gman1868
The name is... Dumas.
Got back from a 1500 mile cross country trip, towing a 6x12x6 single axle cargo trailer weighing between 2500-3000 pounds. I typically set the cruise between 65 - 70mph depending upon the speed limit. I experienced varying mileage from a low of 10.1 up to 12.8mpg per tank of fuel. Overall, got 11.8mpg over 1500 miles. The Telluride handled very well during the entire trip. Acceleration, braking, cornering all went very well. I was also impressed that although it seemed to have difficulty with what gear to be in and shifted down and up a LOT, the Smart mode actually adjusted to the heavier load and it got better at managing it.
The main concern, is the poor management of the throttle and transmission. The drive-by-wire throttle is extremely annoying. It doesn't manage the throttle the way a human would. In order to prevent the transmission from down-shifting all the time I switched to manual mode. It helped some, but even on the flat the engine wouldn't provide enough power to maintain 70 mph in 7th gear. I couldn't get enough power even when I manually pressed the throttle to the floor. So, I'd have to let it down-shift to 6th. This meant the RPMS would stay at around 3000+ RPM a majority of the time. With 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque it shouldn't have to downshift and run over 3k just to maintain speed on a flat road.
I've towed a lot of small to medium sized loads (1000-6000lbs), cargo trailers, car haulers, boats. None of my previous tow vehicles none of which had as much horsepower or torque as the Telluride, were 1/2 ton pickups and my wife's 2007 Ford Escape V6. They never had to downshift as much and got as good or even better gas mileage as I got on this trip. None of them hunted so wildly for a gear to be in or kept the revs so high all the time.
Bottom line? The Telluride does a good job towing. I'm sure it will handle up to 5000lbs with ease. However, the engine will run at high revs and the gas mileage is terrible meaning the range is only 200 miles per tank.
The main concern, is the poor management of the throttle and transmission. The drive-by-wire throttle is extremely annoying. It doesn't manage the throttle the way a human would. In order to prevent the transmission from down-shifting all the time I switched to manual mode. It helped some, but even on the flat the engine wouldn't provide enough power to maintain 70 mph in 7th gear. I couldn't get enough power even when I manually pressed the throttle to the floor. So, I'd have to let it down-shift to 6th. This meant the RPMS would stay at around 3000+ RPM a majority of the time. With 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque it shouldn't have to downshift and run over 3k just to maintain speed on a flat road.
I've towed a lot of small to medium sized loads (1000-6000lbs), cargo trailers, car haulers, boats. None of my previous tow vehicles none of which had as much horsepower or torque as the Telluride, were 1/2 ton pickups and my wife's 2007 Ford Escape V6. They never had to downshift as much and got as good or even better gas mileage as I got on this trip. None of them hunted so wildly for a gear to be in or kept the revs so high all the time.
Bottom line? The Telluride does a good job towing. I'm sure it will handle up to 5000lbs with ease. However, the engine will run at high revs and the gas mileage is terrible meaning the range is only 200 miles per tank.
