- First Name
- Justin
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2020
- Threads
- 7
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- 292
- Reaction score
- 291
- Location
- California
- Vehicle(s)
- Cherokee Trailhawk
- Thread starter
- #1
I just ran Butcher Ranch Road up in the Sierras with my Cherokee Trailhawk, I'd previously ran it with my Crosstrek and thought I'd share my experience and how The Sport would likely handle the same trail.
The section of Butcher Ranch I ran is about two miles long, between a 8-15° slope and has around a half dozen easy technical sections. I ran this a month or so ago on a 2018 Crosstrek limited, 2.0 L, with added skidplates and Falken Wildpeak Trails. This section is about the limit you can do with a Crosstrek, it handles most of a fairly well but there's one technical that I had to take four or five runs at and use speed to get up with a lot of banging around and a little bit of luck. The part after this up to the Sierra Buttes is mostly a loose dirt road but it's a couple miles long, my Crosstrek CVT ended up overheating along it. This is when I decided to start looking for a new vehicle.
The Trailhawk drove up this like it was a rough road didn't have any trouble with any of it, as to be expected. I've actually locked it into low range 4x4 at the bottom of the hill and was in that the entire way. I think I locked up the rear diff maybe twice. The rest of the time I just used the different drive modes.
Now compare those two to the Sport even the base models should beat the Crosstrek going up this. I don't think they'd have as much problems going up this as the Crosstrek did with their more advanced drive modes, better tires, better engine, approach angle...ect. I doubt their regular transmissions would overheat at the long dirt climb either.
Now as for the Badlands versus the Trailhawk here's where they would differ. On the way up when I wanted to engage the differential lock I've got to stop, put the trailhawk in neutral, engage it, and continue. With the dual clutch the Badlands has you can just hit that while you're moving, climb over the technical, then disengage it when you get to the top without missing a beat which is one small advantage that system has. This is kind of perfect trail for it, you don't need to use a locking rear diff for most of it, just a few sections. So you don't need to worry about it overheating.
Now on the way down that's where your lower gear transfer case really shines. The Badlands would have to navigate basically the same way the Crosstrek did which is you ride your brake the whole way, they do have those hill descent modes but those are basically just automatically riding the brake for you. You can perfectly well make your way down the hill with that. With low range though, the only time I need to use my brake was going over the technical sections on the way back. It's a much, much better way to descend.
Overall I think the Bronco sits in a very nice spot.
Here's the full gallery if you want to see the kinds of stuff you can get up to in your new Sport in the Sierras.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/g2W2VnZLZyKq7653A
The section of Butcher Ranch I ran is about two miles long, between a 8-15° slope and has around a half dozen easy technical sections. I ran this a month or so ago on a 2018 Crosstrek limited, 2.0 L, with added skidplates and Falken Wildpeak Trails. This section is about the limit you can do with a Crosstrek, it handles most of a fairly well but there's one technical that I had to take four or five runs at and use speed to get up with a lot of banging around and a little bit of luck. The part after this up to the Sierra Buttes is mostly a loose dirt road but it's a couple miles long, my Crosstrek CVT ended up overheating along it. This is when I decided to start looking for a new vehicle.
The Trailhawk drove up this like it was a rough road didn't have any trouble with any of it, as to be expected. I've actually locked it into low range 4x4 at the bottom of the hill and was in that the entire way. I think I locked up the rear diff maybe twice. The rest of the time I just used the different drive modes.
Now compare those two to the Sport even the base models should beat the Crosstrek going up this. I don't think they'd have as much problems going up this as the Crosstrek did with their more advanced drive modes, better tires, better engine, approach angle...ect. I doubt their regular transmissions would overheat at the long dirt climb either.
Now as for the Badlands versus the Trailhawk here's where they would differ. On the way up when I wanted to engage the differential lock I've got to stop, put the trailhawk in neutral, engage it, and continue. With the dual clutch the Badlands has you can just hit that while you're moving, climb over the technical, then disengage it when you get to the top without missing a beat which is one small advantage that system has. This is kind of perfect trail for it, you don't need to use a locking rear diff for most of it, just a few sections. So you don't need to worry about it overheating.
Now on the way down that's where your lower gear transfer case really shines. The Badlands would have to navigate basically the same way the Crosstrek did which is you ride your brake the whole way, they do have those hill descent modes but those are basically just automatically riding the brake for you. You can perfectly well make your way down the hill with that. With low range though, the only time I need to use my brake was going over the technical sections on the way back. It's a much, much better way to descend.
Overall I think the Bronco sits in a very nice spot.
Here's the full gallery if you want to see the kinds of stuff you can get up to in your new Sport in the Sierras.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/g2W2VnZLZyKq7653A
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