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The Other Vehicle

Now that's a fun group of vehicles! Love the Jeep, I had a Fisher manual angle plow on my '57 Willy's, I think it was 6 1/2', was really fun to plow with. Your Jeep reminds me of those days. I've also considered a 650 V-Strom, think I'm going to go with a DR650 instead, but really like the capability of the V-Strom.
 
DrDanteIII said:
I'll play...

the DD: 2003 BMW 525i 5-speed, M-sport package (as seen on Regular car reviews :
)
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The Jeep: 1970/1972 CJ5, Amc 304 V8, 3-speed, Tera-low gears in the t-case, full-ish cage, locked rear, front disk conversion, 33" tires.
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Dirty Bike: 2001 XR400r street titled (and my kid's 03 xr100)
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And the streebike I bought on an impulse and almost never ride: 2020 V-stom 650

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Hell of a fleet!!!
 
RPS1030 said:
Hmmmm, similar luck here a few weeks ago. Put a damper on Trail Hero for me. Still finding gotchas.
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Freaking awesome man! I can't wait to get out there again. I may have to just show up one day. Have a great group of wheeling buddies but I'm a few years ahead of them and the family life limits long distance trips for now.

btw did it again the next day..... If you're not trying hard you're probably not rolling occasionally
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Really enjoy those off-road pictures! I'm not an off-roader myself, so just to be clear the wheels are not supposed to be staring up at the sky like that? :D:D:D

Looks like an insane amount of fun, would love to give it a try one of these days.
 
Dave01 said:
Really enjoy those off-road pictures! I'm not an off-roader myself, so just to be clear the wheels are not supposed to be staring up at the sky like that? :D:D:D

Looks like an insane amount of fun, would love to give it a try one of these days.
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Sometimes these old Toyotas will take a trail nap. Slows the day down a bit but nbd
 
My daily driver is th red hot chili pepper. Its 22 mpg and the ability to turn on a dime, haul dogs AND do some light off roading makes it my daily go to. I bought an 18 in May 2019 and they gave me a great deal. It had bells and whistles (8.4 screen/tow package/winter package) and I got for 18,500. I had few expectations except for 4WD in winter. It has been a wonder car surprisingly and 50 mph on nat forest roads in sand mode is the hidden easter egg of the design. Below is in West Yellostone in Feb. 20200119_154658_Moment (2).jpgMy 22 Laramie is my tow beast, yard hauler and does transfer station duty...with 50% of my miles towing the travel trailer.
 
Dave01 said:
That's a nice versatile vehicle! Does it have a cvt or regular tranny?
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Nope, it is a real 4WD on a renegade...with the different driving modes not like most AWD "cars." And we quit buying Subaru's because they went CVT... We'd had five over the years. I was ambivalent about the "modes" when I got it. MPG and good 4WD are essentials in MT. Once I got it and get 7 mpg better than my 1500's (before the 2500) on a good day was great. Then I found out the snow mode really works in that it uses low torque in snow so you don't break the tires loose.

THEN, one day while driving off road on the National Forest roads I was playing with the modes and lo and behold in Sand Mode, all the power got compressed into a narrow band with no thought of mpg and will go up most any dirt road at speed and then coming down engine brakes with the best of them. I've turned numerous people onto this hidden "feature" of the tranny up here. The tranny is tuned in Auto for MPG by Stellantis/FCA for CAFE standards at the expense of ANY favorable driving experience. The other jeeps have a "sport" mode like my wife's Cherokee and that addresses much of the performance improvements. But the "sand" mode on the Renegade is like a hidden gem "super sport" mode imho. It isn't the same car in that mode, but, that mode is really too much for regular in city driving but absolutely perfect for better maintained dirt roads or even not well maintained dirt roads. We got em. And it is a little unstopable beast on Snow like we get. If you look at the West Yellowstone picture you can see how they plow roads here. See how they have a few inches of snow on them, no pavement? That's what we get ALL winter from usually the first big snow until sometime in mid to late March when the thaw cycle starts... A ni, ce feature for MT roads is that even in Auto you can switch from auto 2wd to auto 4wd with a simple finger push on the tranny dial that sits right next to your knee, you hardly have to put any effort in turning it off or on and so when you are on good road 2wd. See a snowy or wet with hydroplane possibilities, simple push with your hand on your knee and you are in 4wd. Its very user friendly I've found. I asked at the dealership as Stellantis can't give them away apparently but my dealer here in Helena MT is apparently the biggest seller of Renegades in the US and has a bunch on their lot. The dealer told me or agreed with me that first they are comparatively cheap, have a good four wheel drive and are like a perfect western Montana vehicle and now days I think they all have the 8.4 screen, here at least the heated seats so for where I live, that is all you need in a car. And they don't look bad always interesting. OH, and they are a GREAT DOG car. Put the back seats down and you can put at least two big dogs back there. Ask me how I know... We don't even put the back seats up. They are pristine new under the blankets.

And the biggest surprise for the Renegade has been on washboard roads in Sand Mode. All my Subaru's just absolutely sucked for air on washboard. Short wheelbase can be a problem but for some reason I can't fathom, the Renegade is really good on washboard and it is easy to find that sweet spot on speed to kind of drift over it. And I do drift on some of the good back dirt roads we have up here... Like I said, I had few expectations for it when I got it but have been very pleasantly surprised. If they had made it flat towable every Class A and C out there would have one is my thinking... And now they have a turbo as the primary engine vs the old NA I have. I hear mixed things on it but also my engine. It seems on the old ones you either got a good one or they started losing oil and needing systemic fixes. I must have gotten a good one. The turbos are apparently more reliable overall but mixed on power... They originally had manual versions on the most basic version. I spoke to one person who had one and they absolutely loved it even at bare bones. Oh yeah, this is the HD forum... Here's my Laramie, Fab Four front winch bumper, and rough country rear...
 
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Sounds like a great little vehicle. I had an '06 Liberty diesel, kind of felt about that the way you feel about your Renegade. So versatile, could tow very well, great in snow, comfortable on any roads, high 20's mpg on the highway. I like cars that can do a lot of different things well.

We now have 4 Subaru's in my family, more like 7 if you include my siblings and neices/nephews. Great cars in many ways. Like you, I don't particularly enjoy the cvt experience but for the people that drive them it's been fine. Terrific in snow, decent mpg and comfort, very practical. But if it was me, I'd rather have your Renegade!
 
Had a rare dry day at adventure offroad park in TN. Got some good crawling in but the Toyota is still having EFI issues. I’m one of the rare people who can say my Jeep is more reliable than my Toyota.

Pics never do the terrain justice but the Toyota is on 40s for perspective

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