a quick personal 'review' after a road trip last weekend, as i posted in a separate thread where i gripe about not having a spare tire:
welp, made it through the road trip OK. 1100kms, 10hrs of driving, no blowouts or other mishaps. the idea of not having a spare did cross my mind several times when going over rough road sections and when a car in front kicked up some road debris. at first i thought it was a metal plate, but it was most likely rubber. had me checking my TPMS screen though.
the car handled like a champ. lots of 135-140kmh cruising (~85-90mph) in mountainous terrain over the Coquihalla Hwy in BC as well as a few wide open blasts (after dropping off the kids part way with their g/parents). anyone who knows the Coquihalla knows what a beast the passes can be - far from a flat or low elevation highway. it is a car killer - you can see evidence of where cars have caught on fire up the never-ending inclines. for those who don't know, this is the highway where the reality show "Highway Thru Hell" is filmed.
i saw
7.6l/100kms for the day which is 31mpUSg or 37mpg. happy with those numbers considering the higher than EPA speeds and i had 4 people (2 kids) and some luggage. i'd prefer longer gearing than what i have in the 6MT. cruising at 3000rpms+ was higher than i'd have liked and power was not an issue.
with the observed fuel economy, range anxiety of having a small 60l tank was nullified. a realistic range over 700kms at the speeds i was averaging is more than acceptable in my books. the 2.0T, while not an all-out powerhouse, did more than fine and i seldom felt under-powered. only one passing maneuver was more stressful than it needed to be. but that's because i was lazy and left it in 6th instead of downshifting. i also stayed away from Map 1 on the JB4 - left it in Map 0 (stock) for the trip to avoid heat issues.
on a side note, the 2.0T felt nearly as strong as my old G37S, with its 330hp 3.7L V6. that NA engine definitely lost grunt on high mountain passes, whereas the 2.0T compensates for altitude to maintain a more consistent power output. that, combined with more area under the torque curve down low, resulted in surprising performance for what it is. but even the 6MT trim's sport
exhaust system (which gets us +3hp, ha ha) is no match for the G37S VQ's
exhaust note...
