2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Tremor AWD
Price: $51,255 CAD
Colour: Avalanche
The trend in automobile design, in North American anyway, is always make it bigger. Every new generation of a vehicle seems to include an increase in size. We used to get genuinely small vehicles that have now grown enormous over the years. Ford has bucked the trend of “bigger is better” with the Maverick. I drove the Maverick Lariat Hybrid earlier this year and loved lots of things about it, its smallness being my favourite aspect of the car. Another trend in car making is innumerable trim packages. Ford embraced this trend with the Maverick and one of the results is the “Tremor” package. It’s the top shelf Maverick you can buy and, incredibly, it goes a lot farther than just stickers and embroidered seats.
If you want all-wheel drive in the Maverick you have to have the 2.0l Ecoboost. While you lose the incredible fuel economy of the hybrid power-train you gain the ability to truly take the Maverick into the wilds. The 2.0l is mated to a very smooth 8-speed automatic. The Tremor package adds a bunch of suspension upgrades that get you 1” of increased clearance, bash plates, an electronic differential, 4WD modes, upgraded cooling for the engine and transmission and other items that make the $3900 price tag for the Tremor package worth every penny. When you combine all this with the smallness of the Maverick it really illustrates just how capable this truck can be in the bush. You can handle regular logging roads with no issue but you won’t have to pass up on the smaller trails that run off into the middle of nowhere. Typically, if you’re in a full-size pickup, I’d pass on these as there just isn’t room. The Maverick however can scamper right along and allow you to explore until you run out of gas or puncture a tire.
I took the Maverick on a long day trip that was supposed to include extensive off-roading. I was to be joined by a friend as, due to past experiences, I don’t go off-grid by myself. Unfortunately, he had to bail at the last minute and I was stuck to the more beaten path. Nevertheless, I was deeply impressed by the Maverick as we covered 600kms together in one shot. It’s a well-made truck and I’m certain it would have put a huge smile on my face as I bashed it through the rough stuff. I’d like to give Ford Canada credit for not only okaying my idea of taking the Maverick to the bush but encouraging it. Not every manufacturer has that kind of faith in their product.
At just over $51k this isn’t a cheap vehicle. You can tinker with the options and get that number down a bit as there are superfluous options on this test model. This price tag will drag the Maverick into the eyeline of other trucks like the Tacoma, the Frontier and others. What you don’t get from those trucks is that ever-present “smallness” that pervades every aspect of the Maverick. If the bush is your objective, this is a vehicle to truly be considered. It will take you places others just can’t.
