Road Trippin' in the KK

kdub · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:09 pm **Posts:** 21

Well I have now been a KK owner for almost a month and I am extremely pleased. I can't say enough good things about this vehicle. I am getting ready for my first oil change this week. I am a little over on the mileage for the oil change, but read below and you will see why. So here is my experience with my first month with the KK and I wanted to share with you guys.

I used to own a 02 Explorer Sport. I had planned to run it until it died, but I had been having issues with it for a while. The AC was busted, it badly needed new tires, and just kinda felt like it was starting to fall apart. So even thought I was 2 payments from paying it off, I decided to get a new vehicle instead of paying for lots of repairs to the explorer. The KK had everything I was looking for. I ordered a Sport with the 6 speed manual, popular equipment, skid plate, trailer towing, and power sunroof packages in Jeep Green Metallic. I got the KK in on dec 6th.

Now one of the reasons for buying the new vehicle was that I had a trip to the florida keys planned over xmas of this year for a week of relaxing and scuba diving. I like in Louisville, KY and did not really want to trust the explorer to get us down and back. So my plan was to get the KK in with enough time to break it in good, then drive it down and back. Well it kinda worked out. I had about 180 miles on it in 5 days when I got a bad ear infection and could not walk for 5 days because of dizziness. Luckily it cleared up in time for me to put a fwe more miles on before the trip, I had right at 500 miles of break in driving in before the trip.

The first tank of gas was break in driving where I tried to vary the rpms, so it was not a good indicator of mpgs.

So the trip rolled around. Here are some pictures of the jeep in sunny florida:

Not sure how that last one got in there ;-)

A few things about the trip. Like I said about the first tank, the mpg was bad because of the style of driving I was doing. However, the mileage got much better on the trip. Here are the mileage numbers that I got:

tank miles mpg notes
1 356 20.7 this was mainly on 70mph highways and also through nashville. We hit some hills in tennessee
2 326 19.8 my brother drove this tank. He was averaging 80-85 through georgia
3 354 21.9 this was through southern georgia and northern florida, 70mph zones and no real stops
4 278 23.1 southern part of florida and the keys, 70mph and 55 mph zones
5 342 22.5 driving around the keys. averaged about 50 mph in the keys
6 364 21.5 middle and upper florida, 70mph zones
7 323 20.8 georgia, 70 mph zones
8 354 20.1 tenn and part of kentucky, 70 mph zones

I think i missed a tank in there somewhere.

What I found is that 55-70 seems to be a pretty sweet spot for highway driving. The 80-85 mph tank got under 20mpg. Driving around in the keys, mostly at 45-55 mph did get good mpgs too.

A few other notes:
- the change oil light came on around 3000-3200 miles. I am guessing it came on later than some people have been reporting (1600-2500 miles) because of all of the highway driving.

- I accidentally left the back gate open when we were out diving one day (4 hours). Luckily nothing was stolen and I don't know if there is some power saving thing for the lights, but I had no trouble starting it up when we got back from the dive trip

- The interior cloth is great. We had we gear, sand, us in wet trunks, and the interior looks brand new except for some sand that I am going to vacuum out tomorrow

- we made the trip back in 18 hours of continuous driving, stopping only for gas. The engine performed flawlessly. Big kudos to jeep for building a great ride.

Oh yeah. My "new" KK now has just under 3500 miles on it. I am going to get my first oil change this week of dino oil then the next change will be to amsoil (prob at 5500 miles).

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 2:37 am

nice looking kk :wink:

......as far as your mileage goes, that seems about right on the factory tires. any mods planed for your new baby?

dloc_jeep_KJ · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:30 am

i really like that color... nice looking Jeep u have there. ive been trying to talk my wife into getting one of these. she kinda wants a commander though.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:33 am

why a commander?

Sport · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:36 am

Man I wish I was in that last picture. Nice shot.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:28 am

Nice pics and decent MPG figures considering she is still breaking in. Good call on the Amsoil. :wink:

kdub · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:09 pm **Posts:** 21

Diggerfreek wrote:

nice looking kk :wink:

......as far as your mileage goes, that seems about right on the factory tires. any mods planed for your new baby?

I would like to do some mods, just not quite sure of what yet. I like the idea of the 2" lift and getting some bigger tires to start. What I will probably do is wait for the KKs to be around for another 6 months or so and then take a look at what has come out on the market for them. It still seems kinda early in the product life for a lot of stuff, so I will keep my eyes out and see what comes down the pipe. I am interested in what people come up with for the tailpipe/muffler area, and I did not get the mygig entertainment system (dealer said they talked to the factory and could not get it on the sport) so I am interested in messing around with the radio and getting something with a hard drive and possibly navigation in there.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:42 am

What rpms are you guys turning at 65mph? Auto or Manual?

Since the Speedos are notoriously bad on Jeeps...has anyone used GPS to find the error %?

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2008 4:46 pm

if i remember right, its about 1 mph at 70. but who knows as i was following my dad and he said he was doing 69. :?:

FL RENNY · **Joined:** Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:30 pm **Posts:** 458

that looks an awful lot like Key Colony Beach, on Marathon key. We stay down there every year in August for Lobster season. I hope that you had fun, and NICE JEEP!

kdub · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:09 pm **Posts:** 21

DarbyWalters wrote:

What rpms are you guys turning at 65mph? Auto or Manual?

Since the Speedos are notoriously bad on Jeeps...has anyone used GPS to find the error %?

As far as rpms at 65, i am not sure. I think at 70 I was doing 2100, does that sound right? I also checked the speedo with my gps on the trip. It was pretty spot on, I would say that the +/- 1 mph that Diggerfreek mentioned is probably accurate.

PS- I have a manual

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:59 am

I guess they have improved the accuracy of the speedos with the 08's. Even with larger tires mine is a couple mph off. At ~72mph indicated I am really going 70mph...2040 rpm with the CRD...not bad for a 4 banger. I can get the 2nd OD (.67:1) to hold at 1700 rpm at 57.5 (59.5 indicated)mph for some great mpg (over 30mpg) even with a lift.

You guys are definitely getting a bit better highway mpg than the KJs (excluding CRDs). Consistent 20+ at speeds of 70mph or so is not bad at all IMHO.

kdub · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:09 pm **Posts:** 21

I double checked the rpms on my way to work this morning. In 6th gear at 65 I was at 2k rpms. 70-75 mph put me between 2100 and 2200 rpms.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:53 am

I wonder what a stock KJ manual turns?

Road Trippin' in the KK

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