oceanblue2019
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Regional rep was in for the year end holiday visit and brought a 3.0L Eco Diesel pre-release model for some select customers to test drive.
I got to spend about 20 minutes with it in city and a little run on the freeway before I had to pull over and give someone else a chance.
What I liked:
Very strong acceleration and no issue getting to 70mph with "authority" on the freeway merge ramp. It feels much stronger than stock 2.0L or 3.6L which I got to drive back to back.
What I didn't like was three things:
- Power band is done by 4.5k RPM and the transmission and gear ratio makes this overly noticeable. The auto transmission needs to be setup to shift maybe 300 or 400rpm earlier so you don't feel the dip in the power band before the shift. I think this might be a compromise with available gear ratios.
- You can feel the extra weight while driving as any steering or brake input has significantly more momentum. Nose dives significantly more under hard braking and lane changes at speed feel sluggish.
- You can smell the Urea AdBlue very distinctively at idle. I suspect it was in a re-gen cycle but still not my experience with prior Diesels.
All in all a winner if you want the range and power but does give up some sportiness to the weight.
I got to spend about 20 minutes with it in city and a little run on the freeway before I had to pull over and give someone else a chance.
What I liked:
Very strong acceleration and no issue getting to 70mph with "authority" on the freeway merge ramp. It feels much stronger than stock 2.0L or 3.6L which I got to drive back to back.
What I didn't like was three things:
- Power band is done by 4.5k RPM and the transmission and gear ratio makes this overly noticeable. The auto transmission needs to be setup to shift maybe 300 or 400rpm earlier so you don't feel the dip in the power band before the shift. I think this might be a compromise with available gear ratios.
- You can feel the extra weight while driving as any steering or brake input has significantly more momentum. Nose dives significantly more under hard braking and lane changes at speed feel sluggish.
- You can smell the Urea AdBlue very distinctively at idle. I suspect it was in a re-gen cycle but still not my experience with prior Diesels.
All in all a winner if you want the range and power but does give up some sportiness to the weight.
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