There’s no doubt that many looking to purchase the latest and greatest 3/4-ton and full-ton pickup trucks tend to look at the spec sheet — more specifically, torque, horsepower, towing and payload capacity — and base their purchasing decisions around them. Currently, the Ford Super Duty leads in all aforementioned categories on paper, but only on paper. And Chevrolet wants to reassure everyone that spec-sheet talk is cheap when it comes to real-world testing.
To validate this, Chevrolet hired AMCI, an independent neutral party that has been putting manufacturers’ claims to the test for over 30 years, to conduct multiple tests such as the twist ditch, acceleration, highway passing power, braking and more. Below is the first video. We will trickle out the rest within the next few days, which you can also watch for yourself if you’re feeling impatient at Chevy’s website. Oh, and the results may surprise you…
Comments
There is about 7 videos altogether, I wonder why they didn’t include Ram in all the tests?
The current model Ram cannot handle the kind of capacity the Ford and Chevy can deal with, and the updated model won’t make its debut until June ’11.
Lex, I think the reason for not including RAM trucks is because most of the media attention right now is on Ford vs. Chevy/GMC… wouldn’t you say?
We’ll that was the reason when PUTC tested them at the Rockies, This time they had 16,500 trailer grade braking (Ram max crew cab dually is 17,150) and also on the frame test they only had 3,000 payload, something that Ram can handle. I understand that Ram is not a sales champion, but it would be nice to see results of all tests.
Agreed, it would have been nice to see all three trucks in every test.
Because the Ram is a better truck, showing it beating the Chevy would sorta wreck the point, as its a chevy biased video series
I don’t know man… obviously the videos are Chevy-focused. But not sure the RAM would hold a candle at this pont…
The current 2012 Ram (purchasable now) has 800 ft lbs in a H.O. Cummins
Right… but as we saw with the new Ford Super Dutys, power (and numbers) isn’t everything. The updated Silverado HD has won every single competition (PickupTrucks.com, MotorTrend, etc.) agains the new Super Duty, even though it’s not as powerful…
Its still got GM quality, which is a bad thing. Ive seen plenty of these trucks literally fall apart after a year or two
Well, I’ve seen Mercedes and Volvo cars fall apart after two years as well.
I don’t think we can go by man-who anecdotes though. We’ll see how the next-gens hold up – that will be the REAL test of GM quality.
Sometimes it’s not about what it says on paper. This is what these real-world tests show. And frankly, nobody knows what the upgraded Ram can do yet, considering nobody has tested it, or compared it. The final verdict remains open. But as of now, the crown goes to Chevy.