What’s The Best Vehicle To Drive In Wyoming

When I first moved to Wyoming, I thought, I NEED A JEEP!. That's about the perfect vehicle for this state, right? Well, maybe.

When buying any vehicle, whether for land, ground, or water, the first question should be, What's the mission?

SMALL CARS. When I first arrived in the cowboy state, I was driving a small, two-door, four-cylinder car. I thought that would be best for the open highways out there. But it turns out that the 80mph speed limit on our interstates causes those small engines to bleed energy at that speed. At that high rpm, they are not saving gas but using more of it to keep the speed up. But their low profile does help when confronted with Wyoming's high winds. Points off for driving in snow and ice. They are too low and too light.

SPORTY CARS. Great for Wyoming's open highways. But you have to stay on paved roads, you can't take them off-road.

JEEPS. Or Bronco or other comparable vehicles. If you are driving over the back roads and up the sides of mountains, then you want something that can crawl over just about anything. Jeeps are great for that. But they are not the best highway vehicles. Because of their shape, they are one of the least fuel-efficient vehicles at high speeds. Also, they don't handle Wyoming's high winds very well, and they are lousy on icy interstates.

ALL AROUND GOOD VEHICLE FOR WYOMING. Probably the best vehicles to drive in Wyoming are primarily full-size pickup trucks and 4x4/AWD SUVs that offer high ground clearance, heavy-duty capability, and reliability for winter conditions and rural driving. You still won't do all that well on gas, but there is almost no place you can't go.

THE BEST ADVICE is to pick the vehicle best for where you plan to drive in Wyoming and call it good.