Things That Impress on My New 2017 SR5

Have had a history of Mud Worthy rides including a 68 Land Cruiser that was owned by a 4X4 accessory dealer. It would drive places I did not want to walk. A 94 lifted Toyota pickup with a 22RE and recently a big, lifted F150 with monster mudders on it. Well the engine froze on the Ford without warning due to purging its oil and the 9 mpg was killing me anyway with each tire weighing 78 lbs so I got this new truck and have been noting some nice features that I thought I would share. I decided to go street biased on this purchase and so far I have not been disappointed. I own the magnetic grey, V6 SR5, double cab, short bed, with the towing package, step side, cloth interior and mats. I intend to drive it to a lake house on the highway that is 36 miles away and occasionally go to a farm where I am slaying feral hogs.

1. Despite complaints of low mpg I am getting 21-22 by letting steep hills slow me down instead of letting cruise wind the engine up. I leave the tank mileage display on when I drive and am happy anytime I double the Ford mileage per tank on the same roads.
2. The headlights are really effective and tuned to help me spot all of the deer and other critters our roads are hiding.
3. The tech was slammed by reviewers and to be sure my Corvette and my wife's 18 Traverse have a lot more but the phone interface along with the text and email reading are better than the other two.
4. The voice command does a bunch of things that keep me hands free except punching through a menu when in a call. (edit: I now know I can do this)
5. Despite the street biased tires and no skid plate or off road suspension tuning I am impressed with where I have been able to drive and tow without issue in slippery conditions.
6. The tow package is respectable for the boats I own.
7. I keep discovering new storage places to the point I don't think a tool box in the bed will be needed or a tonneau.
8. I didn't know I was getting 4 track tie down units with the truck so I ordered 4 from ebay and now I can make a spider web out of paracord for my hauling needs.
9. I got a dozen sheets of OSB and leaned them at an angle to take them home and then discovered the nifty wood slots above the wheel wells for sheet hauling with 57 inch boards mounted.
10. The six speed must have been flashed because it shifts smoothly every time and when I expect it to shift.
11. I find the ability to tune each audio mode to be pretty neat for balance and fade.
12. 4X4 engagement works very smoothly once I read the manual and watched youtube on the options.
13. I am liking the styling and overall design but my eye is not tuned to the visual differences between mine and former generations yet.
14. First truck with a tailgate dampener!

So, with 400 miles I am enjoying my new truck and it is doing everything I had hoped. I am not sure why this new gen is getting attacked on the forum. All I have added so far are Husky flaps, an 11k carabiner for the front loop and a shackle hitch for the tow rig in the back to be used with my 8k come along. In Alabama we can tie up to a tree in almost anyplace we drive.

 

welcome

 

It took me a youtube lesson to realize I had to place the URL in plain text to get google photos to post pics. Hope I get some comments and discussion now......

 

SR5’s unite! #12 will impress you the more you use it.

 

I can't agree with #4, as it's the worst system I've had. "Call my wife" "Calling Mom". "Find a restaurant" "Here are the hotels in the area"

 

I have had some of that so I modified my language more to her patterns and have done better. Had to do the same with Google Home and Alexa...... Also I put my wife on the home screen select and avoided having to use speech all together. One touch either way. I have thousands of contacts on my phone and this is the only interface that doesn't search forever to find a contact.

 

Congrats Op, I couldn't agree with you more.

I know people on TW bitch about the Etune being horrible. But it's runs a lot better than Mercedes' Command multimedia system.

 

I really like the simple voice command of " pause guidance" . when making a stop for gas or whatnot , I do not get all that make a uturn crap.
On my GM SUV ,I cannot find out how to do this without canceling the route all together without multiple commands and listening to all the I do not understand / did you say .....and it is really annoying .

 

People complain because they are... people. I love my truck.

 

Forgot the mention the 3.5

I’m enjoying the 3.5 over the previous 4.0’s I’ve owned. I feel it’s a smooth engine, DOES have torque down low for city driving, particularly with ECT on. Even without ECT, it’s a great drivetrain. On the freeway/highway, it’s a beast. I had to pass a convoy of semis as I was merging onto the freeway the other day. Pressed on the gas and WHOA! It can be quick for a V6!!!!

 

If this is directed to me, the OP, I scotchguarded the cloth seats as I have not had cloth and I get pretty dirty and have two grandsons who I expect will be a rear interior challenging pair. I think I am going to modify my driving to match the truck I bought versus modding my truck for the way I used to drive. I went from going to the farm and slogging through deep mud to only doing that on a rare occasion. I will make my friend do the heavy mudding when needed. My main use is to make a 45 min drive to a lake house we are renovating with some boat towing work for fun and 1.5 acres of grassy hills to climb on occasion for yard work.