2007 Limited Road Trip Report

[oldracer]

We ordered our truck at the end of July and picked it up the 3rd week of Sept.

 

It is a V8 Limited 2WD, 6 spd A/T, with Moonroof, Sat radio, 6 disc, 2 tone leather, heated seats, power pedals, hard bed cover, bed extender,

power rear window, 18" wheels, 3:55 posi as part of the class lll/lV trailer package, traction control which I think is aprt of our electronics apckage...you get the idea it's got stuff on it.

 

I modded the airbox, dropped in a K&N filter, and put Mobil 1 with a K&N oli filter in it prior to the trip.

 

We left Orlando at 4:35 AM on Oct 6, we stopped in Fredricksburg VA at 6:30 PM for the night and swilled a pitcher of Sangria with our Hooter's wings...average spped was the computer run time of 9 hrs, 52 min divided by the 751 miles we covered, that worked out to an average speed of 78.9 mph....acceptable.

 

Gas mileage for the first 751 miles was 20.6, running along with traffic between 75-90 mph with the cruise on. expansion joints and rough pavement were unnoticeable with the IRS, no step-out, no disruption to the ride at all....this is the BEST ford truck we ever had and we've had about 8-10 of them. Truck is eerily smooth and very quiet, tire and some wind noise is all you hear.

 

Sat AM we left at 7:00 AM and encountered unusually heavy traffic all the way to RI, seems itwas a holiday weekend in the North, and people actually observe them...

1 accident in NY 4 miles after the GW bridge that resulted in an 11 mile backup, wasn't even on our side...lost 1 hr and 3.7 mpg in traffic...

 

2nd accident in CT, 45 min delay, 2 mpg hit.

I finally got to my house in Mass about 5:00 PM, mileage for 1287.6 miles= 19.4

 

We drove to VT, NH, Maine, and central MA over the 8 days we were there, got as much as 25 mpg in steady 50 mph traffic, as little as 13.2 in downtown Boston, (hey we had to go to The Union Oyster House!!)

 

We kept using the "awesome" word to describe the truck's road manners, comfort and the power from that 3 Valve motor....by the way the speed limiter cuts off the fun at an indicated 105 mph....in 4th while pulling very hard....very hard, seriously, impressive. I will be re-programming later to move the speed limiter a little higher and tweak the engine settings....

Race shop tells me the airbox mod, (cutting away all the internal box airtube top portion), with the K&N is probably worth at least 5% or so with the Mobil 1, so 292 X1.05 = a little over 300 hp at the flywheel....way adequate and pretty surprising to ricer racers....haven't been beat yet!!!

I think the 40+ feet of smoking Michelins when the TC is turned off throws them of their game....also gets me yelled at, it is her truck after all...did I mention the bountiful torque feel with the 3:55's???

 

Trip back was uneventful and we stayed in Wilson(?) SC then drove back to orlando the following morning.

Final tally: 3152 miles, 19.8 mpg for the entire trip and not 1 regret for buying this truck, we love it, I am more impressed than I expected to be and I had high expectations for this truck....

 

We spent $363.30 for the entire trip for gas, way less than 2 tickets and a car rental last year of about a grand, we spent quality time together on the road and had an excellent time.

 

The bonus is it will be a partial tax write-off as I had to do some business and some work on my house up there....I love it when a plan comes together!!!!

 

We decided to move home as a result of this trip and I am now in the process of doing house plans and getting site work done on my land up there to build a new house with a KILLER garage/shop for my hobby time....heated, compressor, welders, lift, drains, car wash setup, and a work area with the required grinders etc... I am still working dimensions but I believe I'm going with 2 cars wide, 4 cars deep with a side entrance bay across the 4 stalls behind the garage stalls...should end up as 36X60 deep.....I'm gonna die in this house and give it to my son, so I'm going whole hog on the garage I want!!!

I will be finishing a 2 bdrm 2 ba apartment/guest house over the garage when we get settled for kids or company.....or GRANDKIDS to get away and go to school in Boston.

 

Wife wants a 2500+ sq ft Cape 4/3/ + 2 1/2 baths and a home office so she doesn't drive in the snow; seems fine to me....all that $$ from my Cape Cod house I sold a few yrs ago will be well used!!!

 

I will end up with 2 houses on 20 acres, my existing house and the new one set waaayyy back.

Downside will be the 1000 ft driveway, but I needed a snowplow truck anyway....really I did..

 

My analysis shows that my cost of living will actually be 1% cheaper there than here in FL; if we forego a Mortgage, lots cheaper.. times change and I am going home to stay this time.

Sport Trac will be perfect for the roads up there too.....

[Calvin@LAP]

I'm glad you're enjoying your Sport Trac. Nice to hear great reviews from our customers.

[igor]

20 mpg on 78.9 mph average is not bad at all ... I did 78.2mph average on one tank in my Mazda3 (with 4 people and full trunk) and got measly 22mpg .. and of course that is on the 2.3l 4 banger (although I am surprised by the low average speed (compared times on the receipts) - I had it at steady 110mph for almost an hour) .

 

Anyways - thanks for the review - it makes me want to get an ST .. but I do not think we can afford another new car ... we have a 99 Expy, that is still pulling strong (180k miles), and we have the little Mazda for errands around the town

 

Glad you enjoyed the trip.

 

Igor

[oldracer]

Honestly guys if this is the kind of vehicle Ford is going to building, there won"t be as many unhappy customers....I can't say enough how much we love this thing....

 

Now if Ford can find a way to improve dealer practices, pay a decent price for the inevitable warranty work and address the shitty sales/service process you guys complain about they would be golden....

 

Again, my dealer here in Florida is Don Reid Ford in Maitland, they get it right on the service side consistently, in spite of Ford's incompetent and seemingly uncaring customer relations dep't and the limits put on dealers by the factory.....no shop is ever 100% good, it's how you handle the problems and issues that define your satisfaction level with your clientele.

I was a Service Mananger for VW, Porsche. Audi, Mazda and have owned a retail/race radiator/A/C shop, so I think I understand what it takes to be able to please customers....

 

I would even speculate that as many as 50% of potential new Ford customers shopping at dealers are turned off and go elsewhere....not being a Ford loyalist, they don't feel the need to put up with any perceived bullshit during the transaction....they just go away.....

 

I suspect Toyota & Honda are killing Ford more in that area than pure perceived quality differences....because they are not that far apart, at least according to J.D. Power polls, evne my Focus ST is rated well and at 15K miles, no issues since Feb.....when I bought it...