Just got my April 07 Car and Driver out of the mail and first thing I looked for was to see if the Silverado beat the new Tundra; it did, as did the Titan . I must say I am quite pleased. To me, the new Tundra doesn't look too nice on the outside and the interior is hideous. I am waiting for the local dealership to get a new 5.7 4x4 loaded double cab model in for me to test drive to get my final verdict, I am just pleased that GM won this publicity battle. Whose to say what other magazines will say though...

The breakdown was as follows:

5. Ford F150 FX4 Supercrew
4. Dodge Ram 1500 Sport 4x4
3. Toyota Tundra 4x4 Double Cab
2. Nissan Titan SE 4x4
1. Chevy Silverado LTZ 4x4 Crew Cab

 

Not surprising it held its own against the older trucks, but topping the new Tundra is a good thing.

 

I thought the Titan was ***. How did it get 2nd?

 

I saw a Tundra at a auto show last month, and everything that looked bad in the photos on the net were magnified in person. On top of that the top part of the hideous grill where there is a small black strip of plastic in the upper section, it was coming loose and sticking out. It appeared to becoming un glued. What wonderful superior Toyota engineering. When I was checking out the interior there was an older gentlemen in the drivers seat and I was right outside peering in. He said "Isn't this awesome"....I replyed I am not impressed, apparntly you haven't checked out the new Chevy Silverado.....He just kind of looked at me with a puzzled face. I thought to myself, another import lover that hasn't got a clue to what the rest of the automotive market offers.

 

How bad did the Toyota beat the Silverado in acceleration?

 

Toyota: 0-60: 6.1s 1/4 mile: 14.9@ 94mph

Titan: 0-60: 7.0s 1/4 mile: 15.6@ 89mph

Silverado: 0-60: 7.4s 1/4 mile: 15.8@ 89mph

Dodge: 0-60: 7.9s 1/4 mile: 16.2@ 86mph

Ford: 0-60: 8.8s 1/4 mile: 16.7@ 83mph

Hopefully the new GM 6-spd will help the Silverado in the acceleration department, but I doubt it will help it enough to keep up with the Tundra.

 

There was another thread here a little while ago where it was revealed the GM PCM has a setting to enable emissions compliance, which stifles performance. The 6 spd auto might help performance but the biggest limitation is the tune itself.

I must say the Tundra's times are impressive. But what was fuel economy like between the trucks?

 

Interesting to see a Nissan and Toyota pick up convincingly out power their equivalent domestic offering. A big engine was always one of the traditional domestics ace in the hole with trucks. Hopefully, GM, Ford, and Dodge have more power on the way. If not more power, pull a Toyota and make sure their less powerfull offering is significantyly more fuel efficient (>2-3 mpg city & highway) or much lower in emissions and advertise the heck out of the fact that it is cleaner.

Did they do any acceleration testing with a loaded trailer? I wonder if the 0-60 & 40-60mph results would change any?

 

I seriously doubt GM will allow the Silverado to be out powered. I have a feeling the Silverado tested had the standard V8. Isn't the 6.2L L92 an option?

 

Only in the upcoming Sierra Denali.

I'm pretty surprised the Tundra finished 3rd. I thought surely a magazine like C&D would put a premium on that 5.7L motor. Where the Tundra really fails (and where I think it will be their downfall) is their I'm-On-Crack pricing from top to bottom. Every comparable model is a couple thousand more than a Silverado. The Silverado has historically sold mid level 5.3's like crazy, but Toyota wants more for its outmuscled 4.7.

I would like to see the 6.0's power bumped up to better compete with the 5.7 Tundra. But in terms of value, it really isn't that close.

 

It sounds like either Toyota believe that customers are accepting of a price premium because they are perceived as better quality OR Toyota's Tundra effort is more expensive to make, hence the higher asking price. Maybe Toyota's tactic is to convince buyers that resale will be better than its rivals?

 

I think Toyota feels they can be "optimistic" with their pricing because they are Toyota. I would also not be surprised at all if the Tundra's resale value is higher. Those who really want a used Tundra are going to have a harder time finding them....let's face it, Chevy is going to sell somewhere on the order of 3 times as many trucks. They will be much more plentiful in the marketplace.

 

How does the ~320/380 Titan beat the 366/375 Silverado? Does having the 5 spd auto help that much? They post the same trap speeds, which is usually a good indicator of power (assuming similar weights).

Clearly the Tundra is the powerhouse, at least until GM stops screwing around and just offers the 6.2 across the board. It may cost a few bucks more than the 6.0, but not by much. It will be the required price. The Tundra V8 has exhaust manifolds that are basically headers. Which, of course, means they spent more to make some good numbers (and it worked). But that also means GM will have to respond accordingly.

Frankly, I'm rather stunned (and pleased) at the rankings, at least concerning the Silverado. With the Tundra spanking the others in acceleration, I can't believe C/D did not pick it as the winner. Perhaps the driving dynamics are behind, and maybe the interior really is as bad as it looks (I've only seen pics; I've not been in it yet).

I'm a little shocked at the Titan getting second, actually. It is pretty dated in styling, and its interior is horrible (even the refreshed '08 interior is pretty weak looking). It does accelerate well (I still am confused by its low power ratings given its speed).

Is the Ram significantly heavier than the others? On paper, its engine, like the Silverado's, out does the Titan's engine. So what gives? It even has a 5 speed auto, like the Titan. But it gets smoked. That said, it is probably still the best looking, or dang near the top. I wouldn't mind driving one at all, from a styling standpoint.

Honestly, 0-60 times probably aren't the biggest factor for pickup buyers, but they do provide bragging rights and a halo effect, and there certainly is a healthy segment of the truck population that DOES care about it.

FWIW, I recently drove an '07 Sierra 2500HD, extended cab long box 4x4. It had the Duramax/Allison 6 speed combo. With myself and a coworker in it, it weighed in at 7400 lbs (!), which is much heavier than the trucks in this test. In 2wd mode, it would just spin the rears at will. When I did a brake torqued 4x4 launch, it pulled pretty hard (even had a slight hint of torque steer at the wheel!). 0-60 time was about 7.15 seconds...

I'll say it again, I'm basically stunned. Had the performance side been somewhat level, I figured the Tundra would be a shoe-in for their rankings. With the Tundra beating the others solidly in performance, I can't believe it didn't win. They've ranked the Sequoia ahead of the Tahoe before, despite its inferior performance and dynamics (though in the test just before that, the Tahoe had won). I figured with this all new truck, Toyota would have at least made the driving dynamics (something the GMT800 was pretty decent at, IMO) class competitive, and they clearly did more than that in the powertrain department. Yet not only did it lose the the also new, very refined, but behind in power output, new Silvy, it also lost to the several year old Titan. Maybe the Tundra interior just sucks, and it drives like a (fast) school bus. Clearly it is behind in styling (IMHO, of course).

Quite surprising to me.

 

Joe,

The Titan (I believe) is several hundred pounds lighter than the Silverado. In fact, I believe it's the lightest truck in the group by a pretty fair margin. I too was a bit taken aback by the Titan being ranked #2 (although C&D has always had a bit of a love affair with the Titan).

As far as the Tundra's interior goes, I'm reading a lot of comments from guys who have checked out the Tundra and were shocked by the cheapness of the interior plastics. "Not what I'd expect from a Toyota at this price" is what seems to be said a lot. Combined with the odd asymmetrical dash design, it could put off a lot of people.

In the end, I don't think there are any real losers in this group. They're all pretty capable trucks...not like it was 10, or even 5 years ago. Even the last place F-150 is a very nice truck (though underpowered for the times). Buuuut if they had to pick a winner, I'll go along with their choice.

 

I noted the Edmunds comparison in an email to GM that highlighted their findings that the Silverado (Vortec Max 6.0) doesn't go into Power Enrichment mode until 4 full seconds of WOT. Thus Edmunds showed a full 40/50 HP increase in output after the 4 second delay and PE mode was initiated. I inquired to GM if this truck was operating in error, or if it was by design. If it was by design, why.

I got the reply that it would require an engineer to respond and they couldn't provide one.

Engaging the 40/50HP at the start of WOT would undoubtedly result in better times for the Silverado.