 75 makes a difference. In previous years I've dreaded the high mountains because the thin air always left my small displacement, high winding powerplants breathless. The Duramax hardly noticed, rumbling past lesser beings without a break in its conversation.
The worst part of the trip was when an F250 Powerstroke threw a rock up and chipped my windshield. And I had let him by, too, just to be friendly. Other than that, the only negative thing the trip revealed, besides these being great trucks, is that I need Bilsteins right now. The kangaroo lunge of death on lumpy surfaces is annoying.
On the plus side, that is, other than everything else, I am continually impressed with how well these things track. Maybe the cap has something to do with it, like tail feathers, but I could take my hands off the wheel long enough to stretch and eat a sandwich and the thing would not wander. In my faithful 4Runner I dared not look away for a moment for fear of drifting off into a ditch. I also found that my rev limiter cuts the power at 95. Rats. I thought I had at least a couple more mph in there. Great truck.
TC
The worst part of the trip was when an F250 Powerstroke threw a rock up and chipped my windshield. And I had let him by, too, just to be friendly. Other than that, the only negative thing the trip revealed, besides these being great trucks, is that I need Bilsteins right now. The kangaroo lunge of death on lumpy surfaces is annoying.
On the plus side, that is, other than everything else, I am continually impressed with how well these things track. Maybe the cap has something to do with it, like tail feathers, but I could take my hands off the wheel long enough to stretch and eat a sandwich and the thing would not wander. In my faithful 4Runner I dared not look away for a moment for fear of drifting off into a ditch. I also found that my rev limiter cuts the power at 95. Rats. I thought I had at least a couple more mph in there. Great truck.
TC