|
The best-selling car on Earth isn't the Accord, Camry, Focus, or anything else commonly cited. With annual sales consistently approaching a million, the Ford F-series is the easy victor, meaning the best-selling car isn't a car at all.
Maybe it shouldn't be counted as one, either, but that depends on whether judgment should rest on what something is or what it's used for. Still think trucks are crude, throwaway tools destined to spend their lives hauling loads of anvils? If so, explain the explosion of five-seat crew cab pickups, the scarcity of cab-less ones, shrinking bed lengths, and the addition of items like rack-and-pinion steering and leather. Come to think of it, how often do you see a pickup with any cargo in its box? Let's take a look at the trucks designed to meet these reshuffled priorities.
It's safe to say that the former Silverado will be the last one to ever allow its engineers to take an 11-year vacation. A substantial chunk of GM's fortunes rests on this workhorse, in no small part because it serves as the basis for numerous Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac SUVs. This Silverado, dating back to 1999, is already the oldest. 1999 was so long ago that at the time, two of its four competitors didn't exist. Does its age show?
One aspect of full-size pickups that will remain timeless is the grueling process of choosing the perfect one. There are six model levels on the Silverado that indicate utility, of which the mainstream ones are the 1500 ("half-ton"), 1500 HD, 2500 HD, and 3500 models. Then there's the special Hybrid model (the first hybrid truck and the only so far) and the SS sport truck. Within the mainstream models, there are the trim lines of Work Truck, base, LS, LT, and Z71. Harder still is finding one's way through the maze of configurations when it comes to the many measurements of the bed, cab, wheelbase, and length. And if you must know, there are eight different engines to choose from (three on the 1500).
Starting from the top, know right now that the basic Silverado 1500 is the one aimed at mainstream consumers. Depending on the exact model, the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (or GVWR, the upper limit of total vehicle and carried weight) on 1500 models ranges from 6,100 to 7,000 pounds. Payload capacity ranges from 1,215 to 2,040 while towing capacity goes from 4,800 to 9,000 pounds for automatic 1500s; the manual transmission reduces that by 1,000 on V6 models and by 2,000 on 4.8 V8 models. Is this not enough?
The only reason to step up to the 1500 HD, 2500 HD, or 3500 models is to inflate these numbers. For payload, 1500 HD Silverados range from 2,766-3,073; 2500s from 3,151-3,763; and 3500s from 3,661-5,497. For towing, 1500 HDs can take between 7,900-10,200; 2500 HDs from 9,800-12,000; and 3500s from 9,100-12,000. All these ranges encompass a number of factors too numerous to list (i.e. axle ratios, transmission choices, body style availability, and even the number of wheels) so they don't step up in perfect increments; the big jumps between models are partly caused by the availability of the stronger engines. That lofty towing number of 12,000 pounds, for example, owes all credit to the tractor-like torque of the diesel engine exclusive to 2500 HD and 3500 models. Realize, of course, that the truck's own curb weight numbers go up in unison with these capacities, and unless you own a Home Depot, all of this is probably overkill to begin with. Also, none of these has the rack-and-pinion steering of the 1500 or its more agreeable suspension settings. "HD" does stand for Heavy Duty, you know.
The several bodies ride on five different wheelbases and six different overall lengths, and that's just on the 1500 model. "Regular cab" means no cab (one-row seating), extended cab adds a kid-friendly back seat, and crew cab makes the back seat a place for everyone. Any of these comes with a 5.7-foot bed, 6.5-foot "Sportside" bed, or long 8-foot bed length. The longest combination is the whopping 256-inch Crew Cab Long Box, available as a 2500 HD only.
Picking a trim line is the familiar part. After the bottom-end Work Truck model, which starts right around $20,000, the next-up "base" model adds such essentials as dual-zone air conditioning, CD stereo, cruise control, tilt steering wheel, antilock brakes, PASSlock alarm, and chrome wheels. LS replaces the V6 with the 4.8-liter V8 and adds a color-keyed grille, power mirrors, center console, defogger, carpeting and floor mats, power locks and windows, auto-dimming rearview mirror, keyless entry, leather steering wheel, and cloth seats to replace vinyl. By the time you get to the top-end LT, you're shelling out at least $33,815 to get tinted rear windows, heated leather seats, automatic climate control, 6-disc BOSE CD changer, power driver's seat, and steering wheel controls for the stereo and Driver Information Center. The Z71 Silverado, standing for the off-road model as usual, adds to the LS skid plates, heavy-duty shocks and stabilizer bars, locking rear differential, high-capacity air cleaner, plus modified bumpers, wheel flares, fog lights, and decals.
And then there's the $39,420 SS model. A 345-horsepower, 380 pounds-feet version of the 6.0 V8 struggles to power 5,240 pounds, no doubt producing similar sensations to the Corvette but at a much slower pace. A Silverado SS can't even keep up with certain versions of the Honda Accord or Dodge Neon. That's what happens when you send a sumo to go sprint racing.
Of more honorable mention is the Silverado Hybrid, currently only offered as an extended cab, standard bed truck in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada and Florida. Curiously, the building block is the gas-guzzling 5.3-liter V8 rather than the more frugal 4.8-liter or the V6. Working like some of the earlier hybrids, the Silverado's powertrain allows the engine to take a break at idling, automatically starting or stopping as necessary at speeds under 13 MPH and by using regenerative brakes to recharge the batteries. Total fuel economy gains are claimed to be in the 10-15% range, verifying the often-made claim of this being a "mild" hybrid and ensuring that total fuel economy stays down in the teens. This is a temporary measure until GM releases a more dedicated hybrid for 2007. In the meantime, efficiency still has its price, and that's $30,175. Still, there could be a greater benefit that comes with the hybrid powertrain: portable electricity. Four 120-volt, 20-amp outlets (two in the cockpit, two back in the bed) accept the plug of any device that plugs in your house. On a full tank of gas, the Silverado can spend 32 hours serving as a power station before its juice runs out.
One Chevrolet bragging right is 4-wheel steering. For anyone who remembers this technology's near-pointless application to the 1988 Honda Prelude, it finds much more use in a big rig like this. Called QuadraSteer in GM-speak, it works like older systems by turning the rear wheels in the opposite direction as the fronts below 25-30 MPH and turning them in the same direction above that speed. Expect greatly reduced turning circles and quicker directional changes during any driving. A limited-slip differential even gets thrown in for free. QuadraSteer is an option on 1500 Extended Cab, Standard Box and 1500HD 4x4.
Few have doubts about the Silverado's competence. Chevy has been making trucks since before there was a market for them, and they know a thing or two. As usual, the main criticisms center on details like the inelegant interior design and the quality of materials. And while the Silverado was tops in 1999, all of its renewed rivals gained a leg up on it. The Toyota Tundra set new standards for refinement and quietness, the Ram and Titan have their dominating V8s, and the newest Ford F-150, its greatest enemy, has it beaten for carlike feel.
The next-youngest contestant had small shoes to fill, and it almost missed even those expectations. Replacing the truck that no one took seriously - the V6-only T100 - the Tundra grew a few inches in every dimension, but it's still a bit on the small side and stuck with far-from-macho styling. Even worse, product planning had decided that the Tundra was to launch with nothing but a V6 until someone at a board meeting reportedly laughed and informed everyone that "if you don't have a V8, you might as well go home." So at the last minute, the Tundra was sent to its home state of Indiana with a V8 in hand, and - surprise, surprise - only 10% of customers have settled for the V6.
The Tundra was launched with a very limited selection of body styles and utility levels. Shopping at Ford or Chevy results in combinations too numerous to even keep track of, but the Tundra catered to the mass market by offering two choices, both spanning the same length and riding on one wheelbase: an extended cab ("Access Cab"), standard 6.5-foot bed model (the most popular configuration in the pickup class) and a downmarket work truck with no cab and an 8-foot-bed. In 2004, the lineup added a crew cab model ("DoubleCab"), on which length and wheelbase both go up a foot and all the extra space goes straight to the back seat. Bed space hardly suffers, shrinking by a quarter-foot. All of these models are half-tonners; Toyota makes no effort to butt heads with the Big Three in heavy-duty territory.
This, of course, makes the shopping process much easier, even more so because the trim lines of base, SR5, and Limited only combine with the body styles in certain ways. Unpopular Regular Cabs come as base models only, with either engine. Access Cabs come as an SR5 or Limited with either engine, while DoubleCabs are SR5 or Limited but V8 only. V6 trucks are the only ones that cannot be had with 4WD, and the only models that can be had with the 6-speed manual. Everything else gets an automatic, now with five speeds.
Stepping through the trim lines, the middle-end Tundra SR5 adds AC, tilt steering wheel, tachometer, variable wipers, carpeting, rear privacy glass, a color-keyed front bumper, and a chrome rear one. SR5 models with V8s add power windows, locks, and mirrors on the DoubleCab. Limited models add the power features to models that haven't received them by this point, plus keyless entry and a fancy stereo (JBL on DoubleCab).
What can she do? Naturally, the highest payload capacity gets assigned to the Tundra with the strongest motor carrying the lightest load: 2,025 pounds for the V8, 2WD regular cab. The 4WD Access Cab V8 scrapes the bottom with 1,210. Towing capacities range from an insignificant 4,800 pounds for a V6 Access Cab up to 7,100 for several V8-powered models with the Towing Package. Not exactly outstanding. Hmm, maybe there's some truth to this "seven-eighths full-size truck" accusation after all.
But Toyota seems to be working on that, one step at a time. Expanding the interior to create the DoubleCab was a good start. 2005 sees two more expansions, both under the hood: the 3.4 V6 gets replaced by a 4.0 V6, sending horsepower leaping by 55 (from 190 to 245) and torque by 62 (220 to 282). The V8 gets no change in size but adds VVTi valve timing, upping output from 245 to 282 horsepower. This feels like an upgrade more appropriate for a car than a truck (torque only goes up by 10), but who would complain about going faster?
The next Tundra will make no apologies, gaining yet more size, bolder styling, and an optional larger V8 to match everyone else's. Expect to see it for 2007, and a hybrid option is almost a guarantee.
"That thing got a Hemi?" You bet it does. The Ram's 2002 introduction was the very mark of the Hemi's return. We've got your Hemi right here.
"But what's all the fuss? Having been extinct for 30 years, how many people actually know what a Hemi is? Why the excitement of seeing it dropped into a vehicle that almost discourages driving? And is this a good time to mention that the combustion chambers on this new "Hemi" aren't even hemispherically-shaped?
No matter. The last Ram charged its way into the spotlight on the basis of its bold styling, and now it has the muscle to back up the look. As with the Silverado, "1500" denotes the most popular, light-duty lineup. "Hemi" refers to the 345-horsepower 5.7 that tops the Ram lineup; a 4.7 V8 and a 3.7 V6 complete it. A diesel is available on three-quarter-ton Ram 2500 and one-ton 3500, and the SRT-10 gets its V10 from the Dodge Viper. The V8s get a 5-speed automatic; the V6 gets stuck with a lowly 4-speed. You get two bed lengths - 6.3 or 8 feet - and two cab sizes - none or "Quad" (crew). Mix and match for a total of four combinations - clean, simple, and effective. Thanks, Dodge.
ST, SLT, and Laramie are the trim lines. On SLT, cloth replaces vinyl and adds cruise control, power windows/locks/mirrors, keyless entry, CD player, trip computer, and carpeting. Laramie adds leather seating, power seat, Homelink transmitter system, 11-speaker sound system with CD changer, keyless entry, antilock brakes, and alloy wheels. $22,125 buys a no-cab, short-box Ram with a V6 and goes all the way up to $34,755 for a 4WD Laramie V8 Quad Cab long bed.
Among the various 1500 Rams, payload goes from 1,440 to 1,850. Towing spans from a not-so-hot 3,300 up to a substantial 9,200. Strangely, both numbers apply to the exact same model - a regular cab, short-bed ST - decked out with different engines and equipment. The latter number is what Dodge calls "when properly equipped." The Ram 2500 can take payload and towing up to 2,770 and 13,600; a 3500 model winds those figures up to 4,790 and 16,300 - all thanks to those tugboat 5.9-liter diesel engines. Yes, a Ram 3500 could tow four Tundras simultaneously, each with a driver on board.
If you want a ton of power dedicated to more conventional uses, there's the $45,850 SRT-10; a Quad Cab version is now available for $5,000 more. This is the truck that thinks it's a Viper. Sharing the 8.3-liter V10 lifted from the Viper, its 500 horsepower makes short work out of Chevy's 345, just as its 525 pounds-feet of torque dwarf Chevy's 380 pounds-feet.
Not about to let its sales streak slide, Ford has redone its F-150 only seven model years (a record low) after the last one. The 1997 F-150 saw many night-and-day changes to the engines, suspensions, and steering. This time around, most of the effort was spent making the look more purposeful, the insides more inviting, and the whole piece stiffer. It is stiffer now, but all that reinforcement came at the cost of a several hundred-pound weight gain. A new 5.4-liter V8 (300 horsepower, 365 pounds-feet of torque), helps fight that; some say it's the only way to get an F-150 with acceptable speed. The 4.6 V8 (231, 293) carried over, and the 4.2 V6 (202, 260) returns for 2005.
Like the Silverado, the F-150 continues its tradition of being a truck for every kind of buyer. As with the Silverado and Tundra, there are three cab sizes - regular, extended ("SuperCab"), and crew ("SuperCrew") - which can be had with any of the three bed lengths, which span 5.5, 6.5, and 8 feet long. These nine combinations somehow find their way onto five available wheelbases.
After choosing by size, choose by price. XL, STX, XLT, FX4, and Lariat are the trim lines. To the basic, vinyl-adorned XL, the STX adds a CD player, body-colored bumpers and grille surround, and alloy wheels with better tires. Midline XLT adds better cloth seats, power everything (including the rear window on SuperCab and SuperCrew models), cruise control, keyless entry, extra storage consoles, tachometer, temperature gauge, compass, fog lights, automatic headlights, and carpeting. The FX4 off-road model gets unique seats, black leather steering wheel, underbody skid plates, retuned springs and shocks, and Electronic Shift-On-The-Fly 4WD instead of mechanical; the larger 5.4 V8 comes standard. The luxurious Lariat deletes all but the last two items before adding automatic climate control, leather seats, leather steering wheel with audio controls, power driver's seat (on SuperCab and SuperCrew), power adjustable pedals, rear defroster, self-dimming rearview mirror, side mirror turn-signal indicators, cassette/CD stereo, message center with trip computer, HomeLink (for opening your garage), and 18-inch wheels. Each of the five trim levels has a certain combination of styling touches, i.e. the XLT's grille is black honeycomb while the Lariat's is chrome and the others have another pattern altogether.
With varying options come varying abilities. The weakest payload of 1,340 pounds goes to the heaviest possible F-150 (4WD SuperCrew) equipped with the weakest engine (the smaller V8). The nice, round upper limit of 3,000 goes to the 2WD, regular cab with the 5.4. For towing, the modest 5,900-pound limit goes to the same loser (4WD SuperCrew), while the 2WD SuperCrew 5.4 takes the crown, making easy work of 9,500 pounds.
Like the other Americans, the "150" in its name designates light-duty work; the F-series is a lengthy series. F-250 and F-350 models, after downgrading the suspension to more trucklike pieces, open the door to a 6.8 V10 and 6.0 Diesel V8. An F-350 with the Diesel engine and a fifth wheel sending power to the ground can tug around 16,700 pounds, handily setting the record.
Right now, there are only two obvious limitations of the F-150. First is the omission of side airbags, which become increasingly more important as the F-150 is adopted for family use. The F-150 will probably end up the winner in most real-world collisions, but getting hit by another F-150 from the side can still spell a broken arm. The other lagging point is the four-speed automatic transmission; five speeds can be had on the others. A six-speed unit is said to be on the way, but even as it is, the F-150 seems capable enough.
The benefit of having the final performing act is having watched everyone else succeed or crash and burn. You know what works and what doesn't and can reformulate your plan accordingly. Nissan didn't seem to waste the opportunity. Like Toyota, Nissan aimed only to please the masses. Its all-new Titan ties the Ram for having only two cabin sizes (skipping the regular cab): King Cab (extended) and Crew. Combining that with the one-bed-length-per-cab policy employed on the Tundra, and the Titan comes in exactly two configurations (least of all pickups): the King Cab gets a 6.5-foot bed; the Crew Cab's is 5.5-feet. The same goes for powertrains: the sole engine is a 5.6 V8 with 305 horsepower, 379 pounds-feet of torque hooked up to a 5-speed automatic. Manual transmissions and six-cylinder engines need not apply.
And did anyone ask for them? The Titan's theme seems to be the half-ton truck with two tons of performance. It can still haul the goods on its back - 1,508 for 4WD models, 1,640 for 2WD, and up to 9,500 more on a trailer (2,400 more than the Tundra's best!) - but the design seems tilted towards a different kind of hauling. Not only is the Titan's engine huge, but it's of the horsepower-friendly dual overhead cam design. Most models have 18-inch wheels, and the suspension is on the aggressive side.
Picking 2WD or 4WD and a trim line are the only real decisions. Titans come as XE, SE, and LE. The cheapest model, a King Cab XE, starts at $23,050. SE adds 18-inch 5-spoke wheels, chrome body pieces, heated power mirrors, locking tailgate, sliding rear window with rear privacy glass, power windows and locks, keyless entry with window controls, captains chairs replacing a bench seat (the passenger seat folds flat), leather steering wheel and shift knob, alarm and an immobilizer. LE adds leather, different-looking six-spoke wheels, automatic headlights, running boards, fog lights, auto-dimming rearview mirror, compass, outside temperature display, seat/mirrors/pedals memory, and last but not least, a 350-watt Rockford-Fosgate stereo with 6-disc CD changer, steering wheel controls, ten speakers, and Radio Data System. Options aside, all Titans are pretty similar.
The full-size truck market will be stagnant for a little while. First up for redesigns are the Silverado and Tundra, predicted to be ready for 2007. Until then, here's the Cliff's Notes version of the present situation, as far as half-ton models go: Chevy and Ford continue to be all things to all people, offering the widest selection of beds, cabs, engines, and transmissions. Dodge's Ram is in the middle here, with three engines but only two cab and bed sizes, for a total of four bodies. The Tundra's got three bodies and two engines while the Titan subtracts one of each (the regular cab and the V6), leaving it with two bodies and one engine. More importantly, each places an emphasis on nearly opposite qualities. Nissan's focus was on handling, power, and making the Titan feel smaller than it is, even though it's among the bigger trucks to start with. Toyota went for soft, quiet, fuel-efficient, and small. It's almost accurate to say that the Titan and Tundra compete with every model except each other.
|
