DFD

razr390 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am in4 road head review

CaleDeRoo wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:36 am Rear defroster is basically a requirement 7mo a year here. Unless you want to run the A/C compressor constantly.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:53 am

razr390 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am in4 road head review

cockblocked me this trip.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:36 am A CT update...

Drove 4 hours in it yesterday ~250 miles. It was BY FAR the most comfortable highway experience I've ever had. The lack of noise is astonishing, the seat is like sitting in a La Z Boy, and the ride/handling is effortless. I couldn't believe the time we made and how ready/fresh I felt arriving home. It's so drastically better than the JT, that I'm going to stop talking about it. It's a completely unfair comparison. In the quest for a couch highway cruiser, it's mission accomplished.

We took a load of stuff from my dad's garage that we've been using as a storage unit after we ran out of time moving with the JT, and with the bed completely full, it was like there was nothing back there. And it easily took 2x what the JT could...with the tailgate down on the JT and the tailgate up on the CT. The front bench seat was nice to let the ride in the middle, and we filled the back seat up with stuff we didn't want exposed to the elements. As a tool, this thing is phenomenal.

About half way through the drive, commented that it felt like there was great visibility...and I realized at that point the difference between a Ram and GM truck. The cowl/hood is noticeably lower in the Ram than the GM trucks. Over the summer I drove a friend's Silverado LT, and I HATED how piss poor the visibility was. It felt like sitting in a hole, like a Camaro, which made the large truck feel even larger and more difficult to park. Whether real or not, the Ram gives the impression that the hood is lower and less massive, which over time makes the truck shrink around you...my GMT400 did this. I can see the corners of the hood, which is impossible in a GM truck and REALLY makes it feel more maneuverable. If I drove the Ram and Silverado back to back, I'd vastly prefer the Ram, it's no surprise now why the Ram is on sales pace with the Silverado...it's the better truck no doubt. The incredible thing is the Ram is massive...must be the offroad group lift, but we passed 2500 trucks that we were eye level with and we looked down on Ford and GM trucks with regular suspension. Very commanding truck, but still doesn't feel as massive as the GM did now that I'm used to it.

The other area the Ram excels is interior DESIGN. I spent a lot of time looking around the interior during the drive, and it became apparent that the interior isn't actually much nicer than a GM, it just looks nicer. I'll take some pics to back it up, but just like a GM truck, everything you see is hard plastic. There's no soft touch anything anywhere...including the door panels. The arm "rest" is hard plastic. The dash is hard plastic. The steering wheel is rubber. But it doesn't LOOK like hard plastic. It has nice grain, nice design features, overall it appears to be high quality, but once you touch it, you realize it's not. Even the gayge cluster has a nice pleasing design to it. The warning lights have little molded sections where the live, the gauges look nice, and the tiny screen has way more functionality than it should. Where GM just does flat surfaces that makes it look cheap, the Ram adds design elements that make it look better. These design elements are part of the mold and cost very little extra to make, but result in a work truck feeling nicer than a Silverado LT (technically a step up).

Finally, the engine.

I wish I could report a bunch of regret and here, but I just can't. Somehow the V6 exhaust is tuned to give a lower growl than the JT, and it legit sounds like it's bigger than it is. It's a ridiculously pleasing engine note for what it is, this surprised me a lot. It's still slow off the line, taking off from a light or something, but once moving...there's zero to complain about. Even with a full bed, it was surprisingly adequate. On the highway, it doesn't go into 8th gear much...it results in the engine turning 1,700rpm at 80! The V6 doesn't like lugging down that far, but when it does, the mileage seems to be We left with 90 miles on the truck, so a brand new powertrain, I had cruise set at 80 the entire time and it got an indicated 17mpg. We had a headwind, and the drive upstate is almost always 2mpg worse than the drive down for...reasons so I'm optimistic for FE as the engine breaks in. Even more amazing because the truck is so high. The JT couldn't crack 15 doing 75, so like I said above the comparison is just and I'm going to stop that now.

max225 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:03 am Good info indeed.

Can this thing cruise in 8th ? Or does it need 7th and 6th a lot?

Apex wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am Dplac trying to make me feel stupid for getting a mid-sizer.

D Griff wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:06 am

wap wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:43 pm

Even my fucking 1970 Beetle had a rear window defroster! FIFTY ONE YEARS AGO!! It's unconscionable that a modern vehicle doesn't come with one standard. You'd think they'd be mandatory.

I always thought they were less common in pickemups because the rear glass is so much closer to the front vents

I've had several poverty vehicles sans rear defroster, '97 Civic everything and both the Jeep and Miata had vinyl rear windows.

wap wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:01 pm

D Griff wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:06 am

I always thought they were less common in pickemups because the rear glass is so much closer to the front vents

I've had several poverty vehicles sans rear defroster, '97 Civic everything and both the Jeep and Miata had vinyl rear windows.

Can't get much more poverty than a 1970 Beetle that was already 14 years old when I bought it.
VW has also been putting RWD's in their 'verts for decades now, too.

CaleDeRoo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:56 am I think you hit the nail on the head with your interior talk. The Big Horn I had looked way better than the 2020 Silverado LT, and just tiny tiny changes to touch points made it feel a trim level above. For example my elbow hurt after about 20min in the silverado and it was so noticable because in the RAM it never hurt, and I did way more miles in it.

I think you're also right about the Hemi and 3.21s. you can't really go 80mph here but at 70mph it was sitting in 8th and hitting 21-22mpg. It hardly ever went into 4cyl more though above 55mph.

D Griff wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:10 pm

wap wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:01 pm

Can't get much more poverty than a 1970 Beetle that was already 14 years old when I bought it.
VW has also been putting RWD's in their 'verts for decades now, too.

Airbag light at 18K miles

Gotta pay to play.

(kind of)

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:34 am

Apex wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am Dplac trying to make me feel stupid for getting a mid-sizer.

Oh, not at all.

Despite its flaws, I loved the JT and still do. There's many aspects to the JT that I prefer to the CT, and I'll probably buy another one if my needs change. It's just that my current needs for a strong highway cruiser and stuff hauler make the JT less than ideal. Around town, wheeling, top off fun, there's nothing comparable to the JT.

The part I dislike most about the CT is what made the JT so appealing...feeling of specialness. The JT got comments everywhere from all walks of life. From the driver's seat, it just felt special. The view of the hood, the upright windshield, the interior design, it's a really cool feeling vehicle, and I still love the way they look way more. The CT is nice and all, but it's literally driving a contractor truck around. The only things helping it are the black elements instead of chrome and the OR pack lift and AT3W's.

wap wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:38 pm Good stuff. Glad it's growing on you! In4morepicsandupdates.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:46 pm

wap wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:38 pm Good stuff. Glad it's growing on you! In4morepicsandupdates.

Big stuff in the next month when we drive out west to pick up the boat. Major there, mostly because this thing eats up highway miles like it's its job.

I'll probably post up installing the RTT on the bed

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:31 pm

Not sure anyone cares, but as predicted the stupid CT is growing on me. I haven't really driven it a ton because I don't really go anywhere, but we find ourselves taking it more than the JL when we do. even choses to drive it over the JL on her own. She said she likes how high it is (I swear it has more ground clearance than my JTR did) and how comfy it is, but still prefers her JL because it has heated features.

There's no highways around me, so it's all been city. The 3.21 gears have proven to be perfectly fine, and the engine has plenty of power. It doesn't even really feel "slow" now that I've gotten the hang of driving it, it just feels 100% adequate. It hasn't shifted into 8th gear in a week since I don't drive over 60 anywhere, but to me, a transmission with that many gears makes sense to have a highway-only gear. The thing works perfectly fine around town, and that's been the biggest surprise TBH. We'll see how it tows, but I'm not towing heavy things (boat is 4k with trailer, glamper is 3k)...so I suspect it'll again be 100% adequate and probably handle towing duty better than the JT due to size.

Speaking of, the other surprise is how quickly I've adapted to its size. I mentioned it before, but the seating position combined with the cowl/hood height gives the driver a much more commanding view out compared to a GM full size. As a result, the truck just feels less massive and more manageable. The side windows are massive, the rear window is massive, the bumpers don't stick out much at all, so you know where the corners of the truck are. Parking hasn't been a huge issue, but I still don't take it downtown. Overall, I'm amazed how comfortable I am driving it.

The rotary shifter is fantastic. This is my first vehicle with it, and the ease of use combined with the space savings is incredible. I'll write up more detail in another post with photos, but this one little spot in the dash essentially replaces the entire center console in a JL/T, and it's easier to use!

Overall, this is working out. I don't even care about the tiny radio and other poverty. It just doesn't bother me because it's a truck and nothing more. But it still feels lightyears nicer than an old truck with the same features. I find myself being more excited about what it will enable (roof top tent, boat, etc) than caring about the vehicle itself. It's been a nice mental break and maybe just MAYBE I can be done with car shit for good.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:31 pm

Not sure anyone cares, but as predicted the stupid CT is growing on me. I haven't really driven it a ton because I don't really go anywhere, but we find ourselves taking it more than the JL when we do. even choses to drive it over the JL on her own. She said she likes how high it is (I swear it has more ground clearance than my JTR did) and how comfy it is, but still prefers her JL because it has heated features.

There's no highways around me, so it's all been city. The 3.21 gears have proven to be perfectly fine, and the engine has plenty of power. It doesn't even really feel "slow" now that I've gotten the hang of driving it, it just feels 100% adequate. It hasn't shifted into 8th gear in a week since I don't drive over 60 anywhere, but to me, a transmission with that many gears makes sense to have a highway-only gear. The thing works perfectly fine around town, and that's been the biggest surprise TBH. We'll see how it tows, but I'm not towing heavy things (boat is 4k with trailer, glamper is 3k)...so I suspect it'll again be 100% adequate and probably handle towing duty better than the JT due to size.

Speaking of, the other surprise is how quickly I've adapted to its size. I mentioned it before, but the seating position combined with the cowl/hood height gives the driver a much more commanding view out compared to a GM full size. As a result, the truck just feels less massive and more manageable. The side windows are massive, the rear window is massive, the bumpers don't stick out much at all, so you know where the corners of the truck are. Parking hasn't been a huge issue, but I still don't take it downtown. Overall, I'm amazed how comfortable I am driving it.

The rotary shifter is fantastic. This is my first vehicle with it, and the ease of use combined with the space savings is incredible. I'll write up more detail in another post with photos, but this one little spot in the dash essentially replaces the entire center console in a JL/T, and it's easier to use!

Overall, this is working out. I don't even care about the tiny radio and other poverty. It just doesn't bother me because it's a truck and nothing more. But it still feels lightyears nicer than an old truck with the same features. I find myself being more excited about what it will enable (roof top tent, boat, etc) than caring about the vehicle itself. It's been a nice mental break and maybe just MAYBE I can be done with car shit for good.