A week's worth of driving

Tom Schuster · 07-14-2007, 01:17 PM

I have had my MegaCab for a week now and these are my impressions (in no particular order):

1. Other people have complained about how the truck behaves when shifting and then hitting the accelerator (I have the 6-speed). I would say that yes, there is a difference between the way this truck responds compared to the way my other truck responds, but then my '99 2500 is different than my husband's '01 3500 and that one is different than his '97 3500. While I was driving it around yesterday I felt like I had finally figured out the correct combination of shifting and accelerating; in other words, I think it's just an idiosyncracy of the truck and not an actual problem.

2. This truck has a lot of power! And it's frustrating when I can't use it because I am behind slow people on the highway.

3. Gas mileage is averaging 14 mpg, but I've been doing a lot of driving in town and behind slow people on the highway. Coming back from Dishman last week I got above 16 mpg on the highway.

4. The "check engine" light came on yesterday afternoon (at 625 miles). The code was "P200C" and a call to the fine people at Dishman revealed that it had something to do with the temperature in the particulate afterburner--perhaps a little too much sulfur in the diesel I put in the truck the day before? (It was ULSD.) Obviously the sensors on this truck are pretty sensitive. Rather than look at that as a bad thing, I understand that this is part of what comes with bleeding edge technology and I am going to roll with it until it proves to be something more than a minor issue. I would like to start using biodiesel (B5) in it (that's all I used in my 2500) but I want to call the fuel supplier and do a little more research before I do that.

5. The engine on this truck is so quiet. I thought that was a great thing until my daughter turned up the stereo and all of a sudden I couldn't figure out when to shift--I am so used to shifting based on hearing what the engine is doing and now I have to train myself to look at the tach.

6. My kids think the coolest thing on this truck is the UConnect. My phone and the truck can talk to each other, so now when the phone rings, the stereo automatically goes off and a lovely voice says, "You have a phone call." I push the Uconnect button on the rearview mirror and I am connected to my phone and can have a completely hands-free conversation while I am driving down the highway behind all the slow tourists.

7. I like it that I can go grocery shopping and everything from Costco and Super 1 fits into the back seat of my truck--even with one of my kids sitting back there.

So overall, I would say that this truck totally rocks and I am so happy this is what we decided to get. I love getting in it and driving it every day.

Janet (the Mrs.)