Motor Trend Maverick Hybrid First Test Review: Thrifty, Awesome Fun

[WesM]

Your other hybrid is the gold standard, IMO.

What I meant was more along the lines of the Prius.. great car, great MPG, extremely slow. Nice to see that the Maverick is still reasonably quick. A plug-in version will be awesome. If that comes out in a couple of years, I'll be upgrading.

If they came out with a plug in maverick with say 30 mile range at around $25k for an XL they would steal so many customers from other brands it would be crazy... assuming they could make them fast enough

Rav4 prime claims to have a 40ish mile rang on a 18kw battery. With battery costs around $140 per KW that would be about $2500 added to the Maverick. Plus some cost added for a slightly beefed up motor, it seems like it could be doable. I think plug in hybrids get tax rebates too.

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[Eagle11]

Oct 21st, today.

The hybrid has an inferior suspension to the AWD FX4, but tires can make a huge difference in road comfort, and whatever they were running on the FX4 might have made the difference. Didn't say which of the two FX4 tire options they tested, but the more offroady tires can be louder and harsher in general.

Inferior to who? The Maverick isn't a sport truck.....

 

[JASmith]

Inferior to who? The Maverick isn't a sport truck.....

You already quoted me on inferior to what: "The hybrid has an inferior suspension to the AWD FX4"

This isn't rocket science or confusing, the FWD Mavericks get a cheaper inferior performance suspension than the AWD Mavericks that get a superior more expensive upgrade.

That's why AWD costs $3,300 instead of the usual $1-1.5K upgrade other manufacturers charge, because not only are you getting a driveshaft and rear differential, but also a full on complete replacement multilink suspension, the best suspension design you can hope for from a handling and comfort perspective.

And because people keep putting words in my mouth, I am not saying that the FWD model twistbeam suspension is crap, I'm sure its perfectly adequate, I'm just saying the AWD upgrade suspension is better.

 

[Eagle11]

You already quoted me on inferior to what: "The hybrid has an inferior suspension to the AWD FX4"

This isn't rocket science or confusing, the FWD Mavericks get a cheaper inferior performance suspension than the AWD Mavericks that get a superior more expensive upgrade.

That's why AWD costs $3,300 instead of the usual $1-1.5K upgrade other manufacturers charge, because not only are you getting a driveshaft and rear differential, but also a full on complete replacement multilink suspension, the best suspension design you can hope for from a handling and comfort perspective.

And because people keep putting words in my mouth, I am not saying that the FWD model twistbeam suspension is crap, I'm sure its perfectly adequate, I'm just saying the AWD upgrade suspension is better.

LOL Performance suspension, now that is a good one, Doesn't matter which Maverick you get there is NO such thing as performance suspension.

 

[Champ]

LOL Performance suspension, now that is a good one, Doesn't matter which Maverick you get there is NO such thing as performance suspension.

The quote you are taking out of context and then assigning it a different meaning is "cheaper inferior performance suspension " A cigarette lighter can have inferior performance over a different one. It is not saying it is a Performance Lighter as found on a F1 race car! Any suspension needs to perform OK?

 

[Bingo]

I'm glad to hear the twist beam in this truck, isn't as bad as I've experienced in my Veloster turbo.
Or that's atleast what I'm hoping.

That's one of the nitpicks I've had with the FWD Mav.
On a choppy road, you'll definitely feel the difference between the two suspensions. My Veloster had rear end hop, that damn near killed me!

Independent rear suspension IME normally gives the more planted feel. If I lived up north and drove on those badly snow plowed roads. Which are rough without snow on them.

I would definitely spend the extra and opted for the independent suspension. Regardless of what this review says. I almost changed my order, when I realized the Mav had that twist beam in the rear.

Sorry, I'll take those performance comparisons with a grain of salt.

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