Osco

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My very steep loose gravel roads are getting dry now. All of the RWD and FWD cars can no longer take the steeper short cut up to their cabins. Only 4x4's can make it up that section now.

I can feel a definite difference from the normal drive mode and the slippery Goat mode with the low gear button engaged. Slippery mode is really something.

These climbs range from 12 to 14% and the older folks up here cannot walk down this section without risking a fall. Walking up is very hard.

Anyway I stopped using the GOAT switch, I leave this in normal but do use low to hold the engine up in the turbo above 1700 rpm while I climb. I climb just fine.

A lady with a 3 year old AWD Toyota Rav 4 can just barely make this climb IF she holds a steady speed, no chance of mid climb acceleration at all. If she stops on the way up she cannot restart, has to back all the way down and start over.

Not so says this baby Bronco Base model. I can stop and restart with no slippage any time I want.
I can accelerate mid climb pretty hard. I can push my tach from 1700 RPM to 3,000 really quickly in low WITH NO LOSS of traction what so ever. As long as I do it smoothly.

We are both on smooth treaded all season tires. The only other vehicles up here that can climb and accelerate like and where I can are the true 4x4 trucks in full lockup mode and one Nissan Xterra..

Ford, you rock :'P,

FWIW I've watched a two of the five 4x4 trucks drift left to right as they climb needing constant steering input, the road is sloped to help handle water....
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tRex

Badlands
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My very steep loose gravel roads are getting dry now. All of the RWD and FWD cars can no longer take the steeper short cut up to their cabins. Only 4x4's can make it up that section now.

I can feel a definite difference from the normal drive mode and in the slippery Goat mode with the low gear button engaged. Slippery mode is really something.

These climbs range from 12 to 14% and the older folks up here cannot walk down this section without risking a fall. Walking up is very hard.

Anyway I stopped using the GOAT switch, I leave this in normal but do use low to hold the engine up in the turbo above 1700 rpm while I climb. I climb just fine.

A lady with a 3 year old AWD Toyota Rav 4 can just barely make this climb IF she holds a steady speed, no chance of mid climb acceleration at all. If she stops on the way up she cannot restart, has to back all the way down and start over.

Not so says this baby Bronco Base model. I can stop and restart with no slippage all I want.
I can accelerate mid climb hard, I can push my tach from 1700 RPM to 3,000 really quickly in low WITH NO LOSS of traction what so ever. As long as I do it smoothly.

We are both on smooth treaded all season tires. The only other vehicles up here that can climb and accelerate like and where I can are the true 4x4 trucks in full lockup mode and one Nissan Xterra..

Ford, you rock :'P,

FWIW I've watched a two of the five 4x4 trucks drift left to right as they climb needing constant steering input, the road is sloped to help handle water....
Your Sport is in 4A all the time -- still with open diffs in the front and rear. All computer-controlled of course, per G.O.A.T. mode selected. But it also has very low final (3.80) and first (4.69) gear ratios that help a ton (resulting in a "crawl ratio" of 18:1, which is very close to the vaunted 20:1 ratio on the Cherokee Trailhawk). The new Trailhawk turbo has a bit better hp and torque (a lot better than the 1.5L Sport), but it comes on higher in the rev band and, it's about 800 POUNDS HEAVIER than the 1.5L Sport. It does have slightly better better approach/departure angles, and better breakover/ground clearance -- which one can address with bigger tires and a lift on any Sport if/as desired. I think with tires and lift, a Badlands (adds lock buttons for 4WD and rear diff.) can go head-to-head with that Trailhawk off-road. The Sport 4WD and G.O.A.T. modes seem to really work. Ford has done a great job creating this lightweight, economical, capable little 4WD vehicle.
 

Cabezone

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Your Sport is in 4A all the time -- still with open diffs in the front and rear. All computer-controlled of course, per G.O.A.T. mode selected. But it also has very low final (3.80) and first (4.69) gear ratios that help a ton (resulting in a "crawl ratio" of 18:1, which is very close to the vaunted 20:1 ratio on the Cherokee Trailhawk). The new Trailhawk turbo has a bit better hp and torque (a lot better than the 1.5L Sport), but it comes on higher in the rev band and, it's about 800 POUNDS HEAVIER than the 1.5L Sport. It does have slightly better better approach/departure angles, and better breakover/ground clearance -- which one can address with bigger tires and a lift on any Sport if/as desired. I think with tires and lift, a Badlands (adds lock buttons for 4WD and rear diff.) can go head-to-head with that Trailhawk off-road. The Sport 4WD and G.O.A.T. modes seem to really work. Ford has done a great job creating this lightweight, economical, capable little 4WD vehicle.
You seem to be mixing up the Cherokee trim levels with regards to weight and crawl ratio. The Trailhawk has a crawl ratio of 50:1. I don't know the crawl ration of a base AWD Cherokee but most SUVs are in the 14-20:1 range. The base Cherokee is also something like 600lbs lighter than the trailhawk. The weights of the two vehicles are between 3,590 to 4,250 lbs for the Cherokee and 3,467 to 3,707 lbs for the Sport. The base weights are not much different. The low range transfer case and mechanical locker come at a sizable weight increase for the Trailhawk tho, 500 lbs more than a Badlands.

Rev bands are not useful for low speed crawling, you pretty much want to calculate the idle torque with the crawl ratio. Which puts the Cherokee at roughly 2x the wheel torque at idle when in low range with the V6.

The Sport is more designed around driving over rough dirt roads at speed. The base Cherokee is as capable as a base Sport. GOAT modes are nothing new, they've been in off-road centric vehicles for over a decade now.
 
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tRex

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You seem to be mixing up the Cherokee trim levels with regards to weight and crawl ratio. The Trailhawk has a crawl ratio of 50:1. I don't know the crawl ration of a base AWD Cherokee but most SUVs are in the 14-20:1 range. The base Cherokee is also something like 600lbs lighter than the trailhawk. The weights of the two vehicles are between 3,590 to 4,250 lbs for the Cherokee and 3,467 to 3,707 lbs for the Sport. The base weights are not much different. The low range transfer case and mechanical locker come at a sizable weight increase for the Trailhawk tho, 500 lbs more than a Badlands.

Rev bands are not useful for low speed crawling, you pretty much want to calculate the idle torque with the crawl ratio. Which puts the Cherokee at roughly 2x the wheel torque at idle when in low range with the V6.

The Sport is more designed around driving over rough dirt roads at speed. The base Cherokee is as capable as a base Sport. GOAT modes are nothing new, they've been in off-road centric vehicles for over a decade now.
Perhaps, I found that figure in more than one place. I don't care about the base Cherokee in comparison to the Badlands. Also my "800 lbs." note was wrong, the weight difference is "only" 543 lbs. I think the BL is quite capable anyway, for that and many other reasons stated. It's not a Wrangler Rubicon, but the Cherokee Trailhawk isn't, either.
 
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Cabezone

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Perhaps, I found that figure in more than one place. I don't care about the base Cherokee in comparison to the Badlands. Sorry you're not a fan, but I think the BL is quite capable.
I'm a huge fan of the Sport. I'd have purchased a BL/BL if I didn't hate the seat. I drove 9 hours to test drive a BL/BL. I was quite crushed when I sat in it and couldn't get comfortable after spending a half hour with it. I honestly didn't want to purchase a Jeep but the only two new vehicles in my price range that I was considering were the Sport and Cherokee.

I agree it's quite capable, it's the only thing equal to a Cherokee in this segment, barring the low range option. You can be a fan of something and still be realistic about it's capabilities. I mostly wanted that rear locker and the dual clutch in the BL would have been good enough for me. The low range on the Trailhawk is nice to have but wasn't a deal breaker for me. EDIT: to be honest tho I use it a lot more than I thought I would.

These are the Trailhawk crawl ratios(it changes slightly depending on the engine option):
  • 2018 Jeep Wrangler – 84.2: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2019 Jeep Cherokee – 51.2: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee – 44.1: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Compass – 20: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Renegade – 21: 1 crawl ratio
 
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tRex

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I'm a huge fan of the Sport. I'd have purchased a BL/BL if I didn't hate the seat. I drove 9 hours to test drive a BL/BL. I was quite crushed when I sat in it and couldn't get comfortable after spending a half hour with it. I honestly didn't want to purchase a Jeep but the only two new vehicles in my price range that I was considering were the Sport and Cherokee.

I agree it's quite capable, it's the only thing equal to a Cherokee in this segment, barring the low range option. You can be a fan of something and still be realistic about it's capabilities. I mostly wanted that rear locker and the dual clutch in the BL would have been good enough for me. The low range on the Trailhawk is nice to have but wasn't a deal breaker for me. EDIT: to be honest tho I use it a lot more than I thought I would.

These are the Trailhawk crawl ratios(it changes slightly depending on the engine option):
  • 2018 Jeep Wrangler – 84.2: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2019 Jeep Cherokee – 51.2: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee – 44.1: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Compass – 20: 1 crawl ratio
  • 2018 Jeep Renegade – 21: 1 crawl ratio
 

tRex

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Yeah you're right, my mistake. Been watching tons of Forester/Crosstrek/Outback, and Renegade/Cherokee (always Trailhawks) reviews (and BL of course), I've mixed up a couple of figures. Thanks.
 

Big Brody

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I found slippery mode good, until you are in a slide. In my Badlands the other day I had it in slippery mode with 2-3 inches of snow on the road. On a cupped on ramp, where the apex of turn was at the lowest point, the BL started understeering very badly and slippery mode cut my power so I could not use throttle to help me correct the snow plowing. Thankfully no issues. Later I used sand mode in a similar scenario and was able to use the throttle to bring the back end around. Slippery mode seems good in general, but there may be cases when turning off traction control may help instead.
 

Rojo13

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My very steep loose gravel roads are getting dry now. All of the RWD and FWD cars can no longer take the steeper short cut up to their cabins. Only 4x4's can make it up that section now.

I can feel a definite difference from the normal drive mode and the slippery Goat mode with the low gear button engaged. Slippery mode is really something.

These climbs range from 12 to 14% and the older folks up here cannot walk down this section without risking a fall. Walking up is very hard.

Anyway I stopped using the GOAT switch, I leave this in normal but do use low to hold the engine up in the turbo above 1700 rpm while I climb. I climb just fine.
So do you still like to use Slippery Mode in light snow / ice or do you just use Normal Mode? When do you like to go to Slippery Mode? Thanks for the detailed review. Good learning material for me!
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