I’ve been thinking a lot about bump stops lately. I know that’s a weird way to start a review of the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, but humor me. Bump stops ensure that the last bit of rebound and compression is smooth and easy. Without them the shocks can slam against the mounting points, resulting in a terrible ride and four sets of crapped-out mounts that you’ll have to figure out how to weld back together. I know this because before I got a set of 3D-printed bump stops from Perry Parts, this is exactly what I had to do on my lifted racing Miata.
These days, manufacturers are making fancy-pants active shocks with sophisticated electronic bump stops. It just so happens the 2024 Mustang Mach-E Rally is equipped with Ford’s MagneRide suspension and I got to experience all the e-bump stop goodness at DirtFish rally school outside of Seattle, Washington.
[Full disclosure: Ford flew up me up to Seattle and let me play in the dirt with its newest, rally-inspired electric car. There was food and a hotel, but nothing really matters after I mention the playing in dirt part.]
Why Does This Exist?
First, a bit about the Mach-E Rally. While it has a 1-inch lift over the standard Mach E, the minimum running ground clearance is still just 5.8 inches. The front splitter gets a tweak for a slightly–and I do mean slightly–better approach angle. but don’t look for any rear bumper modifications for an improved departure angle. The Rally doesn’t have any more suspension travel either, so you can’t take this thing out to the desert and hoon around like the nimrod you are. No, this is purely a rally car, meant for flat dirt or gravel roads without whoops or rocks to get in the way.
That’s not to say there aren’t any nods to getting dirty. There are skid plates protecting the front and rear motors, although only the front plate is made of metal. The rear is fabricated out of plastic. There is a recovery hook in the front and paint protector on the rocker panel to keep your pretty paint job from getting pitted by gravel. A cool rear spoiler, 19-inch rally-inspired white wheels, and integrated fog lamps in the front round out the Rally’s exterior.
Unless you’ve been living under an automotive rock these past few years, you know that the Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s answer to the question none of us asked, “What if we made an electric SUV inspired by the Mustang?” I’m not here to debate the ol’ “Is it really a Mustang” question–it’s not and I will accept no other answer–but I can tell you this thing has some pretty impressive specs.
The Rally trim goes hard with 480 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque out of its dual motors. The extended-range 91 kWh battery can store enough power for 265 miles of range, although you won’t get that on any kind of rallycross course.
At a DC fast charger the Mach-E can accept a charge of up to 150 kW, but remember it won’t charge that fast for the whole session. Still, Ford says the Rally can go from a 10- to 80-percent charge in 36 minutes. For home charging the Mach-E comes with an 11.5 kW onboard charger. Not the quickest out there but certainly fast enough to get a full battery overnight.
Here at DirtFish I really don’t care about charging times or battery capacity. I’m wondering how a 5,000-pound vehicle with Michelin CrossClimate 2 all-season tires–more on those later–is going to respond to 700 pound-feet of instant torque on this sloppy rallycross course because of course it’s raining.
Rally All The Things
I buckle in and set the car to RallySport drive mode. This optimizes steering for control on loose surfaces, nixes any lift-off brake regeneration, calibrates torque delivery to be super-linear and loosens up the traction control and ABS nannies. Granted, it doesn’t turn them all the way off, but there is definitely some playfulness here.
As for the MagneRide, the biggest change here in RallySport mode is the addition of the electronic bump stops. This is done by changing the viscosity of the fluid inside the shocks. See, the Magne in MagneRide stands for magneto-rheological fluid. There are little magnetic particles mixed in with the damper fluid. When a current is applied, those particles cling together, changing the consistency of the fluid to make the shock harder or softer.
But, the Mach-E Rally goes a few steps further. After all, we want bump stops at the very extreme end of the dampening process, right? The MagneRide shocks take the speed of damping into consideration. I spoke with vehicle dynamics engineer Matt Hubbard who shed some light on the subject.
“RallySport mode ramps up the damping in mid- and high-speed events. Mid-speed damper velocity would be something like one-half to one meter per second. A pothole could be as quick as two or three meters per second.”
At a certain position, an electric current gets added to the fluid, making it thicker. As that position increases, so does the current, up to a maximum of 5 amps.
“EBS is a separate part of the algorithm. We can control how the ramp-up happens and when it happens,” said Hubbard.
What does that mean from behind the wheel? It means I can slide this fatty-fat EV around corners, loading up the outside shocks with all the weight physics can distribute. Any undulations in the course mid-corner are taken up by the electronic bump stops so I don’t even feel them. I just add a bit of throttle to get the all-wheel drive Mach-E to rotate, then add more of that linear electric torque on corner exit. There is no waiting for turbos to spool, no worrying about gear selection– just point and shoot.
Of course, I am doing a fair amount of countersteering here. This is my first time in the car and even though I have an instructor with me, I’m basically guessing what kind of speed it can handle. I’m often a bit too aggressive on corner entry, causing me to panic-lift, sending weight to the front and the rear coming around. Then I’m back on the gas and countersteering, all four tires trying their best to maintain grip on the sloppy and muddy gravel course.
What’s In A Tire?
Ah yes, the OEM all-season tires. Ford has to consider on-road performance as range as well as traction on a rallycross course and there isn’t one tire that will do all three. Michelin does offer some rally tires with a radius that could clear the 15-inch front brake rotors, but they are not DOT-approved. DirtFish runs Hoosier tires on their Subaru BRZ instruction cars but the largest wheel diameter you can get for a gravel tire is 15 inches. You can find 16-, 17-, and 18-inch tires for asymmetric and wet tarmac, but not for gravel. And Hoosier gives this explicit warning: “Hoosier Racing Tires meet DOT requirements for marking and performance only and are NOT INTENDED FOR HIGHWAY USE.”
So while the off-road world has brought us dual-personality tires like the new BFGoodrich KO3 or the Falken Wildpeak shoes, which can easily get you to work or through the Rubicon Trail, it looks like rallycross folks who want to really send it will need to search for a set of dedicated rally tires and wheels for the Mach-E Rally that can clear the brake rotors.
Driving the Mach-E Rally on the pavement with the CrossClimate 2 tires is a pleasant experience, with plenty of grip on the wet tarmac in the surrounding town of Snoqualmie. You can drive it in RallySport mode on the street but I wouldn’t recommend it. The steering is way too heavy to be enjoyable–and I’m saying this as someone who enjoys a weighted steering feel–and you don’t get any of those sweet, sweet free electrons through one-pedal driving. Unbridled mode might not have the electronic bump stops, but the MagneRide dampers do a fine job here handling tight turns and road undulations.
The Mach-E Rally also gets all the advanced driver’s aids you could ever want like blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist. Also standard on this trim is Ford’s hands-off/eyes-up BlueCruise semi-autonomous driving technology. This is not a self-driving car–there are no self-driving cars on the market today no matter what Uncle Elon says–but the Mach-E will change lanes on its own after a driver-initiated signal. It also knows enough to push to one side of the lane or the other if a semi-truck or RV starts getting a little too friendly in the neighboring lane.
The Best Rally EV You Can Buy
You’ll be hard-pressed to find another electric SUV that can do the same things as the Mach-E Rally when the tarmac switches to dirt. It’s possible that the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N could be a contender with a good set of rally tires, but its front brakes are even bigger so finding a wheel might be a chore.
The upcoming Rivian R3X may also be a worthy adversary, but we don’t know much about it save for a video on Rivian’s website showing it getting all slidey on a dirt course.
However, you’ll pay a fairly steep price for all this fun. The 2024 Mustang Mach E Rally starts at just under $60,000 and that does not include any destination fees. Folks who are reasonable with their money won’t likely want to spend that kind of coin and immediately risk damage by slamming it into a tree at the Oregon Trail Rally or some such, but I know how you Autopian readers are. I expect those of you who buy this to immediately hoon it as instructed. You’ll have a blast
That limey yellow one has caught my eye…..
Wait, are you saying the suspension is sitting on its bump stops just from cornering? Or is this marketing term a misnomer and they’re really talking about an electronically-controlled progressive spring rate that can ramp up at the end of travel to avoid hard bottom outs (which seems to be more the case)? If so, who is coming up with this stupid naming…*looks at badge on front of car*…oh, right. 😛
I’ve seen speedbumps taller than 5.8 inches.
How much do you want to bet that failure of warrantied components on said roads are not covered by the warranty?
Yes, because when rally cars crash it’s ass end first, so you tow them out from the front /s
I sincerely doubt built the “recovery hook” attachment to handle an actual recovery with a tow strap. Hell, I’d be surprised if it could handle a recovery with one of the stretchy recovery ropes.
Also great job of Ford making a Rally version of a car without external door handles, and not adding door handles. Are they following the ‘First Class is in the front because they’re more likely to die there, which makes them less likely to sue us’ idea? Because not having external door handles on an automobile that is being marketed as a rally variant sounds really stupid unless you want the occupants to burn to death in the advent of any Rally accident.
There is little to no chance one of these gets run in a proper stage rally, IMO. If these get used at all in a rally context, I think it would be more for rallycross. I would like to see the look of this on proper gravel tires.
Snow tires. The answer you’re looking for is snow tires. That’s what the majority of stock class cars use for rallycross.
How much did the course rut up with these things?
Apparently slapping rally wheels on anything is enough to make me lust after something.
I too belong to the turbofan cult.
This thing is too bloated. And a testament to how underutilized EV tech is for enthusiast applications.
A car of half its size with half its aerodynamic drag with the same power output would be far, far more hoonable, AND cost less to build.
Why don’t we have a sub-2,500 lb, aerodynamically slippery Ford Reflex/Probe EV? Or maybe a new Ford GT EV? Why not make an EV version of the conventional Mustang instead of this overweight pig of a crossover? All of these would be greatly more hoonable with the same drive system and a lighter, more power-dense battery.
Everyone clamors for a 250+ (more like 300+) mile range on their EVs. Battery density isn’t to the point where that’s possible for a small(ish) pack unless you’ve got a base vehicle that’s truly tiny. It’s easier to justify a 1000+ lb battery pack in an SUV, so they go for larger vehicles… that require even heavier batteries to get those range numbers.
Outside the realm of exotics, the best hope for a hoonable EV sports car is to majorly increase power densities and/or get people to be ok with shorter ranges in their sports car.
The vehicle doesn’t have to be truly tiny if its aerodynamics are good. The GM EV1 of the 1990s had a 0.19 Cd. Nothing on the market today is as slippery.
Although, a truly tiny car just increases hoonability. Especially when you cram supercar/hypercar levels of power into it.
Good aero can help with straight line speed and efficiency, but it can’t compensate totally for low weight and small size. The weight of a long range battery and the packaging constraints of a skateboard chassis don’t require everything to be an SUV, but it sure makes it a lot easier to package it as an SUV.
Good aero is exactly what cuts energy consumption at highway speeds, where long range matters the most.
The GM EV1 uses about half the energy per mile at 70 mph as the Mustang Mach E. This means for a 300 mile highway range, you need about half as much battery. This in turn leads to less weight, not just from the battery, but in the rest of the car that no longer needs heavier components to support a heavier battery.
The Aptera 2E is a clear demonstration of what is possible: 250 miles range at 70 mph on 25 kWh.
If you were to make a long 3,500 lb sedan with the Aptera’s CdA value, it would have consumption on the highway rivaling or even beating the GM EV1.
For 300 miles range in a comfortable sedan appropriate for seating a family with a level of comfort and roominess comparable to a W123 Mercedes, you really don’t need more than 45 kWh, and it may even be doable on 35 kWh. The problem is that modern cars are designed to be needlessly wasteful on purpose, to not only fit whatever some corporate hacks in the C-Suite think looks cool, but preserve planned obsolescence. Instead, we should have long wheel base sedans with a Cd around 0.15 or so. Watch the required battery pack size go way down as a result, and with it, the mass of the car to levels that may be less than a comparable ICE car without the use of exotic materials.
Range in the city may not be anywhere near as good, however, but that’s really not where it’s needed.
Gonna guess the same crash safety (actual and perceived) issues that killed compact cars and trucks. Though the LEAF exists…
So does the Mirage. It passes too. So does the Miata.
The regulations are burdensome and excessive IMO, but they aren’t the reason we don’t have small, efficient, inexpensive EVs.
Aside from consumer demand for crossovers and big things, part of the problem seems to be the physics behind EVs: bigger battery = more range + faster charging capability + moar power (higher power draw)… The compliance vehicles from the previous gen of EVs, with their small batteries and weak motors and horrible range, are more a testament to carmakers’ engineering capabilities than most would assume. Now, as technology marches on and we get more power-dense batteries, maybe there’s hope, but the current state of battery tech wouldn’t support what we enthusiasts would be interested in, unless you’re into Hellcat levels of power.
Actually, the state of battery technology 25 years ago, when batteries were about 1/4-1/3 as energy dense as today, could support cars that enthusiasts are interested in, at least if your main purpose is to use the vehicle for A to B transportation and you need long range. There existed 25 years ago sub-3,000 lb EVs getting 150-200 mile ranges at 70 mph using 25-30 kWh battery packs that weighed 900 lbs. That same battery today fits into a 250-300 lb package.
Even the Nissan Leaf 1st gen had an average drag coefficient and consumed almost twice as much energy per mile as the GM EV1, even though both cars were of similar size and mass. The 1st gen Nissan Leaf’s energy consumption is closer to that of a Mustang Mach E, than an EV1, and this shows in its range. This is primarily due to one thing: aerodynamic drag. The Leaf’s 0.28 drag coefficient puts it on par with the 1921 Rumpler Tropfenwagen, which was unveiled nearly 90 years prior to the Leaf. THAT is how far cars are behind when it comes to platform efficiency. Drag coefficient values in the low 0.1X range are feasible for road-going vehicles.
This is less a question of battery technology, and more a question of platform efficiency. Most of the compliance cars were horribly inefficient. THAT is why their range sucked. To demonstrate an extreme of what is possible, I built a one-seater vehicle that can get a 200 mile range at 30 mph, using only 1.5 kWh(not a typo), and there exists potential to cut its energy consumption by more than half through further drag reduction. But this is legally a “bicycle” and it weighed 91 lbs when I still had it assembled. A sub-1,500 lb two-seater sports car sized like a Suzuki Cappuccino with excellent streamlining(Cd < 0.19) should be able to get efficiency even better than an Aptera 2e(the Aptera has a large frontal area and is closer to 3,000 lbs).
Racing is a different animal altogether though, due to the power demands for accelerating and the amount of kinetic energy wasted slowing down for turns.
The Aptera 2e is proving 25 kWh can get a 250 mile range at highway speeds. But if it were to have Hellcat levels of power, you could also drain the battery in less than 3 minutes of full throttle acceleration.
maybe someone will rally the new fiat 500e that would be something.
I wish I could get excited about this, and it’s definitely interesting on paper. But I still can’t get over the Mach E in general. I hate that it’s marketed as a Mustang. I don’t find it to be particularly attractive because the Mustang styling cues just don’t work for me on an SUV. I find the $60,000 price tag to be impossible to swallow, especially when it’ll be worth $35,000 in two years since it’s an EV.
And that’s not even getting into what other naughty SUVs you can buy for this much. You can get a certified X3M in the high 40s/low 50s all day or several V6 Parsh SUVs. This is also roughly the same price as the Ioniq 5 N, which I unsurprisingly find cooler and more intriguing. I’m sure that all 7 people who buy these will enjoy them, but it’s very much not for me.
I just bought a Mustang Mach E, though not the Rally version. Actually, I can’t imagine throwing this car around. It feels very heavy, but comfortable. I bought it – as opposed to other gas or electric cars – because I liked the styling and found the lift gate to be useful – this is my company car and I carry light tools and products in the back. It’s not a Mustang and I don’t want it to be. But it’s a good looking car. All my friends drive Tesla by the way, so it’s different. In fact, most everyone I know between 35 and 50 now own EVs.
The Mach E is powerful, though not oppressively so and comfortable. Total range with the regular sized battery pack is about equal to the super duper Rally version, but I assume the Rally car would get better mileage if you drove it like a regular car. I drive 15 miles to work and plug it in, then make business call up to say, 50 miles during the day. Just got a Level 2 (240v) charger and it seems to fill up the electron tank by the end of the day. I got by on 115 volts for the first couple weeks.
The Teslas, based on the what I’ve seen and the braggadocio of its fan boys, seem to be more advanced in regard to power, self driving and charging, I’ll admit. But I loved the Mach E style since it launched and when they offered it with zero percent financing and deep discounts, I pounced.
I’m a creature of style. Did little (no) research. And in fact never thought I would own an EV. My sample length of ownership is short, but I’m not disappointed. I enjoy the car! Don’t think I want to get it dirty though!
I have a 2022 Mach-E GT I bought new.
First off, I’m not sure if it still does, but back when I bought it, the Mach-E qualified for the $7500 federal tax credit, plus my state offered a $2500 cash rebate. After filing my taxes, that’s $10k off the price of the car which brought it to about $55k.
Secondly, I needed a vehicle that could comfortably fit four adults and some weekend luggage, but wasn’t just a boring CUV. Regardless of your opinions of the Mustang connection (I just call it a Mach-E and leave the whole “is it a Mustang” debate to people with too much time on their hands), it certainly stands outs amidst the sea of boring cars out there, especially in the bright metallic blue mine is. I hated the looks when I first saw the pictures, but it really grew on me seeing them in person, and now I think it’s a great looking car taking the styling at face value.
It easily holds everything my family needs, the frunk is super handy, the tech is great, the seats are comfortable, and the interior quality feels like a $55k car should. It’s not “luxury” as such, but I’ve never felt ripped off. I’ve taken it on long road trips and never had any range issues or problems charging, but that’s highly location-dependent.
It also really rips, and not just in a straight line. You can definitely feel the weight on the sharpest corners, but the bottomless torque makes up for a lot of that, and the GT will gladly step out the rear end with a stab of throttle, despite the AWD. It’s still a fun car to drive, and I’ve owned manual M3s and Miatas before. The Mach-E will never be as spry as a Miata, but it’s more nimble on its feet than you might think.
I agree the Ioniq 5N is a very cool car too, and someone looking at the performance trim Mach-E should absolutely cross shop. That didn’t exist when I bought my Mach-E, it was basically that or a Tesla Model Y, and I’m very much not interested in a Tesla.
So, would you say that the magneto-rheological fluid is the X factor in the Mach E Rally performance?
Careful. You’re gonna stir up a Collossus of a Storm of puns.
Seems like a Gambit we’re willing to take.
Really claws over terrain like a Wolverine, makes it a Jubilee to drive
We have the weirdest commenters by a longshot.
Now there’s a deep cut! Now there’s no stopping this Juggernaut!
We don’t want to go Rogue. It will be a Beast to calm the Havok
You’re such an Angel. I’m gonna have a Sprite with Ice, Man.
Yes, but we’re your dorks.
Huh, a lot of X Men have vehicle names:
Cars: Aurora, Karma, Mirage, Phoenix, Rogue, Sprite, Storm, Sunfire, Thunderbird, Wraith
Concept cars: Banshee, Firestar, Prodigy
Makes: Ariel, Polaris
Trims: Magma, Warlock
Engines: Northstar, Vulcan
Definitely, but if you rally in too deep of puddles, it will be Dead in Pool.
This is offtopic slightly, but the Mach-e is probably the most frustrating vehicle to me to launch in years. They clearly had a specific target (Model Y), but failed to compete on every level from pricing to charging to even niche things like light duty towing ratings/hardware. (Which yes, I’ve actually used my MY towing numerous times, as it is an one-car household effectively and plywood/drywall exist).
I’d argue the Mach-E is better made by a pretty wide margin. I have a Mach-E and other family members have Model Ys. The Mach-E has none of the creaks, gaps, trim falling off etc that my family’s Model Ys have had. The few minor recalls the Mach-E has had were handled quickly and painlessly, and Ford even sent me a bunch of apology gifts (though honestly, I’d entirely forgotten about the recalls at that point).
To be clear, the Mach-E is the first Ford I’ve ever had after mostly only owning Japanese and German cars, so I’m hardly a brand fanboy. I have been really impressed though.
The one thing they targeted the Model Y and Tesla in general and really nailed was OTA updates. I saw that advertised and thought “oh sure, maybe they’ll push one update ever then forget about it”, but they consistently push 2-3 updates a month since I bought it two years ago, and they have genuinely made the car better with updates. They also are pretty responsive to feedback, and you can send a voice memo to Ford Engineering for new feature requests with a single tap. The Ford app too is shockingly polished and I’ve used “phone as a key” since I bought it. I have all kinds of control through the app and it works great.
Totally agree on the towing part though. The annoying thing is in Europe you can buy a Mach-E tow package with full trailer brake control, tow mode, and it has a 3300lb tow rating. In the US? Nothing. I don’t need to tow much, just a load of bark dust a few miles across town in my little utility trailer or a dirt bike to the woods now and then, maybe 40 miles roundtrip. It’s a totally reasonable thing for an EV, even with the range hit.
I’m probably going to get an aftermarket tow setup, but I need to find a trailer light controller with in-inline connectors to the factory wiring so I don’t need to splice anything.
I don’t disagree about the better made part, but I also don’t think it actually matters when most people keep cars long enough where they all rattle etc. My MY got rather rattling over this past winter “finally” after 70k miles and 4 years, but yeah… wtf why can’t I get a basic towing package on the mach-e when it is pretty respectable in europe.
I’ve towed a 3500 (probably a bit more) boat 30 miles each way with my MY exactly once, but realistically just a dinky trailer as you say is enough. Hell just being able to mount a nice bike rack on the rear is a big benefit.
The MY for me is our “practical car”, my wife has a 2009 Bug, so it’s the roadtrip car too, and gosh how I would have loved to be able to do a mach-e instead. But it just isn’t there yet in these little details, despite as you noted being rather better built.
Well like I said, aftermarket tow bars are available that pick up the same frame mounting points the European tow bar uses, so for my purposes, that’s fine.
Obviously that is ‘fine’, but its stupid to either have to choose not to wire things up, or splice things up yourself. Plus a lot of insurances probably would use that as an excuse to deny coverage if something happened even remotely interacting with that area.
Not a big deal. Just a silly annoyance
Someday, I will go to DirtFish and do foolish things.
This really seems like the U.S. market version of Ford’s actual rally car, the Puma. Which I kinda like, but of course, too small for us to have here.
Everything has to be an SUV here, unfortunately
I’ve really come around to liking what Farley used to refer to as “white space” vehicles – those that slot size-wise between an SUV and a regular car.
Like you, I live in an urban area, so I want something appropriately smaller that can be easily parked on the street or in a garage, but I can appreciate the need for cargo capacity that people want. I know there are some good ones out there ;-), I just wish we got more.
The Chinese market Ford Evos looks so cool (and I believe it’s in fact the Ford Fusion Active that were were supposed to get, prior to the tariffs).
My parents bought a Toyota Crown yesterday, AMA
I’ve started seeing them around, and I really like the look – they actually organically look like a futuristic car, not the forced look of say the Cybertruck.
I love the way they look too, but I have a hard time swallowing the price of the hybrid max one…which is the one I’d want.
I’d encourage you to sit in one if you haven’t.
The amenities and comfort level seemed worthy of the price, at least to me. Also, unlike some other Toyota hybrids, they are easily available thousands under sticker, at least here in the Midwest.
I found it tight if you’re a full size North American. Granted, that was in the trim down from the full-fat max version.
I opted for the S60 Recharge and 455hp.
Wife may be in the market for a S60 Recharge. What’s your review?
Love it. Flat out, unreservedly.
Seats are super comfortable, electric range has been awesome, the acceleration in Power mode is giggle inducing, and cruises contentedly, with a decent sized trunk and adult sized back seats. I throw mine on the regular house plug to charge overnight, and its full by morning.
Infotainment is mid, but functional. I wish there were more dynamic choices for the driver screen other than navigation, or blank, but that’s really not much. The google automotive controls work well and the safety is beyond reproach.
There could be more stash pockets/center console, as the “transmission tunnel” is where the batteries live. I wish the drive modes weren’t two presses into the menu deep, instead of a little dial/button. Other than that, it’s been flawless. Make sure you get the 2023 or later with the bigger battery.
Top tip to find a lightly used one. Volvo has some odd six month bridge lease plans for people who are waiting on high demand vehicles. I got mine, which is the Plus out the door for $43K with under 4000 miles on the clock.
Opting for the Ultimate adds HUD, supposedly one of the best sound systems on wheels, and a fancy Orefors crystal shift knob. No adds in power or performance.
$43K with under 4000 miles is not bad at all for a car like that! Thanks for the info, I’ll start my sales pitch!
What’s funny about this is my dad is pretty conservative in his tastes and the futuristic styling was a downside for him. He picked a black one to get as monotone a look as possible (even the lower trims have some black pieces, and the Platinums are full two-tone).
He likes the higher ride, the soft leather seats and comfort-tuned ride, AWD, and the 40 mpg though. That’s a tough combo to get anywhere else.