Maverick Road Trip CO -> SoCal (2,628 Miles total) : Feedback & Results

[Nw_adventure]

I mixed it up trying to see what results would be. They didn’t differ. I used 85 (in CO, WY, UT and 87 in CA and NV) I did also use one full tank of 88 ethanol-free which is available ironically at Maverick branded gas stations.

COOL Ford does say Mavs should not be using 85 -)

Sponsored

 

[tebowed]

Lol true! Almost all our pics are with myself and family in them. I didn’t take trip with reviewing Mav in mind. CA we were beach bums and I didn’t drive at all while there.

Hopefully you get many more trips with the family, and with the Mav.

 

[Yardtruck]

Well...how do you like your hybrid? Acceleration, NVH, etc.

 

[BlueSnake77]

One complaint is the steering. The truck tends to wander and requires constant correction. This seems to be a Ford thing that I have encountered in the past - no big deal. However, the steering effort is a bit more than I can manage without gripping the wheel with thumb and a couple of fingers. I would prefer for small corrections to be able to wrap my fingers around the wheel but without the moderate grip pressure. After 10 hours it gets a bit old.

I have to say my experience with my Fords has been just the opposite. They have always tracked very straight, no side to side corrections on the steering wheel when going down a straight road.
2011 Fiesta
2012 Focus
2018 Escape
I put the air pressure at the door sticker or about 1 lb below.

 

[Rotortech]

@BlueSnake77 I am playing with the air pressure. Honestly, I don't notice steering effort when driving in town. I am running 40 psi front and rear. Anyway, the steering is a minor gripe and probably just me getting old . . .

 

[Dad]

I have to say my experience with my Fords has been just the opposite. They have always tracked very straight, no side to side corrections on the steering wheel when going down a straight road.
2011 Fiesta
2012 Focus
2018 Escape
I put the air pressure at the door sticker or about 1 lb below.

I agree with you. We had a Ford Flex and that vehicle tracked beautifully in all types of weather. I always felt in total control and it seemed to just hunker down and go with the road. Great car.

 

[Dad]

Thanks for your review….one of the main reasons I’m going with the Maverick is that it has a steel bumper that goes across the entire front covering both the driver and passenger sides; safe travels to all.

I did not know that. Good to know!

 

[Dad]

@BlueSnake77 I am playing with the air pressure. Honestly, I don't notice steering effort when driving in town. I am running 40 psi front and rear. Anyway, the steering is a minor gripe and probably just me getting old . . .

Nah!!

 

[stevhorn]

As a trucker, I'd like to thank you for the kind words. Very rarely do we ever receive positive feedback. Oh, don't get me wrong, we do receive feedback, but it usually involves a hand gesture.

 

[lajlmt]

Sharing some thoughts on our Maverick after our road trip if anyone cares to read them...

First off -THANK YOU to our professional truck driver's out on the road delivering everything imaginable across the country, especially right now. You can't appreciate their work until you're on the road with them for days at a time. The open road, as rewarding as it can be, is also cruel, rough, dangerous, exhausting and lonely. I don't know how you men & women do it every single day but it's appreciated. The lack of healthy food and safe, clean places to stop, refuel and rest really should be addressed more.

My wife and daughter (plus our dog) took a road trip from Colorado to Southern California to escape the snow and hit the beach. Total miles driven: 2,628. Our route was mostly Interstates 80, 15, & 5. We covered north CO, WY, UT, top corner of AZ, NV, and CA.

We left our Tesla Model Y behind and opted for our hot pepper red Maverick - an XLT w/ lux package, FX4, sunroof, rear window. We added the soft rolling tonneau cover, mud flaps, and did one size up with BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain tires. I also appreciated the nicer instrument cluster display that is on the Lariat and my FX4 trim’s. It makes the truck look so much nicer in my opinion.

The entire bed was full of our luggage- suitcases, portable play yard, dog crate, cooler, stroller, etc. we were loaded up. It was invaluable to have the tonneau cover traveling with luggage; I can’t express that enough.

The truck did fantastic. It has more than enough power to cruise along those never-ending stretches of vast emptiness and the wonderful 80 MPH speed limits. And even at 80MPH you still have just enough power to pass a truck or slower driver. Depending on traffic, I set the cruise on 75-85MPH majority of the time. I can’t say I missed auto-pilot of Tesla. I DID miss adaptive cruise control although some of you Lariat owners will have that feature.

The luxury package features are 500% worth the added cost. The upgraded leather steering wheel alone was super comfortable to use. The heated wheel, wipers, mirrors, seats etc. we’re awesome on the cold mornings until we got out west (this truck warms up VERY fast though). Remote start was great and I did lock myself out at the gas station but the keypad on the door (program your own code now!) was a life saver.

Ride quality was great. I didn’t think road noise was bad at all - it greatly depends on the type of road material you’re on. The seats are very comfortable and supportive keeping in mind this is an entry level vehicle and a truck. They did show their smaller size, especially the shorter thigh support and firmness. I know what I’m driving so I won’t complain like I was expecting an S-Class comfort level. The sunroof is awesome to have - especially when we hit that Cali. sunshine and opening the sliding rear with roof open creates the most amazing flow of fresh air. The climate control is great. I’d put it on auto and set my temp and it would keep it there w/o constantly needing to tinker with it. The LED headlights at night are actually very good and I might say on-par with the Tesla’s amazing LED headlights. The auto-bright on/off feature was working good too when we departed early morning while it was still dark.

MPG Results: The entire trip, door-to-door we got 23MPG average on the dot. I never could get that 30MPG mark. Keep in mind that was in a fully loaded truck with bigger tires and said speeds so while I was expecting better, that seems realistic and still respectable for a little truck. My slight disappointment with range. At that MPG we were getting maybe 360 miles a tank, roughly. That’s slightly better than the electric car's 318. This truck replaced our F150 with a 30 gal tank. So although much worse MPG with its 5.4 V8, we could easily go 430 miles on a tank of gas on the highway. There were times when I missed the F150’s size and comfort and more refined driving experience on the open highway.

Coming back through Las Vegas on Friday night, traffic was pretty congested. Even though we weren’t going more than 45MPH I had to emergency brake. The kind where you see people in your review mirror swerving into the side lane to avoid running into the car in front of them because they were following too closely. The truck stopped within a few inches of the bumper in front of me, with tires screeching a bit. I didn’t get the feeling there was any type of braking assist from the Maverick to avoid a collision. In our shortly owned 2020 Escape Hybrid, there would be a red warning flash on the display if the car engaged in emergency braking assist.

I’m overall super happy with the Maverick. I do think Ford missed an opportunity to launch with an AWD Hybrid instead of the two options. We all know that "below $20K" is not real anyway. My AWD EcoBoost is excellent in the snow and feels very stable but it feels so unnecessary to miss out on that amazing MPG during the 95% of time I don't really need AWD… Just standardize it because we’re not going to be towing a lot realistically with the Mav - and if that’s what you need a truck for then Ford conveniently has Ranger and F-Series for that. We won’t be doing severe off-roading in this little truck either.

NM - AZ - CA - NV - AZ - NM ..37 mpg in 23’ hybrid XLT Lux. Saw too many accidents, risky passing! Drive safe!

Sponsored