Ron4RNevada
New member
And loving it!
Traded a very worn out 2004 Land Rover Discovery for the SR5 on December 10th 2014. Got one that had spent it's first two years in New Jersey and appeared to have never been off-road; never hauled anything; never towed anything; never had kids or car seats in it; probably hardly ever in 4wd except for during snow (What was that - perhaps 10 days in past two years in Jersey?). It had 32k on the clock and I added the 7 year 100,000 mile warranty to it.
So in those first 58 days:
> I have driven it 2600 miles.
> 800 miles off-road (5 treks - 2 all day - 3 half day). 1 with the stock p-metrics the rest with some good rubber (Toyo Open Country M/Ts)
> New off-road tires added 3rd day.
> Coming up on 1st complimentary dealer service. I'll report on that in two weeks. I've already bought the filters and a case of 0W-20 synthetic for when I take over the maintenance.
> Added some very inexpensive tube steps so that my wife can get in and out easier (I'm 6'3" while she is 5'3"). The steps are pretty rugged and well made. Seem to crawl over rocks and sand without issue. The bottoms of the tubes are at about 10" off the ground > just about the same height as everything else under the truck.
Driving impressions:
> Fuel economy - (All winter [cold] driving - temps from 7 degrees at night to about 55 on the warm days)(all measured with the knobby M/T tires).
- - Highway at 70mph = 17.5mpg.
- - Highway at 65mph = 18.8mpg.
- - Highway at 60mph = 19.0mpg.
- - In town 20 to 40mph = 16.0mpg.
- - Off road mix of 4HI and 4LO undulating country = 13.5mpg
- - Off road all in 4LO sand, rocks and steep pitches = 11.5mpg. While in 4LO I keep the A-Trac on all the time.
> Tire performance. On the highway the Toyo M/Ts are very loud. I never use the radio except for weather reports anyway; so no big deal. Off - road the tires are marvelous! The original Dunlop p-metrics were crap - no traction and I was continually worried that they were going to blow on the rocks.
> Part time 4WD system. I had come from the Land Rover which had full time 4WD (hi and Lo range; lockable center diff; electronic traction control; and the same stabilty control stuff as Toyota). It took a few days to get used to a knob rather than a stick for shifting but now I actually like it better. I've used the 4HI on the highway during light snow (CA Highway 70 from Oroville to Reno), it worked just fine. Off-road in 4LO (A-TRAC ON) the truck is just about unstoppable. Climbing 40 degree rock and sand slopes it just plods right up - even going very slow to negotiate the foot tall rocks. Climbing 30 degree sand slopes there is a bit of wheel hop but it just keeps going. I find that the best gear climbing in sand is 3rd gear (LO Range) A-Trac ON.
The Lo Range and 1st gear is low enough that I haven't really needed the DAP.
> Perhaps in some other different terrain (Florida Swamps, Minnesota Snow, etc) the KDSS and Locking rear diff on the Trail Edition might offer some advantage; but here I can't imagine any advantage over the basic system found on the SR5. THE 10 ply A/T or M/T Tires are a must!
> I still haven't figured out what the little figure displayed on the dash that looks like tires slipping and the word "OFF" means.
Convenience Stuff:
> HVAC - The heater works just fine. Even though coming from the LR with the dual mode automatic system, the basic manual system works fine. The only time I've used the AC so far was to defrost the windshield.
> The fast UP/DOWN Power windows are a great idea.
> Door locks are exactly the same as on my wife's old Camry so I'm used to that already.
> Radio/CD player/Sirius-XM/Bluetooth/Phone,etc... I'll probably never use any of it. Let's just say the radio works cuz I tried it. I don't own a cell phone either.......
> Moon Roof - I opened it once to see if it worked; it did. I won't ever open it again.
> The back up camera - Very neat! If you are seventy four and your head doesn't swivel as far as it used to - It's very neat.
> The back up sonar. It and the right mirror gets me out of the garage without scraping. It's useless for backing up on a trail because it beeps for every single hunk of sagebrush over 10 inches tall.
> The way the back seats fold down is very clever - Makes for just a hair under six feet of load length. Great! The load floor is relatively flat with just a slight rise at the seat hinge.
> The pockets at the rear corners of the load space - I have no idea but thats where I stuff the owners manual, gloves, maps, etc.
> Having the spare under the truck seems to work fine. Glad we rarely have much mud out here.
> The mirrors are large and very functional.
> Being able to turn off the side curtain air bags is good. Just have to remember to turn them back on.
Outside stuff:
> The tailgate is fine. I don't know why I would ever want the window rolled down though.
> The top of the bumper, sills around the tailgate, nooks around the glass, camera, wiper and the spoiler were rather poorly designed for off-roading in very dusty country. When I get home from the trails I sweep it out with a small broom.
> The paint on the plastic bumpers is very fragile. I wish there was a lot less exterior plastic on these trucks. I've already messed up the top of the bumper loading stuff into the back.
> Both the front and rear bumpers could have been tapered on the bottoms at much steeper angles. They do nothing except get damaged when crossing steep ravines.
> Being able to see both rear tail lights in the mirrors is good.
> The rounded, bulgy hood doesn't help when trying to tell where the front corners are.
I'll probably think of other comments later and update this.
I think I made a good choice with the '13 SR5...
Traded a very worn out 2004 Land Rover Discovery for the SR5 on December 10th 2014. Got one that had spent it's first two years in New Jersey and appeared to have never been off-road; never hauled anything; never towed anything; never had kids or car seats in it; probably hardly ever in 4wd except for during snow (What was that - perhaps 10 days in past two years in Jersey?). It had 32k on the clock and I added the 7 year 100,000 mile warranty to it.
So in those first 58 days:
> I have driven it 2600 miles.
> 800 miles off-road (5 treks - 2 all day - 3 half day). 1 with the stock p-metrics the rest with some good rubber (Toyo Open Country M/Ts)
> New off-road tires added 3rd day.
> Coming up on 1st complimentary dealer service. I'll report on that in two weeks. I've already bought the filters and a case of 0W-20 synthetic for when I take over the maintenance.
> Added some very inexpensive tube steps so that my wife can get in and out easier (I'm 6'3" while she is 5'3"). The steps are pretty rugged and well made. Seem to crawl over rocks and sand without issue. The bottoms of the tubes are at about 10" off the ground > just about the same height as everything else under the truck.
Driving impressions:
> Fuel economy - (All winter [cold] driving - temps from 7 degrees at night to about 55 on the warm days)(all measured with the knobby M/T tires).
- - Highway at 70mph = 17.5mpg.
- - Highway at 65mph = 18.8mpg.
- - Highway at 60mph = 19.0mpg.
- - In town 20 to 40mph = 16.0mpg.
- - Off road mix of 4HI and 4LO undulating country = 13.5mpg
- - Off road all in 4LO sand, rocks and steep pitches = 11.5mpg. While in 4LO I keep the A-Trac on all the time.
> Tire performance. On the highway the Toyo M/Ts are very loud. I never use the radio except for weather reports anyway; so no big deal. Off - road the tires are marvelous! The original Dunlop p-metrics were crap - no traction and I was continually worried that they were going to blow on the rocks.
> Part time 4WD system. I had come from the Land Rover which had full time 4WD (hi and Lo range; lockable center diff; electronic traction control; and the same stabilty control stuff as Toyota). It took a few days to get used to a knob rather than a stick for shifting but now I actually like it better. I've used the 4HI on the highway during light snow (CA Highway 70 from Oroville to Reno), it worked just fine. Off-road in 4LO (A-TRAC ON) the truck is just about unstoppable. Climbing 40 degree rock and sand slopes it just plods right up - even going very slow to negotiate the foot tall rocks. Climbing 30 degree sand slopes there is a bit of wheel hop but it just keeps going. I find that the best gear climbing in sand is 3rd gear (LO Range) A-Trac ON.
The Lo Range and 1st gear is low enough that I haven't really needed the DAP.
> Perhaps in some other different terrain (Florida Swamps, Minnesota Snow, etc) the KDSS and Locking rear diff on the Trail Edition might offer some advantage; but here I can't imagine any advantage over the basic system found on the SR5. THE 10 ply A/T or M/T Tires are a must!
> I still haven't figured out what the little figure displayed on the dash that looks like tires slipping and the word "OFF" means.
Convenience Stuff:
> HVAC - The heater works just fine. Even though coming from the LR with the dual mode automatic system, the basic manual system works fine. The only time I've used the AC so far was to defrost the windshield.
> The fast UP/DOWN Power windows are a great idea.
> Door locks are exactly the same as on my wife's old Camry so I'm used to that already.
> Radio/CD player/Sirius-XM/Bluetooth/Phone,etc... I'll probably never use any of it. Let's just say the radio works cuz I tried it. I don't own a cell phone either.......
> Moon Roof - I opened it once to see if it worked; it did. I won't ever open it again.
> The back up camera - Very neat! If you are seventy four and your head doesn't swivel as far as it used to - It's very neat.
> The back up sonar. It and the right mirror gets me out of the garage without scraping. It's useless for backing up on a trail because it beeps for every single hunk of sagebrush over 10 inches tall.
> The way the back seats fold down is very clever - Makes for just a hair under six feet of load length. Great! The load floor is relatively flat with just a slight rise at the seat hinge.
> The pockets at the rear corners of the load space - I have no idea but thats where I stuff the owners manual, gloves, maps, etc.
> Having the spare under the truck seems to work fine. Glad we rarely have much mud out here.
> The mirrors are large and very functional.
> Being able to turn off the side curtain air bags is good. Just have to remember to turn them back on.
Outside stuff:
> The tailgate is fine. I don't know why I would ever want the window rolled down though.
> The top of the bumper, sills around the tailgate, nooks around the glass, camera, wiper and the spoiler were rather poorly designed for off-roading in very dusty country. When I get home from the trails I sweep it out with a small broom.
> The paint on the plastic bumpers is very fragile. I wish there was a lot less exterior plastic on these trucks. I've already messed up the top of the bumper loading stuff into the back.
> Both the front and rear bumpers could have been tapered on the bottoms at much steeper angles. They do nothing except get damaged when crossing steep ravines.
> Being able to see both rear tail lights in the mirrors is good.
> The rounded, bulgy hood doesn't help when trying to tell where the front corners are.
I'll probably think of other comments later and update this.
I think I made a good choice with the '13 SR5...
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