Ecoboost a Beast in the Mountains!

[jeff kushner]

Kerry and I recently got back from a trip to the Smoky Mountains and my truck was a beast....ok, it's only a couple thou feet high but still, lots of hills.....and 18.8mpg for the 1,800 mile trip overall.

I showed Kerry how well the Expedition, all 6,000 pounds of it drifts around the turns on the Foothills parkway but.......she was so "less than impressed" that she decided that she didn't want to end up at the bottom of a cliff so she drove...yeah, I didn't argue. ......<LMAO>.

Most of the roads down there are beautiful, well maintained and never saw radar.....but they are NOT for going fast!

Case in point....the Tail of the Dragon, while prominently discussed in any "best riding roads" discussion is a HORRIBLE place to ride fast! I used to road-race bikes...like 180mph racing......and I instantly recognized that the Dragon is filled with life-changing penalties.....like said cliffs, trees, other drivers.....all reasons NOT to ride that road fast yet we saw them. In NC "personal responsibility" means no guardrails to keep you at altitude if you overcook a corner....nope, you are going to shoot off the edge of the road into nothingness for a 1500 feet until you make a very quick stop. Jeff, a guy we met at the Pitstop told us about two guys that did just that 6-8 weeks earlier.....hikers found the one guy barely alive 3 days later....holding his dead buddy's body.

Driving the Expy smoothly over 311 tuns in 11 miles means using the select-shift while matching engine speeds. Kerry got pretty good at it by the time we left. In all fairness to her, I should have sprayed my TB before we left as there is some minor hesitation that I didn't get around to fixing before we left.

That engine sure was nice though. I had driven both of the previous Expys through the Appalachians before and this is by far the smoothest to me.


I went from 71K to almost 74k on this trip....we even WASHED it yesterday....for the first time in 16 months! I LOVE this truck!

Just look at that big sexy truck at Deals Gap at the Dragon!



jeff

 

[cmiles97]

That's great. The tail of the dragon is a big time biker destination. How many sport bikes were behind you cursing?

When towing through the mountains in VA & PA last year, I was surprised at the lack of downshifting the Expy does compared to the 07 Sequoia I had in with the same trailer and route.

 

[chuck s]

My S2000 buddies are always trying to get me over to the Dragon. I can wreck cars much closer to home.

What's "select shift?"

-- Chuck

 

[bobmbx]

My S2000 buddies are always trying to get me over to the Dragon. I can wreck cars much closer to home.

What's "select shift?"

-- Chuck

Its a name for the 6-speed tranny. It allows you to cruise in automatic or use a manual shift mode. It also has the capability to lock-out gears, sequentially, from high to low. This feature allows you to lock out, say, 4th, 5th, and 6th gears when you're descending a mountain. The tranny will operate like a 3-speed automatic. You can lock it out all the way down to 1st gear.

 

[jeff kushner]

You are wise Chuck............My buddies keep trying to get me to take my SLK(Select-shift is the Mercedes term for manual shifting) to VIR for trackdays......no, I like my car whole! TWO Miata guys bought it this summer at the Gap....sad way to end a meet.

I used to road race at over 180mph.....I know folks with parts on this tree....they are/were not road racers.....we know better then to fly with open cliffs and rock walls to greet your every slip....We don't hold up riders..........lots of pull-offs..........but most were quite comfortable with our pace.
jeff

 

[Tom Tulloch]

Last time I was at the Tail of the Dragon I had taken my bike down there in an enclosed trailer. I had to drive the Tail with my Avalanche and the trailer (no brakes) the whole length of the Tail to get to our camp. It was a bit of a white-knuckle drive and the rotors on the Avalanche were glowing. Lesson learned - next trip is with the Expy and I'm getting a trailer with brakes!! The bike riding there was excellent though. Several other great roads in the area also.

 

[Dorzak]

My weekend drive - https://goo.gl/maps/XikijYF5wJD9WZeJ9 lots of curvy roads in the coastal mountains. Sacramento to Eureka, spent a night in Eureka, and then slow drive home. Map doesn't really show it but we took the old Highway 101 as much as possible to see the Redwoods instead of flying buy on the newer 4-8 lane highway that straightens things out.

Selectshift helps a lot with the downhills. Tow/Haul mode makes the automatic transmission down shift more aggressively. Sometimes too aggressively so I relied on Selectshift.

I grew up driving on mountains like that and have always preferred a manual transmission because of downshifting. This is the first of a several automatic transmission vehicles, that has a decent option for locking out upper gears. Compound Low previous vehicles offered was really not an option.

 

[G213]

I was coming back from Vegas a couple weeks ago and there was a huge accident on the 15 right at the 215/15 spilt. I live in DTLA so Waze decided to route me through the Angeles National Forest...had me get off at Victorville and take the 138 to pick up the Angeles Forest parkway.

If you're ever in SoCal and driving something low and fast, you'd LOVE that drive. It's full of gorgeous views and wicked turns (not as bad as the Dragon, but similar). Expy was incredibly nimble for being the size that it is; I was keeping up with sedans on turns...even had one guy give me the "not bad" look when I pulled up next to his A4 quattro. Selectshift was super helpful on downgrades; no need to burn up all that brake pad.

Bad part....this was on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, so there were a TON of bikes out. I pissed off ALOT of people because I obviously couldn't take turns in my Expy at 55mph like a bike can. So I did my best to get out of the way when I could, but I got passed on the double yellow constantly and had my tail ridden like a race horse. (If you're the dude riding a crotch rocket with a "55" jacket on, you're a *****. If you had waited 11 more seconds I would of moved out of your way at the next pull off and given you all the room in the world. You didn't have to brake check me after illegally passing me either...moron. I get it, you're a real toughy.)

For the rest of you...(except that guy) if a Black Epxy Platinum made your Sunday ride lame in Angeles Forest a few weeks ago...I'm sorry! I know I don't belong up there, but it was a 2+ hour backup if I stayed on the 15.