2023 Ford Maverick Tremor Quick Spin: Worth It to Rumble Off-Road?

Especially happy on the road

Off-road suspensions are some of my favorites for riding around town, and off-road suspensions handle bumps and potholes well, and the Maverick Tremor is no exception.

While regular Mavericks are prone to rough handling, the Tremor off-road suspension and Falken Wildpeak A/T tires provide plenty of support for both driver and passenger.

The raised ride height also makes the driver’s seat more comfortable – not by much, of course, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the compact SUV like I sometimes do in the long-running Maverick Lariat hybrid. our time.

The handling is no different from the regular Maverick.

The Maverick Tremor isn’t exactly a sports car, but it’s not as vague as some of the compact SUVs I’ve driven and is more unwieldy than the regular Maverick, which has occasional issues with all models.

car. There is a bit of body roll on the Tremor due to its longer ride and suspension, but the changes aren’t so extreme that the Tremor rolls from side to side like the F-150 Raptor with all its suspension travel have strength.

Driving the Maverick Tremor also echoed the feeling I got when testing two Mavericks in the front: The AWD model starts well from a standstill.

While FWD Mavericks don’t have a lot of steering torque (like the truck pulls to the left or right during acceleration), they struggle to handle hard power and wheel spin when taken off-road. AWD Maverick is not available.

The loaded FWD EcoBoost Maverick also had an alarming amount of wheel hop during the acceleration test.

I don’t think the Maverick Tremor is going to be the fastest Maverick in the lineup with its added range of street-oriented tires, and I’m not sure about the AWD Maverick EcoBoost without any off-road packages.

will be faster than FWD. one because of the weight, but I like the clean start. We’ve called the Maverick Tremor a Bronco Sport Badlands with a bed given that it borrows the SUV’s AWD system, but there’s an added bonus: a longer wheelbase.

I took the Maverick Tremor on a rough road that made me fall off my seat in the Bronco Sport Badlands. I felt every bit of Tremor fall, but the truck was silent.

I can’t attribute all of that to the Maverick Tremor’s 16-inch wheelbase, but it does help improve the ride of other Fords on the road.

There are three notable issues with driving the Maverick Tremor around town.

First of all, a supercharged engine isn’t the loudest type of engine to my ears, and cheap cars like the Maverick tend to be more soundproof than other gasoline-powered cars.

Second, knobby tires create more noise and noise than road tires on other Mavericks; again, that’s not unusual for the versions that are out there and it’s not as loud as the larger pilots, but it’s still noticeable.

In the end, fuel efficiency is not the power of Maverick Tremor: fuel economy found in urban-leaning commercial driving and temperatures in the 20s and 30s hovered between the center and the upper end of the range.

City driving will reduce fuel economy, but when I got into the car with a full tank, it predicted I had over 300 miles.

The EcoBoost powered 2022 Mavericks with all-wheel drive is EPA rated at 22/ 29/25 mpg city/highway/combined, but the company hasn’t given a rating for the 2023 Maverick. Buyers may not be concerned about fuel economy, but after seeing the economy of our Maverick Hybrid FWD, numbers like this are disappointing.

Lest you think the Maverick Tremor is just a lift, it also gets Tremor upgrades like a beefier transmission cooler, better mid-sections, off-road adaptations for mud, sand,

and snow, and a system New AWD. and a rear differential can send almost all the torque to the right or left wheel, or lock the rear wheel, for maximum traction.

It also gets a front-facing design that improves its angle from 21.6 to 30.7 degrees.

While I can’t take the Maverick Tremor off the road, it has the tools to be able to.

In the same way that the Maverick can be a perfect “car” as a tow and hauler for most people,

the Maverick Tremor seems to handle many off-road situations.

Speaking of trucks, the other thing that will come out of the Maverick Tremor is that its payload is slightly reduced.

Ford lists its maximum capacity at 1,200 pounds, compared to the 1,500-pound maximum on other Mavericks;

The maximum capacity of our test vehicle, including occupants, was 1,225 kilograms.

Towing capacity increases to 2,000 pounds, the same as the standard Maverick; while non-Tremor AWD Mavericks can add a tow package that doubles capacity to 4,000, it’s not available with the Tremor off-road package.