First Road Trip Report

[eltaco]

First time I’ve really had the RHO on the open road, so I’ve been very curious how it would do!

- I was quite happy with fuel mileage. I averaged 17.0mpg for a long stretch at 74mph. It dropped to around 15mpg for a stretch where I cruised 82mph for a few hours. Overall I ended up a 10hr drive at 16.3mpg. This was fully loaded with family if 5 plus a large dog kennel in the back.
- Self-driving is much more useful than I anticipated. I really thought this is a feature of Level-1 I wouldn’t appreciate, and I underestimated it! This definitely reduces driver fatigue on longer trips.
- I’m pretty pampered with my heated, cooled, and massaging seats. What a day to be alive.
- Battery voltage had me nervous as it steadily dropped to 13.2v on this trip. However, every time I stopped it jumped right back up to 14+ on the next start. No issues so far.
- The power on this HO allows me to hold 8th gear SO MUCH better than my 2020 Laramie with Hemi, 3.92gears, and same TRX wheels and tires. Massive improvement!
- Baja is too much suspension bounce for highway speeds, but I did use it to smooth out some bumpier roads to allow my youngest to color a picture. Very noticeable difference!

 

[Webbo]

Nice! How many miles was your trip to get 17? I did a trip as well, but only 480 miles and peaked at 15.9 Average. That’s with cruise control at 72.

Battery voltage is normal to drop on a long drive with our setup. I don’t even bother watching anymore and my drives are much less stressful LOL.

I was pretty impressed with the RHO as well. And after the trip, I was even more happier with this purchase . I have been contemplating trading in on the new TRX whenever announced, but honestly after this trip, I’m sticking with the RHO.

 

[eltaco]

Nice! How many miles was your trip to get 17? I did a trip as well, but only 480 miles and peaked at 15.9 Average. That’s with cruise control at 72.

Battery voltage is normal to drop on a long drive with our setup. I don’t even bother watching anymore and my drives are much less stressful LOL.

I was pretty impressed with the RHO as well. And after the trip, I was even more happier with this purchase . I have been contemplating trading in on the new TRX whenever announced, but honestly after this trip, I’m sticking with the RHO.

700mi one-way trip, and I reset the average MPG right when we left. It ebbed and flowed along with the posted speed limit, but overall average was better than my Hemi on this drive.

Hopefully I see similar on the trip back home!

 

[eltaco]

Return trip went great. Slightly lower at 15.7mpg average on this trip.

No shocker here, but it is pretty sensitive to speed and wind direction as well. If I’m cruising over 80mpg, I might average 13mpg. If I’m doing 65mph, it could be around 19mpg. Any head or side wind, and those drop considerably. Also, if I’m cruising with denser traffic, I can see it jump 4mpg.

I ended up turning on my engine torque gauge and that’s a good indication of fuel consumption. If I’m cruising at 200 ft-lbs, that’s 16mpg. I do wonder how a JB4 or CAT6 affects fuel mileage with its higher torque output now.

 

[Webbo]

I got 16.8mpg Average on my way home. Was trying hard to get that 17 you had LOL

 

[BlackRhino]

Although I really don't care about fuel economy, I am amazed at you guys getting such great mileage out of yours. I have babied mine through a tank or two of fuel and can only manage 13.8 as my best. Do y'all live downhill... both ways?!

 

[Webbo]

These are during long roadtrips (mine was 500 miles). At home during normal driving around town I get 13.5

 

[Gino-RHO]

First time I’ve really had the RHO on the open road, so I’ve been very curious how it would do!

- I was quite happy with fuel mileage. I averaged 17.0mpg for a long stretch at 74mph. It dropped to around 15mpg for a stretch where I cruised 82mph for a few hours. Overall I ended up a 10hr drive at 16.3mpg. This was fully loaded with family if 5 plus a large dog kennel in the back.
- Self-driving is much more useful than I anticipated. I really thought this is a feature of Level-1 I wouldn’t appreciate, and I underestimated it! This definitely reduces driver fatigue on longer trips.
- I’m pretty pampered with my heated, cooled, and massaging seats. What a day to be alive.
- Battery voltage had me nervous as it steadily dropped to 13.2v on this trip. However, every time I stopped it jumped right back up to 14+ on the next start. No issues so far.
- The power on this HO allows me to hold 8th gear SO MUCH better than my 2020 Laramie with Hemi, 3.92gears, and same TRX wheels and tires. Massive improvement!
- Baja is too much suspension bounce for highway speeds, but I did use it to smooth out some bumpier roads to allow my youngest to color a picture. Very noticeable difference!

Boy, I could copy and paste your post verbatim! I've had mine now for 750 miles and just completed a 200 mile trip.

I'm coming from a 2020 Ram 1500 with a 5.7L HEMI – And while I do miss the sound of the exhaust, especially on a cold start, everything else has been spectacular.

- Avg fuel right now is 14.9mpg - I'd say 40% highway / 60% city. Not ripping it up by any means though (yet).

- Yes, the ride is much stiffer (bouncier) than my 1500, but customizing the ride mode does help. It is a baja vehicle first and foremost, but I’ve been really impressed with how well it handles the day-today city travel. Hard to explain, but the stiffness is actually soothing to me, it makes me feel more in control than the ‘squishyness’ of my 1500.

- Similar concern with battery. I noticed it at 13.4v from time to time, especially early on, but now it seems to stay at 14.2v (crazy that we have to monitor this).

- Road noise is quite suppressed – even at 75 mph. impressive that I can have a conference call in that massive of a truck and get comments asking if I’m on the road or not.

- Carplay seems a little buggy at times, but overall, infotainment is quick to respond.

- Some of the infotainment apps are cumbersome to find – even if you have them in favorites (I’m looking at you massaging seats). Not a deal killer whatsoever – just me complaining.

- Hands Free driving is AWESOME! I know it’s not Tesla awesome, but it works really, really well. I went one hour straight without my hands and it worked flawlessly. No bouncing from left to right – it held middle of the lane very well. Even when I used my turn signal to change lanes, it would make the change with no issue.

- Power is crazy. It moves. Yes, there is the ol turbo lag, but since I’m done with my drag racing days, it’s just fine. It’s way more than I need, but I’m glad I have it.

- The smile on my kids’ faces every time I say I’ll drive – priceless. (Poor mom’s Grand Wagoneer…lol)

- Will be doing some off roading later in the summer in northern Michigan – looking forward to seeing what this truck was actually designed for.

- Overall – very impressed and absolutely love driving it.


More to come as I keep putting on the miles…

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

10 mpg average for me over 1300 miles. I rarely drive highway and drive like a pissed off teenager! Maybe it will get better after a few thousand miles? Maybe not, i really dont care . haha

 

[eltaco]

10 mpg average for me over 1300 miles. I rarely drive highway and drive like a pissed off teenager! Maybe it will get better after a few thousand miles? Maybe not, i really dont care . haha

You’re the reason I didn’t buy a used TRX

 

[OldSchool]

Doesn't matter what I try, I've been getting 12.5 - 13.5 mpg all day, every day. She fun, but she thirsty.

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

You’re the reason I didn’t buy a used TRX

LOL! me?! Ram ranch?! never.... What did i say, cant remember

i almost bought like 10 different slightly used TRX while my RHO took a year to build but i held strong. 2 or 3 my friends still have their trx and every single one is selling soon for an RHO after seeing and riding in mine. One buddy alone has two TRX. LOL.