RYAN ZUMMALLEN: Hey. everyone.
I'm Ryan.
And today, I'm feeling very lucky
because I get a chance to drive the 2022 Ford Maverick.
That's right.
It's Ford's new compact pickup truck.
And it's finally ready to hit the road.
How small is it?
This small.
So today, we're going to find out
how it does in the curves and towing and in off-road.
But we'll also be looking for potential problems,
because after all, this is now a two truck
race between the Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz.
Go check out Travis's video when he got to drive to Santa Cruz,
if you haven't done that already.
Before we render a final verdict between the Maverick
and the Santa Cruz, we'll wait until we
can take them both back home for our full set of evaluations.
But I think there are still a few things we can
glean from our driving today.
Don't you?
Let's get to it.
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Now, let's hit it.
OK.
So we're finally behind the wheel of the 2022 Maverick.
This model that we're driving right now
comes with the standard hybrid engine.
That's a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder attached to an electric motor.
And it makes 191 horsepower and 155 LB-FT of torque.
Now, just for comparison sake, the Santa Cruz base engine
makes the exact same horsepower, but it
has about an extra 25 LB-FT of torque over the Maverick.
However, from behind the wheel, the Maverick
doesn't feel underpowered at all.
It's got a nice response when you step on it.
And there's definitely enough power to get you going,
get you around, get you up hills, stuff like that.
Now, is it a ton of power?
No.
But for a base engine, especially one
that is aiming to be extremely efficient, it's not bad.
So one of the things I wanted to focus
on coming into the Maverick, is the ride quality.
Because remember, this is coming based
on a small SUV architecture that's designed for comfort.
And so how would the Maverick fare?
Well, it's definitely not like a big f-150 or a Ranger,
but it's also not super smooth.
There's a little bit more rumbly than I was expecting.
And what do I mean by that?
It means in terms of ride quality on the road,
even if the road is super smooth and straight,
you do get a little bit of bumpiness.
You also get a little bit of rumbling
when the hybrid engine transitions from electric power
to the gas motor.
Now, when it comes to the steering,
I was pretty skeptical coming into the Maverick.
And the reasons are, I do not like
the steering in the Ranger.
There's dead spots all over the place.
I also felt that the Bronco Sport was pretty similar
in that respect.
But the Maverick doesn't really have that problem.
The steering has a nice weight to it.
It's progressive and linear.
It doesn't make you give more effort through certain points
and less effort through others.
So that's definitely a big plus.
The braking does kind of have that problem.
Now, at speed if you're just slowing down
a little bit, no problem.
Nice response.
Good feedback.
At least for a hybrid system.
But when you're going around town, coming down at low speed
all the way to full stops, there are some points
that you're not really sure that the brakes are giving you
all you're asking for.
And so you push it a little bit harder
and then it's a full stop.
So again, it's just a little bit of that unrefined trucky-ness
you get used to after a while.
But you just can't come into this thinking that's going
to drive like an Escape, because it doesn't.
Now, we've hopped out of the hybrid.
We stopped at a distillery outside of Nashville.
Kind of our halfway point for the day.
But a few thoughts on the hybrid.
Just as with its truckish-ness, you never really
forget that you're driving a hybrid either.
You get the noises, you get the sensations,
and it's got a CVT transmission that
can be a little lurchy sometimes, so you never
forget you're in that either.
But it doesn't come out as like a mishmash,
it just comes out as something that's
like a unique character to the Maverick.
But we're done with that.
Now, we're going to jump into the 2-liter turbocharged engine
with all wheel drive.
Made sure to get that for you.
Let's see how that does.
OK.
So we're back in the Maverick.
This time in a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder.
This one with all wheel drive.
Well, first of all, this has 250 horsepower, 277 pound
feet of torque.
Again, just for reference, the Santa Cruz
and its turbocharged version, has about 30 more of each.
But let's discuss how the Maverick does
on its own merits.
From behind the wheel, this is a much more traditional
predictable driving experience than the hybrid version was.
You don't have some of the awkward transitions
of, like, coming into electric power and onto gas.
Or using the CVT.
Or using the regenerative braking.
This is all very straightforward, easy,
and predictable.
So instead of that CVT, we have a traditional eight speed
automatic transmission.
It's not the fastest thing in the world.
You are going to feel the shifts.
But it brings the power on really nicely
and doesn't hesitate to downshift when you need it.
And speaking of needing power, there's good thrust
from this engine too.
It doesn't feel like it needs an extra 30 of anything.
When it comes to the braking, here we're
coming to a red right now, so this is perfect.
Very, very smooth responsive good
feedback the whole way through, which is not the experience
that I just had in the hybrid.
You could probably get used to that.
But you'll immediately be familiar with the way this one
works.
One area where both powertrains do feel similar,
is in the ride quality.
Just like with the hybrid, this one
feels a little bit bumpy even over smooth pavement.
Now, it's not unpleasant.
It just gives you that trucky feeling.
The Maverick isn't a crossover cosplaying as a truck.
I like that it really gives you the full experience.
Let's talk about your options.
Like the Ranger, the Maverick comes in 3 available trims.
XL, XLT, and Lariat, like this one.
The hybrid engine is standard on all three trims.
The turbocharged 2-liter is available on all three trims.
But here are some things that come on every Maverick,
regardless of trim.
The crew cab and the 4 and 1/2 footbed.
It's got a low load floor and low sides,
so it's easy to reach in, grab things, pull them out.
Again, the theme is keeping it simple.
As someone who's covered trucks for a long time,
there can often be a dizzying number
of options, configurations, powertrains, and all that.
With this, Ford was saying, here's a small truck.
Here's how it comes.
Here's what it does.
Simple.
Inside of the Maverick, it's pretty no-nonsense in here.
In that there's lots of plastic all over the place.
But the interesting thing, is that Ford added elements
of character and personality.
So that even though there's a lot of plastic,
you feel like you're getting something out of it.
There's interesting shapes, or colors, or textures.
And to be honest, it's something that we would have really
liked to see an approach like this in the Ranger.
But instead, it's nice to see that the Maverick had
a ground-up thoughtful approach.
As far as technology, every Maverick
gets a standard 8 inch screen with standard Apple
carplay and Android auto.
You do have to plug them in though,
there's no wireless option.
You can option up to a similar 8 inch screen,
but that one will be run by the SYNC 3 Infotainment
System, which we really like in Ford products.
One problem though, is that there's no option
to add integrated navigation.
So while you still have your Google Maps and all that,
if you're in a place with no cell service,
you don't have Ford's navigation system to fall back on.
Moving to the back, the first thing I want to show you
is under the seats.
I've got my laptop bag in here and there's plenty of space.
Now, the space depends on which configuration you get,
but this is actually pretty roomy.
Getting in, I'm at six feet.
Do have to duck a little bit to get under.
And then, there's this nice cutout
for your head in the ceiling.
And frankly, I need every inch of it.
Legroom is tight.
I can move them a little bit or rest of them
against the front seat, but if I was much taller,
it would probably be a problem.
Overall, this is a livable, usable space.
But don't come in here expecting f-150 levels of comfort.
So now, we've jumped into a Maverick
to test its payload and hauling capabilities.
This one is loaded up with over 1,000 pounds of concrete
in the bed.
Now, Ford says the Mavericks payload capacity
is about 1,500 pounds.
This one is a lariat, so it's got some extra equipment that
takes away from that rating.
So this one is rated at just a little bit over 1,300.
So you have 1,000 pounds in the bed.
And then you have me in here.
We're right up against that maximum capacity.
So how does it feel on the road?
Well, it feels really good.
The Maverick, at this level, has a tow haul mode
that you can activate.
So we have that on now.
It changes the gearing.
So the engine behaves differently.
It changes the steering, which is noticeably heavier now.
And going down declines, like this,
where braking could pose a problem if you're
at or near capacity like this.
And it feels really good.
The Maverick is really controllable with
this much weight in the back.
Engine braking is definitely helping
to slow the truck on its own.
So you don't have to be riding the brakes the whole time.
And one of the interesting things
about this comparison with the Santa Cruz,
is Travis's video explained in great detail
how difficult it is and complicated
it is to really nail what the Santa Cruz's
payload capabilities really are.
With Ford, they were like, oh, it can do 1,500 pounds.
Here's 1,000 pounds in the bed.
Go for it.
Easy.
So that was a pretty impressive showing
from a hauling standpoint.
That was with the 2-liter turbo engine
and the Maverick really wasn't stressed very much at all.
I've been on a lot of truck drives
and it's not very often that what they give you to haul with
is right up against that maximum payload capacity like that.
But now, we get to really put it to the test,
because they're letting us do the exact same thing,
but with towing.
So now, we're towing.
Again, with the turbo 2-liter.
In tow haul mode again.
The engine is definitely working hard,
but it's not overworked by any means.
The Maverick has no trouble getting up to speed.
We got up to 50 fairly quickly and it's
holding it with no problem even going up an incline here.
Steering feels good too.
Again, it's heavier.
Because of tow haul mode.
But it feels confident.
With the max trailer and towing package
that we have in this vehicle, the maximum towing capacity
goes up to 4,000 pounds.
So in this vehicle, it's optioned up
with the max trailer and towing package that
gives you a bunch of extra equipment,
like a seven pin wiring harness.
Additional cooling, so the engine
can handle heavier loads.
And it comes with an integrated trailer brake controller,
which a lot of times, you have to add on in the aftermarket.
But here with the Maverick, if you add that package,
it just comes with it.
So Ford has really offered everything
you're going to need for towing all in that package.
It ups your maximum capacity to 4,000 pounds.
I've been in cars that have a high maximum capacity
and then don't feel very good once you're actually
driving it.
A lot of wobble when you break, a lot of moving around
when you're steering.
Here we go.
Uphill on an on-ramp.
But the Maverick just feels stable.
So it's handling it really well right now.
So towing with the Maverick was an interesting experience.
The truck definitely feels like it's working hard,
but that's OK.
It wasn't overworked.
It didn't feel unstable or anything like that.
It feels confident and it feels like it can handle it.
I didn't feel the need to use the integrated trailer brake.
On long braking descents, I would just tap it
and the engine braking would take over a lot of that
before I had to get on the brakes.
It wasn't strenuous at all.
So with the Santa Cruz, in some configurations,
you can go up to 5,000 pounds max.
But I wonder how that feels.
So we'll have to get it into test and see for ourselves.
But in the meantime, Maverick pretty impressive for showing.
All right.
Now, we've done the hard work for the day.
Let's go have some fun at the off-road course.
Off-roading in the Maverick.
In this one, we have FX4 package,
which gets you a pretty comprehensive package
of things.
You get additional skid plates to the front.
One high strength steel underneath.
There's also different shocks and different tuning.
And the package comes with all-terrain tires
or you can option up to Falken wild peak tires, which
are also all-terrain.
That's what we have now.
One other thing you get with the FX4 is additional drive modes.
So there's a sand mode and then, there's
a mud and ruts mode, which we are in now.
You get some other things like hill descent control.
But it's missing some of the heavier duty stuff
that you might find in even a Bronco Sport or some
of the Ranger packages.
And this is not the most strenuous off-road course
I've ever been on either.
There's only a few things that we can glean
from impressions like this.
One is that it's just fun to bounce around in the Maverick.
We're not doing anything too overly difficult.
No real chance to use the hill descent control or anything,
but we are going up some rocky inclines here in a second.
And that'll give us a chance to test out the grip.
Just see how it does.
It has good throttle modulation, so even
like a very small press on the gas is giving me good response
as we're bouncing up here.
Earlier, I hit a rock that scattered
along the bottom of it, so it's probably a good thing
that that high strength steel plate is there.
But we're going at like about a 10 degree incline right now.
We're going to climb over a log.
Here we go.
Up and over.
Yeah, the Maverick is not having very much trouble on this
and it's not a very difficult off-road course
but can give you a little bit of extra protection
to get where you need to go.
Today, we saw pretty impressive on-road manners, towing,
hauling, and even a little bit of off-roading.
But the real appeal of the Maverick
is its small size and daily usability
without some of the concessions that you
get with a full size or mid-size truck.
You're probably not going to have huge gas bills.
You're probably not going to have huge parking headaches.
Now, as it compares to the Santa Cruz,
we can't wait until we can get both of those trucks
in to our home base and do a full comparison video.
We'll have that comparison video up as soon as we're able.
I promise.
What's really clear after today is
that the Maverick is a tough little truck
with a lot of upside.
And yeah, I said truck.
It earned it.
Thanks so much for coming along on this journey with us today.
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