Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC
Mike Levine from PickupTruck.com is our go-to guy for truck news. His brain is like the bed of a Ford F-450 filled with the esoteric details of heavy duty diesel pickups and 3/4-ton gassers. Plus, he’s from the old school of automotive journalism and has made a successful transition to the web, which means his reporting is always knowledgeable and balanced despite it being delivered digitally. When Levine told us he was planning on doing a comprehensive comparo of today’s heavy duty pickups, however, we were unprepared for the depth of the final product.
The 2007 PickupTruck.com Heavy Duty Shootout pits six HD pickups from Chevy/GMC, Ford and Dodge against each other on a totally level and unbiased playing field. Levine went so far as to hire a third-party company to perform all of the instrumented testing to remove any trace of subjectivity in the results. The players are three gas-powered 3/4-ton pickups including the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT Quad Cab 4×4, 2008 Ford F-250 FX4 Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4 and 2007 GMC Sierra 2500 HD SLE Crew Cab 4×4, and three diesel-powered one-ton pickups including the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 LT Crew Cab 4×4, 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT Quad Cab 4×4 and 2008 Ford F-350 King Ranch Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4. Ford also threw in a 2008 Ford F-450 Lariat Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4 so that Levine and his team could attempt to prove how powerful this big rig really is.
We’ve just finished reading Part 1 and 2 of the three-part series, which includes an extremely knowledgeable and fact-filled introduction as well as the first battery of tests, including a “squat” test and 1/4-mile performance runs. Each part may appear like a lot to read, but we flew threw it faster than an unloaded GMC Sierra 2500 through the quarter mile.
Check out Part 1 here and click here for Part 2. The final installment should be out sometime this week, and we’ll be eager to find out definitively which of these pickups outperformed its competitors in PickupTruck.com’s battle royale of heavy duty trucks.
[Source: PickupTruck.com]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! 
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Aftermarket, Euro, Commercial Trucks, Volkswagen
Click image for photo gallery
The Volkswagen Van Centre in the Welsh city of Cardiff has created a very cool custom weekend race camper for motorcycle and/or ATV riders. Using a Euro-market long-wheelbase, high-roofed VW Crafter panel van as the basis, they’ve created an all-in-one race home that combines a garage fit for two bikes or one four-wheeler with a usable living space for its riders. On race day, an awning can be extended out from the side of the vehicle to provide additional shelter. The accommodations aren’t exactly spartan, either, as the rig includes a kitchen, two double-beds, and a bathroom with shower. Neat! Complete details on the Crafter Race Home are in the release from VW, which is pasted after the jump.
[Source: Volkswagen]
Continue reading VW crafts a bitchin’ race camper
Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Hybrids/Alternative, Minivans/MPVs, Sedans/Saloons, SUVs, Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Crossovers/CUVs, Hatchbacks, Chrysler, Dodge
Click above to view more high-resolution images from the Chrysler proving grounds
It isn’t just any day when you get to drive dozens of different vehicles that aren’t even on sale yet. Chrysler made today just such a day at its Chelsea, MI proving grounds, as the Pentastar rolled out its entire 2008 lineup for automotive journalists to inspect and drive. We were able to drive everything except the 600-hp Viper for 2008 and the new Dodge and Chrysler minivans, which was a bit of a downer, but not nearly enough to spoil an otherwise fun day.
The driving route lined up for us included artificial road hazards, hairpin turns, and a few straightaways that demonstrated just how impressive the 6.1L Hemi SRT engine really is. Other than the aforementioned Viper and minivans, Chrysler left the keys in literally everything else, from the SRT 300C to the Sprinter van and Ram 3500 flat-bed. AutoblogGreen was also on hand to drive Chrysler’s new two-mode hybrid system equipped with a Hemi engine in the Aspen SUV, and we’ll tell you just how that went as soon as the embargoes are lifted (or as soon as someone else opens the floodgates.)
One of the most popular events of the day was an off-road course where we could see just how capable the Jeep lineup really is. Even the JT concept was on-hand for the rough housing, and the end result was some very dirty metal and a few dinged-up quarter-panels.
We’ll be bringing you more posts from this event throughout the day today and tomorrow, but for now you can check out some high-res pics in the gallery below.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Toyota
Click the Tundra for a high res gallery suitable for wallpaper
The new Toyota Tundra has not had a particularly smooth launch so far this year, and that could play into future plans for the full-size truck. There have been complaints about the quality of the interior materials, the lack of a fully boxed section frame, and basic design lapses like the bolt heads in the bed that stick up too high. It’s now being reported that plans for the heavy duty version for the Tundra are now on hold inside Toyota. The HD pickup hasn’t been canceled but it’s not approved at this point, according to Toyota Motor Sales VP Bob Carter. Nissan has reportedly canceled its plans to create heavy duty version of the Titan earlier this year. One could speculate that the combination of high gas prices and other Tundra issues (like the camshaft matter) could cause Toyota to do the same, but Toyota has so much invested in the Tundra already (in terms of money and pride), we can easily see them addressing the aforementioned issues down the road, perhaps after a mid-cycle enhancement, and then revisiting the now-in-limbo HD version.
[Source: Wards Auto World}
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Garage, Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Ford
The first time we laid eyes on Ford’s new F-450, we knew that we wanted to run one through the ringer. Intended to satisfy those customers who find traditional “one ton” dually trucks to be a bit too limiting, this massive vehicle pegged our more-is-better meter. The F-450 is, in fact, so big as to make the title of this post a complete misnomer, as it takes something more like a barn to house this much truck.
Continue reading In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Ford F-450 Lariat King Ranch
Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Etc., Commercial Trucks
It could have been a horrible tragedy, but at the end of it all, no one was injured, and there were no hard feelings, either. Michigan State Police were skeptical when they started receiving calls saying that a big rig was pushing a wheelchair down the Red Arrow Highway in Paw Paw, Mich., but when the calls didn’t abate, they headed out to investigate.
The rig was found in front of a local trucking company and to everyone’s shock, there was a wheelchair attached to the front. With a man in it, no less. The occupant was unharmed, and the astonished truck driver had no idea he was even there. Apparently, the wheelchair was in the process of crossing the road in front of the truck. Too low for the driver to see, it was driven into. Miraculously, the chair was positioned in such a way that the handles lodged in the rig’s grille and it wound up facing forward. Think about it — it could have just as easily been knocked over and then run over — a nightmare scenario for all parties involved.
Instead, the worst thing that happened was that the man in the wheelchair apparently spilled the soda pop he was drinking during his high-speed trip. Of the experience, he told authorities, “It was quite a ride.”
Friends, that’s today’s candidate for understatement of the year.
[Source: South Bend Tribune]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Green, Commercial Trucks
click above image to view more high-res pics of Wal-Mart’s green machine
Wal-Mart has embarked on a wide-ranging environmental campaign it calls “Sustainability 360,” and one of the program goals is to increase overall fleet efficiency by 25% over the next several years. To that end, the retail giant has taken delivery of its first Peterbilt Model 386 Hybrid. The 386 Hybrid is the truckmaker’s (and the industry’s) first Class 8 hybrid rig, and if projections are correct, using one could help drive down owner/operators’ fuel costs by $9,000 a year (based on a diesel fuel price of $2.50/gallon), which is some serious green.
The hybrid system was developed by Eaton, and it works as you’d expect it to. Braking energy is captured and stored in the system’s batteries, which provide juice to the truck’s main electrical system, accessory systems, and a generator/motor that gives the vehicle extra torque and helps extend its overall range. When conditions allow, the rig can even run on batteries alone. While it serves in Wal-Mart’s fleet, the truck will continue to be tested, evaluated and tweaked by Peterbilt ahead of the model’s full production debut in 2009.
[Source: AutoblogGreen]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Garage, Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Chevrolet
Click on the photo above to view high-res shots of the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado
Last year, we had the opportunity to spend some time in the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and were rather pleased with that vehicle’s vastly improved interior and driving dynamics. With the Silverado now riding on a similar-yet-different version of the GMT900 platform, will the same traits win us over, or has the General’s mainstream pickup truck gone too soft? To find out, we recently spent some time in the decked-out LTZ trim level of Chevy’s half-ton hauler.
Continue reading In the Autoblog Garage: 2007 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ
Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Commercial Trucks, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC
Mike Levine from PickupTruck.com is our go-to guy for truck news. His brain is like the bed of a Ford F-450 filled with the esoteric details of heavy duty diesel pickups and 3/4-ton gassers. Plus, he’s from the old school of automotive journalism and has made a successful transition to the web, which means his reporting is always knowledgeable and balanced despite it being delivered digitally. When Levine told us he was planning on doing a comprehensive comparo of today’s heavy duty pickups, however, we were unprepared for the depth of the final product.
The 2007 PickupTruck.com Heavy Duty Shootout pits six HD pickups from Chevy/GMC, Ford and Dodge against each other on a totally level and unbiased playing field. Levine went so far as to hire a third-party company to perform all of the instrumented testing to remove any trace of subjectivity in the results. The players are three gas-powered 3/4-ton pickups including the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT Quad Cab 4×4, 2008 Ford F-250 FX4 Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4 and 2007 GMC Sierra 2500 HD SLE Crew Cab 4×4, and three diesel-powered one-ton pickups including the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 LT Crew Cab 4×4, 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT Quad Cab 4×4 and 2008 Ford F-350 King Ranch Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4. Ford also threw in a 2008 Ford F-450 Lariat Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4 so that Levine and his team could attempt to prove how powerful this big rig really is.
We’ve just finished reading Part 1 and 2 of the three-part series, which includes an extremely knowledgeable and fact-filled introduction as well as the first battery of tests, including a “squat” test and 1/4-mile performance runs. Each part may appear like a lot to read, but we flew threw it faster than an unloaded GMC Sierra 2500 through the quarter mile.
Check out Part 1 here and click here for Part 2. The final installment should be out sometime this week, and we’ll be eager to find out definitively which of these pickups outperformed its competitors in PickupTruck.com’s battle royale of heavy duty trucks.
[Source: PickupTruck.com]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Filed under: Aftermarket, Euro, Commercial Trucks, Volkswagen
Click image for photo gallery
The Volkswagen Van Centre in the Welsh city of Cardiff has created a very cool custom weekend race camper for motorcycle and/or ATV riders. Using a Euro-market long-wheelbase, high-roofed VW Crafter panel van as the basis, they’ve created an all-in-one race home that combines a garage fit for two bikes or one four-wheeler with a usable living space for its riders. On race day, an awning can be extended out from the side of the vehicle to provide additional shelter. The accommodations aren’t exactly spartan, either, as the rig includes a kitchen, two double-beds, and a bathroom with shower. Neat! Complete details on the Crafter Race Home are in the release from VW, which is pasted after the jump.
[Source: Volkswagen]
Continue reading VW crafts a bitchin’ race camper
Permalink | Email this | Comments
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted by admin |
No Comments »
Loading ...