Comparison Test: 2021 Ford F-150 PowerBoost vs. 2022 Ram 1500 vs. 2022 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro

From the October 2022 situation of Car and Driver.

Around right here we like nothing higher than to lean towards a dusty wall, squint into the center distance, and grumble quick declarative sentences about pickup vans. “Some new trucks out,” considered one of us may say, whereas spitting casually on the bottom. “Sure are,” one or the opposite grizzled automobile wranglers would grumble, punctuating the thought by idly kicking away a scorpion. “Some of ’em even electrified, I reckon.” And then, after a minute or two of quiet self-reflection of our regrets, a 3rd tester may say, “We should round up a Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, a Ford F-150 Lariat PowerBoost, and a Ram 1500 Limited eTorque and conduct a rigorous and thorough comparison test of hybridized full-size pickup trucks.” That’s in regards to the time the workplace supervisor is available in and tells everybody to go exterior, please. Enough with the mud and the spitting and the scorpions! Do we’ve to do that complete factor each time we plan a truck comparability? Honestly.

Hey, we wish to get within the correct mindset, even when the vans in query are partially propelled by this newfangled “electricity.” And all three of those bruisers have some type of battery-electric help bolstering their internal-combustion powerplant. The Tundra augments its 389-hp twin-turbo V-6 with an electrical motor that chips in 48 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. The F-150 makes use of a 400-hp twin-turbo V-6 paired with an electrical motor that makes 47 horsepower and 221 pound-feet. A 16-hp motor that twists out 130 pound-feet of torque joins the Ram’s 395-hp V-8. The Ford and the Toyota can roll down the street on electrical energy alone, whereas the Ram’s setup is extra for torque fill-in and clean begins. But all of them have an engine and a motor, so right here we’re.

This trio reminds us of the joke the place a Tundra TRD Pro, an F-150 Lariat, and a Ram 1500 Limited all stroll right into a bar, after which a month later we get letters complaining that these trims do not align. Well excuse us, however perhaps you’ve got heard about supply-chain points? Yeah, that applies right here too. And anyway, they’re all priced round $70,000, and we doubt matchy-matchy trims would’ve modified the outcomes any, so be happy to mail these letters to 123 Go Away Street, care of Cut Us Some Slack.

Okay, now that the parameters are clear, let’s discuss vans.

third Place:
2022 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro

Highs: Major torque, soft Fox suspension, ethereal cabin.
Lows: No full-time all-wheel-drive mode, hybrid battery kills inside storage, weight negates energy benefit.
Verdict: One for the Tundra followers.

The new Tundra is a quixotic beast. You get the concept that alongside many factors of the product-development determination course of, Toyota mentioned, “We’re not going to outsell any of the domestic trucks no matter what we do, so let’s not strain ourselves.” And thus the hybrid system makes use of a nickel-metal hydride battery as a substitute of a lithium-ion one, and it takes up all of the rear under-seat storage. The switch case does not have a full-time mode, that means that in regular on-road driving the TRD Pro is rear-wheel drive funneling 583 pound-feet to an open diff beneath an unladen pickup mattress—within the rain, a hybrid Tundra may do a one-wheel peel till it runs out of gasoline. Which, by the way, it drank on the highest price of our trio, averaging 16 mpg in our testing. That supplied us frequent alternatives to note that the Tundra nonetheless has a gasoline cap, whereas the opposite vans have capless fillers.

The Tundra is sweet to drive, the coil-spring rear finish feeling composed and the Fox internal-bypass dampers (with distant reservoirs on the rear) serving to to smother lumpy pavement. The 437-hp hybrid powertrain delivers simple muscle, with the artificial V-8 soundtrack combining with the actual turbocharger consumption hiss to make it sound such as you’re driving a Mercedes-AMG GT (from contained in the cabin, anyway). But that best-in-test horsepower and torque did not correspond to the quickest acceleration, partly as a result of the Tundra, at 6174 kilos, was additionally the heaviest truck right here. Its 5.9-second 60-mph time lagged behind the F-150’s dash by 0.6 second, and its 14.5-second quarter-mile at 95 mph precisely matches the run we recorded from a nonhybrid Tundra Limited. The hybrid does earn a 1- to 2-mpg EPA mixed fuel-economy benefit towards its conventionally powered counterpart, so there’s that.

Certain sides of the TRD Pro inside aren’t instantly corresponding to the opposite vans—camo-look SofTex upholstery is its personal life-style alternative—however we will make some observations that apply to any Tundra trim. For occasion, the accessible panoramic roof and roll-down rear window give the Tundra the airiest pickup cabin this aspect of a ragtop Jeep Gladiator. However, neither the 8.0-inch customary middle show nor the optionally available 14.0-inch display features a tuning knob, and a fats driveshaft hump bisects the rear ground. Why design a brand new truck with a driveshaft hump? The Ram and the Ford have flat flooring.

The previous-generation Tundra, launched in 2007, was a striver, overengineered in comparison with its contemporaries. And but it nonetheless by no means outsold any of the home vans, a proven fact that probably knowledgeable the product planning on this newest one. As one logbook entry put it, “This truck makes me think Toyota has given up on chasing the Detroit Three and is instead focused on pleasing its loyalists.” It’s not a nasty truck, the Tundra. But it does not exist in a vacuum.

2nd Place:
2021 Ford F-150 Lariat PowerBoost 4×4

Highs: Quite fast and most effective, onboard generator, hands-free cruise management.
Lows: Shivering construction, leaf-spring rear finish, petrochemical-based inside.
Verdict: A truck that straddles the long run and the previous.

The F-150 PowerBoost nearly looks like a retro-rod. Here we’ve a hybrid powertrain that places out 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque, an aluminum physique, hands-free freeway driving through Ford’s BlueCruise system, and generator performance that turns the truck into a transportable energy station. But while you’re bounding and clomping down a rutted again street, and that leaf-spring rear suspension is dancing with a ditch—identical to it might have in your pappy’s truck means again when—the F-150 does not come throughout as a showcase for innovation. This looks as if a conventional pickup that discovered some cool tips somewhat than some absolutely realized expression of pickup modernity. “The truck that’s the quickest with the least amount of body control—it’s an exciting combination,” learn one logbook be aware.

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The Toyota and the Ram stare on the Ford with gross sales envy. Ford pickups outsell Ram and Toyota pickups mixed.

The hybridized F-150 does put up some nice numbers. There’s the best-in-test 5.3-second 60-mph time and 13.8-second quarter-mile at 101 mph. And it additionally earned the perfect noticed gas financial system (18 mpg), had the quietest cabin at 70 mph (64 decibels), and notched the very best payload and tow scores. So why is not this the winner?

Because of the chassis, for one factor. “Turning off the lane-departure warning system only moderately reduces the shivers coming through the steering wheel,” one tester wrote. Another remark learn, “If the Ram 1500 is a ball bearing rolling on steel tracks, the Ford F-150 is a partially unmoored bouncy house on a windy day.” The F-150 is comfy, to make sure, with the cushiest seats of the group, however its manners are essentially the most resolutely trucklike.

Its inside, too, is nice sufficient however sports activities an entire lot of plastic pretending to be different issues. One set of trim inserts with a mottled brown sample seems midway torn between a mission to be faux wooden or faux steel. The digital instrument panel solely has one show possibility, which was characterised as “big, goofy numbers.” Yes, that is an F-150 Lariat and never a Limited or Platinum or King Ranch mannequin, but it surely nonetheless prices $70,000. The Ford did rating factors for stashing the hybrid system’s lithium battery below the mattress, thereby preserving typical inside area.

Sometimes, while you’re crusing alongside in EV mode or driving hands-free on the freeway with BlueCruise locked in, the F-150 feels futuristic. Then you hit a bump and the spell breaks because the physique bounds skyward and the construction shakes and also you’re again in 2012. Or 2002.

As one tester put it, “F-150s continue to feel like solid everyday trucks that just work.” And this can be a notably fascinating pickup, given its fleetness, thrifty gas financial system, and backup-power functionality. But it is not fairly the overall package deal. And one different truck is.

1st Place:
2022 Ram 1500 Limited Crew Cab 4×4

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An opulent trip, a fancy inside, and a pushrod V-8 are a profitable pickup combo.

Highs: Ride and dealing with from the luxury-SUV class, intelligent tailgate, unbelievable inside.
Lows: Weak-sauce hybrid system, highest worth, not quickest.
Verdict: Still a peerless pickup.

Yes, the slowest and costliest truck wins. And that ought to let you know one thing about how nice the Ram 1500 Limited is in nearly each different respect. We’d additionally level out that it is not slowest or costliest by big margins—its 6.4-second run to 60 mph was a half-second behind the Tundra’s, and its $75,710 worth was $4915 greater than the F-150’s. The Ram is in the identical neighborhood in these respects, however in relation to its inside and driving dynamics, this truck is by itself planet. A Ram 1500 Limited is a luxurious SUV that occurs to have a pickup mattress.

And although it is not a lot of a hybrid, the Ram scored the second-best noticed gas financial system, 17 mpg, aided by four-wheel air springs that decrease it to a road-hugging crouch at freeway speeds. That trick suspension additionally imbues it with the perfect trip by far, a serene and stolid glide that takes a Magic Eraser to the uncared for depravity that’s Michigan pavement. Why does not everybody supply this? The Tundra’s air springs, not accessible on the TRD Pro, are rear-only, and the F-150 does not supply them in any respect.

While packing the bottom horsepower of the truck trio, the Ram looks like it may stroll away from the opposite two on real-world roads. With that subtle suspension and the bottom as-tested curb weight (5824 kilos), the Ram posted 0.78 g in our skidpad check, the perfect of the bunch. It boasts the largest brakes and, at 187 ft, the shortest stopping distance from 70 mph. And its energy deficit is partially negated by its responsive ZF 8HP transmission, which helped it report a 3.2-second dash from 30 to 50 mph, besting each opponents. As one logbook remark put it, “Why do other companies waste money developing 10-speed transmissions when the 8HP exists?”

But the Ram’s inside is what really distances it from all different pickups. Most vans gown their top-end trims with some further leather-based and wooden and name it a day. The Ram is completely luxurious in all places you look. Flip down the middle armrest of the again seat and you will find that the duvet stitching picks up the theme of the seize handles out on the corners—a hidden little bit of finery that required a little bit further effort to execute. Now extrapolate that fanatical consideration to element to mainly all the things. Look down and the woven ground mats may have been swiped from a Rolls-Royce. Look up and the headliner is fake suede. One tester climbed into the again and, upon discovering that the heated and ventilated rear seats additionally recline, blurted, “Come on! Are you kidding me?”

The Ram elicits that response recurrently, and never simply due to craftsmanship or superb driving manners. It features fantastically as a truck too. The optionally available tailgate can hinge down or cut up and open barn-door type, permitting you to get nearer to cargo within the mattress. The air springs make hooking up a trailer or loading heavy objects that a lot simpler. If you are heading off-road, this truck has the very best floor clearance. And the Ram does not must pipe in artificial V-8 noises, for apparent causes. To quote the logbook: “Sounds like a truck should. Long live pushrods.”

This era of Ram debuted in 2019 to immediate accolades. Three years later, the truck remains to be on prime. And if, at $75,710 as examined, this Ram 1500 Limited appears costly, think about its bandwidth: It’s a luxurious automobile, a cargo hauler, an off-roader, and a household automobile. Three years in the past, we puzzled why no person else was constructing a pickup like this. We’re nonetheless questioning.

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