Having said that, the truck had no problem finding the right gear and enough power to haul a trailer up and down the steep hills of northern Ontario. This could have had something to do with the fact that we were close to max towing capacity but still disappointing that tow/haul mode didn’t seem to help with anything. It seemed to be stuck in sixth gear while cruising regardless of which mode I was in. No change in gear shifting speeds, no difference in RPM, no change with the gear the truck chose to be in at any given RPM, and no change in fuel economy. I spent about 20 minutes testing the truck with that feature on and off and I could not find any discernible difference. There was however absolutely no difference when in tow/haul mode while towing our trailer. Still, the truck does a great job handling all that weight, and the trailer braking (which is customizable) is fantastic. It’s smooth, quiet and lane sway is minimal… until you have to brake. With the exception of the fuel tank rapidly draining (along with my bank account), while cruising on the highway, you almost forget there’s a trailer filled with 10 days worth of supplies, survival equipment, three ATVs, two generators, and enough fuel to cause a noticeable tear in the ozone layer. Even when hauling a trailer, it always put itself in the right gear without shuffling to maintain the right RPM. In fact, it’s barely noticeable at all when switching gears. The 8-speed transmission is surprisingly smooth and didn’t hunt for gears as much as I was expecting, considering the ridiculous amount of gears it needs to go through. Opening it is the easy part… closing is where you want the power. The remote tailgate release was fine, but it lacks the power-closing feature that trucks like the Silverado have. I will say though, that one was hanging a bit lower than it’s supposed to, and it makes me wonder about the longevity of them… and it’s just one more thing to break. It’s faster than you can step down and get out. The speed at which they lower when you open the door is incredible as well. There were plenty of situations on the back trails around our hunt camp where permanent running boards would have scraped the ground constantly but with the running boards retracted, it was a non-issue. The automatic power running boards are a fantastic feature. No fighting ensues over who needs to charge their phone the most! It was especially handy to charge our GPS beacons every night, so we didn’t get lost in the bush. Two USB connections in the front and two more in the rear make it ideal for a long road trip. With all of the most important icons laid out at the bottom of the screen, it’s easy to access the controls you need. When using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, it splits the screen so you can still the rest of the system. And paired with this 12.0-inch screen it jumps the ranks even higher. Chrysler’s Uconnect system is one of the better infotainment systems on the market, especially when it comes to trucks.
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