Tomorrow (August 3rd) will mark two years with the TRX. In the first year I did 11,278 miles. In the second year I did 11,222 miles, bringing the total miles to 22,500.
For 22,500 miles the TRX has been my daily driver, it’s been my hunting truck, it’s towed the 21ft pontoon boat, and it’s been the long road trip vehicle of choice. Here are some random thoughts I put together while having the TRX for two years.
I’ve made two trips from home to San Juan Island in the TRX, along with a hunting trip to Ekalaka, MT as well as one trip to Seattle. Fuel economy for each trip.
- San Juan Island Trip #1: 1,168 miles/12.8mpg
- San Juan Island Trip #2: 1,380 miles/13.2mpg
- Seattle: 1,053 miles/13mpg
- Ekalaka, MT: 1,417 miles/11.1mpg
- Winter fuel and massive head winds on the trip home didn’t help us.
In comparison, I’ve also done the trip to San Juan in a 2009 Honda Pilot, 2019 Chevy Colorado ZR2, and a 2020 Raptor. The Pilot got 20.5mpg, the ZR2 got 18.5mpg, and the Raptor got 17.1mpg. In short, the TRX is a lot of things, but it’s not an economical vehicle in terms of fuel economy.
The list of Pro’s is pretty long, while the list of con’s is fairly short. Here are a few of each in no specific order:
Pro’s
- The truck is extremely comfortable. I’m 6’8” and with the driver seat set for me my 6’5” brother can sit behind me with plenty of leg room.
- With over 700hp the truck is stupid fun. It brings the 12 year old out of me daily.
- The Road Presence -the truck just looks mean.
- The TRX is very stable on bad roads. In snow and ice it always feels planted to me.
- The ride quality for a truck is fantastic.
- The sound! Supercharger and exhaust combination is awesome!
- The value of my 2021. My truck stickered for a pinch over $85,000 and a 2023 is almost $20,000 more!
The Con’s
- The heated and ventilated seat controls along with the heated steering wheel controls. I’d much rather have a 10” screen versus the 12” in exchange for some hard buttons.
- The convex mirror in the tow mirrors aren’t powered.
- As the tires have aged the road noise has gone up. I’ll be exploring different options when the tires die.
- The adaptive cruise can be aggressive and sometimes kind of jerky. I’m used to it, but it pisses my wife off, which means I then hear about it.
- The damn TRX badge on the center arm rest. In the summer that thing is 1,000F and can damn near brand the VIN number into my arm.
- The driveline clunk. I’ve had the rear driveline replaced once, and it goes back into the dealership to be looked at again in two weeks.
In short, I really do love this truck. It’s my favorite vehicle they have put the Hellcat motor in. I had a Challenger Hellcat, but after two summers I got rid of it because it was just ok to me. Turns out I’m a truck guy and not a car guy. If you can keep fuel economy out of it, for a half ton truck it’s damn near perfect! Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble.
