My Mom and Aunt are visiting from Florida this week so we took a road trip down to Tombstone and Bisbee, AZ. It's 400 miles RT with mostly interstate at 75 MPH and about 50 miles of state highway at 35-65 MPH. I just put the Rock Warriors and KO2s on so I was curious to see how they fared. Here are some observations...
1. Fuel economy: My last few fuel ups with the stock Dunlops were in the 17.1 to 17.5 MPG range. My first tank this trip took us down to Bisbee then back to I-10. I calculated 16.0 MPG. That was more of a loss than I expected with the new wheels and tires. I was figuring it would have been .5 to 1 MPG loss. This is where #2 comes in...
2. Radar Cruise: I used the radar cruise control to draft behind a big commuter van on the interstate portion of the drive home. Holy crap in a pita did that make a difference. I topped off when we got home and computed 18.7 mpg. I am a diehard drafting fan now. I set the cruise to 10 mph over the speed limit, the distance to close range, and then tucked in behind a large vehicle doing 0 to 5 over.
3. Multi-Terrain Cameras: Bisbee is an old copper mining town with very tight streets and cramped parking. The 360* camera view made getting around town and in and out of parking spaces infinitely easier. I watched a Camry without cameras struggle to get out of a spot that I squeezed into easily with the cameras.
4. Cool Box: Okay, it's sort of gimmicky, but when it's 120F+ in the truck it comes in handy...at least for a road trip. We put a case of bottled water in the back and kept the cool box full. Having cold water in the car is great when you've been walking around the dusty streets of Tombstone in 100F weather. Maybe not as good as the cold beer we had at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, but still very good.
5. Multimedia Entertainment Screens: Nope. Don't like them. I don't have kids to entertain. I don't see myself sitting in the back of the truck watching a movie. They take up a lot of personal space from the people sitting in the back seat. They get in the way of folding the 2nd row forward. I wish they weren't there.
6. Got my first door ding from a jackass whose door looked like he was a habitual dinger. I don't care if you don't car about you car, but don't take it out on mine. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Off road camping trip report coming soon...
1. Fuel economy: My last few fuel ups with the stock Dunlops were in the 17.1 to 17.5 MPG range. My first tank this trip took us down to Bisbee then back to I-10. I calculated 16.0 MPG. That was more of a loss than I expected with the new wheels and tires. I was figuring it would have been .5 to 1 MPG loss. This is where #2 comes in...
2. Radar Cruise: I used the radar cruise control to draft behind a big commuter van on the interstate portion of the drive home. Holy crap in a pita did that make a difference. I topped off when we got home and computed 18.7 mpg. I am a diehard drafting fan now. I set the cruise to 10 mph over the speed limit, the distance to close range, and then tucked in behind a large vehicle doing 0 to 5 over.
3. Multi-Terrain Cameras: Bisbee is an old copper mining town with very tight streets and cramped parking. The 360* camera view made getting around town and in and out of parking spaces infinitely easier. I watched a Camry without cameras struggle to get out of a spot that I squeezed into easily with the cameras.
4. Cool Box: Okay, it's sort of gimmicky, but when it's 120F+ in the truck it comes in handy...at least for a road trip. We put a case of bottled water in the back and kept the cool box full. Having cold water in the car is great when you've been walking around the dusty streets of Tombstone in 100F weather. Maybe not as good as the cold beer we had at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, but still very good.
5. Multimedia Entertainment Screens: Nope. Don't like them. I don't have kids to entertain. I don't see myself sitting in the back of the truck watching a movie. They take up a lot of personal space from the people sitting in the back seat. They get in the way of folding the 2nd row forward. I wish they weren't there.
6. Got my first door ding from a jackass whose door looked like he was a habitual dinger. I don't care if you don't car about you car, but don't take it out on mine. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Off road camping trip report coming soon...
It's started a lot of friendly conversations to some very unappreciated, good dudes. I highly recommend traveling with chocolate milk!
