BigDz
New Member
- First Name
- Gerry
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2017
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Frisco, CO
- Vehicle(s)
- 2011 Mercedes ML350 BluTec
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi. I am new to this forum, but I had some really cool sightings of the new JL. I live in Frisco, CO @9100 ft. There is always some manufacturer doing high altitude / high demand testing up here. We have the continental divide right here and there are various mules dressed in Camouflage running up and down the pass on I70. Well, Tuesday, I was entering I70 and just about to drive over the pass towards Denver. Low and behold, a JL mule turns in front of me and heads up the ramp onto I70. I am driving a Mercedes ML350 BluTec diesel myself mind you. Now normally, a wrangler can barely breathe up here and is in the right lane struggling to make it up the pass. It is ~7 miles of 6% grade on the eastbound side. Most vehicles (normally aspirated) really struggle. So anyways, this JL took the ramp like a rocket. I literally had to floor my turbo diesel ML (400+ ft/lbs of torque mind you). It just kept pushing up the hill in the left lane without running out of breathe like most normally aspirated vehicles do. I am serious, this thing went in the left lane and was flying up the hill. I did smell a bit of NOx so I am fairly confident it was a diesel. There is the possibility it was the turbo 4. But, I don't think it would have been that fast. The engineer had a laptop that he was playing with so there was some fine tuning he was surely doing. All I can say is that there is a new powertrain coming in the JL that we all will be very very excited about. I am now seriously going to consider one. As a side note, there seem to be 6+ or so mules up here running around. They are going up and down I70 at the Eisenhower tunnels (11,000 ft. asl) and over Loveland pass ~13,000ft. asl. Some are in packs probably recording performance. Others are towing trailers with skids of weight added up and down the divide. But, I was really excited to observe the high performance of the new turbo powertrain, be it gas or diesel. Party on brothers, it's coming and I'm excited
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