“Wow. That’s really a big truck.”
This is pretty much all that went through my mind when I walked out to meet my car-of-the-week on the day this beast arrived. Quite simply, it’s huge.
To get into it, you have to sort of hike up your proverbial skirt and just sort of jump in. The running boards, while helpful, are still high enough off the ground to require a thoughtful approach, and still far enough from the seat height that you have to stretch to get in. After a full week of driving it, I still didn’t have an elegant way to climb in. And being 6′ 1″, I can only imagine the effort required for smaller folks.
Once inside, as expected in something this large, it is extremely roomy and comfortable. A full notebook fit on the armrest separating me from the passenger seat, with plenty of room for the elbows on both sides. The cup holder could easily handle two 2-liter bottles of soda, and there were enough small nooks, crannies, and change trays for even the most extreme of pack rats.
Then there’s the back seat. Two full-sized doors open up on each side of the truck to reveal what could almost be considered a chauffeur-inspired passenger area. It’s bigger than the back seat of a Maybach, only missing the champagne tray and crystal stemware holders. In a long road-trip up to the outskirts of Seattle, I climbed in at a rest stop and took a nap, stretching out my legs completely and feeling at-home and rested when I woke up. The back seat bench is as big as a truck; inside a truck.
Button and knob locations are laid out thoughtfully, with a pleasant tactile feel to everything. The steering wheel has the normal cruise control buttons on the face, with paddle-shift-inspired radio controls on the back. Driving down the highway at full speed in a truck the size of a school bus never left you nervously looking for a dial or a setting. It was all within easy reach and in logical places.
As for actually driving down the road, I was petrified more often than not while trying to navigate small streets near my home; never sure if I would actually make a tight corner without ripping a small Civic to shreds as I barely noticed a bump in the suspension. Nothing of the sort happened though, and I was able to go everywhere I needed. I did notice that grocery store parking lots required a lot more thought as to where I would end up, and to where I would possibly find a location with enough room to open the monster doors and still have room to dismount from the seat. Crowded city streets just weren’t meant for a truck like this.
Once on the highway the truck suddenly shrinks in size. Never does it feel like you’re directing a street-legal monster truck at full speed. It handles well. It steers comfortably. It tracks and stays straight easily. Overtaking cars is effortless, and the ability to stop all that weight is never questioned. You do, however, get a bird’s eye view of the tiny cars below you. You even have a straight line of sight overtop otherwise large SUVs and pickup trucks. As the biggest truck I’ve ever ridden in, I was very impressed with its drivability on the freeway.
Every time I got out of the Laramie, someone near me commented on its size. Every time a friend of mine saw it, they laughed at the thought of me trying to navigate it through my neighborhood. However, the only time I didn’t laugh was at the fuel pump. Over the course of a week, I noticed two markedly different patterns. Within city limits, it got pretty understandable mileage for a diesel this size: 11-13 mpg. On the highway however, I was able to get close to 18 mpg while cruising at around 65 mph. When I took it up to 75 (which is just over Washington State’s freeway speeds of 70 mph) it dropped down to 15 mpg. (The console mileage indicator seemed to give an average mpg rating without being weighted by the tank so far. If I changed my driving habits for more than a dozen miles, the console reflected it.) With a monster 32-gallon tank, it took more than a few dollars to fill. Something I wasn’t used to seeing coming from a Honda Accord background.
Overall, I enjoyed having this truck and was greatly impressed with the drivability of something big enough to fight Godzilla, should the need arise. I’m glad I don’t have to drive it every day in the city, but from the moment I climbed in, I was impressed with all of the little things that make driving such a big truck bearable. 4 stars.
Album: 2006-Dodge-Mega-Cab-2500
