Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

PickupTrucks.com holds Ultimate 4x4 Challenge

It started after we published our Duel in the Desert. As you recall, that Shootout was unique in that it was a “one test, two trucks, best time” contest. We found a great course and a great driver to make the head-to-head competition one of our most popular — and controversial — to date. Sure, the Ram Runner was more like a custom-built creation from Mopar, and the SVT Raptor was more like a pro athlete, but they both had something to prove.

When we published the Duel in the Desert, Ram and Ford fans alike had very passionate opinions. One consistent opinion was that the Shootout was not a good all-around test of the each 4x4’s strengths and weaknesses. That point will be debated for millennia, but it did make us think about our next Shootout.

This time we wanted to offer truck makers a chance to prove their 4x4 credentials through one simple challenge: Give us your best 4x4 off-road package on whatever pickup you sell through a dealership, and let us test the snot out of them. This allows us to find out which factory off-road package is the best all-around off-road champion.


To do this right, we knew we’d want to include the support of some of our four-wheeling experts, so we went to the team at Four Wheeler Magazine. Editor John Cappa and Technical Editor Sean Holman (now the editor of Diesel Power Magazine) joined us as judges for our Ultimate 4x4 Shootout, and they conducted their own extreme challenge test at the same time. In addition to providing their own pickup perspectives for us, they also had a few SUV off-road packages for their test. (You can read all about their winners in the January issue of Four Wheeler going on sale on Nov. 13.)

We did our objective testing at the Chrysler Proving Grounds just outside Chelsea, Mich. Before anyone cries foul and bias, we should let you know we made offers to both Chrysler and Ford to host the Shootout performance testing at their facilities, and after some back and forth with both companies, the most convenient (mutually agreed upon) site worked out to be the Proving Grounds.

Thankfully, we got full access to the wide-open vehicle dynamics area to conduct the acceleration and braking runs without any interference, as well as several off-road areas and challenges that were on site.

In addition, we invited a RaceLogic VBOX expert to join us for the track-testing day (based about an hour away in Clawson, Mich.) to provide us with technical support and serve as a neutral third-party observer. Subsequent truck tests, such as fuel economy, were conducted in and around Ann Arbor and just outside Flint, Mich. We used a private off-road park called The Mounds, where we conducted the remainder of our off-road tests.

In the end, our Ultimate 4x4 Shootout comes down to 10 separate scored events where we directly compared each truck with the other three contenders. In the quantitative tests, the winner received 100 points, and the runners-up were awarded points based on how close they came to the winner’s performance. For the remaining off-road events, qualitative scores were assessed separately by the three judges.

In the Off-Road Testing category, we evaluated each truck’s dedicated 4x4 engineering, and scoring was done by consensus. Of course, this is where we invite you to do your own assessment and come up with your own score if you so choose. Each score and test result will be in the appropriate section, with the comprehensive box scores in the Results section.

On to the Shootout!


Ultimate 4x4 Shootout: Acceleration, Braking, Fuel Economy

As we started our test runs at the Chrysler Proving Grounds, temperatures were heading to 90 degrees, and humidity was about 70 percent. We took at least three runs with each truck, giving them a chance to cool down with an extended coast-down and casual drive back to the start line after each run.

Our long half-mile straightaway gave us plenty of room to capture our zero-to-60-mph data. Each truck was tested with two adult males inside — one driver and one passenger recording the VBOX data through a laptop. For the sake of full disclosure, our driver added about 190 pounds and the passenger added about 175 pounds. We took the best (lowest) time for each truck.

We weren’t looking to set the fastest time ever recorded for each truck; we’ll leave that to the professional hot-shoes at the major magazines. Instead, our main objective on every run was to be as consistent as possible with our technique and process to minimize any extraneous variables. That meant making sure the windows were always rolled up, the air conditioning always off and the vehicle in Drive with the Overdrive off. At each launch, we brake-torqued the automatic transmissions to 2,000 rpm before takeoff.

How did the trucks do? As you might have guessed, the fastest truck was the one with the best power-to-weight ratio: The SVT Raptor, with its 411-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8. It ran the fastest test time at 7.71 seconds, which is more than a full second faster than the heaviest contender, the Ram Power Wagon, at 8.73 seconds. The two smaller players, the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma Baja (each with very similar power-to-weight ratios), ran very close, at 8.46 and 8.40 seconds, respectively.


For event scoring, we indexed the Raptor at 100, Tacoma Baja 92, Frontier 91 and Power Wagon 88.

For old-school enthusiasts who have to know the quarter-mile times, we have that, too. It might surprise you to see how close they all are:

SVT Raptor, 16.07 seconds at 88.96 mph
Tacoma Baja, 16.60 seconds at 83.87 mph
Frontier, 16.69 seconds at 84.86 mph
Power Wagon, 16.89 seconds at 83.85 mph

For our brake tests, we drove the same stretch of road we used for our acceleration tests. The procedure was simple: get to 60 mph as comfortably as possible, and then slam our foot into the brake pedal once our digital readout from our VBOX computer hit the designated speed.

We ran each truck through four separate trials, each time getting as close to 60 mph as possible. To score the test, we threw out the high and low times and averaged the remaining two. This allows us, again, to eliminate as many variables as possible and keep the playing field even. All our competitors had BFGoodrich tires, with the Frontier being the only one with Rugged Trail T/As; the rest were shod with All Terrain T/As.

The results were a little surprising. The Frontier bested the rest of the group by a pretty good margin, stopping from 60 mph at an average of 141.1 feet. The Tacoma Baja came in second at 149.7 feet; the Raptor came in third at 151.6 feet; and the heaviest of the group, the Ram Power Wagon, stopped in a respectable 157.5 feet.


For event scoring, we indexed the Frontier at 100, Tacoma Baja at 94, Raptor at 93 and Power Wagon at 90.

For the fuel-economy test, we started the day by checking all the vehicles’ factory-listed tire pressures before filling each fuel tank to full followed by two clicks, just to make sure.

The Ram 2500 Power Wagon came with a dual tire-pressure-setting selector that allowed us to change the parameters for the tire pressure warning light by 20 pounds of inflation pressure. This option gives Ram owners a better “bandwidth” of abilities for a truck that is running around town with an empty payload or a truck at or near maximum payload. Since we were not doing any payload runs for our mileage loop, we chose to use the lighter of the two settings and were able to lower the rear tire pressures to 60 pounds instead of 80. This would make for a much more comfortable ride, and it better duplicates how most owners would likely drive their truck around town.

Our driving loop took us in and around the Ann Arbor area, getting us as far east as Romulus, as far north as Holly and as far west as Howell. We asked all the drivers to keep the air-conditioning fan and temperature level consistent and try to stay within visual range of each other, adhering to all speed limits. The total loop, including fill-ups at our start and finish fuel station (we even filled up before and after the run at the same pump), took about six hours.

Winning the mileage competition was the Tacoma Baja, with 20.7 mpg. The Frontier PRO-4X was right behind with 20.2 mpg, and the big-motored SVT Raptor delivered 16.4 mpg. As you might have guessed, the heaviest pickup (6,660 pounds) with the tallest rear-end gears (4.56:1) had the worst fuel economy at 11.9 mpg.


For event scoring, we indexed the Tacoma Baja at 100, Frontier at 98, Raptor at 79 and Power Wagon at 58.

Ultimate 4x4 Shootout: Price, Payload, Road Performance


At a time when some truck makers are looking to keep themselves back in the black with more luxury option packages, appealing to an increasingly smaller demographic, we wanted to reward the competitors in our Shootout for offering an off-road package for the lowest price.

We could have tried to create a horribly complicated mathematical equation or software algorithm to determine who offered the most 4x4 bang for the buck based on what parts are included and at what cost. Instead, we decided simply to reward the least expensive qualifier and let the rest of the off-road packages measure themselves against that truck.

Not surprisingly, the least complicated of the packages was the least expensive player. Coming in at just $31,275, the Nissan Frontier PRO-4X was awarded the full 100 points. At a little over $5,000 more, the Toyota Tacoma Baja scored 86 points; at over $13,000 more, the entry-level Ram Power Wagon ST scored 70 points; and at over $22,000 more expensive, the Ford SVT Raptor scored 58 points.


For event scoring, we indexed the Frontier at 100 points, Tacoma Baja 86, Power Wagon 70 and Raptor 58.

Since these are pickup trucks, we thought at least one test should reward pickups that best work like a pickup and can carry a hefty load. Conversely, if they can't carry much in their bed — meaning their personalities are too one-dimensional — they don't score well. Yes, we know this is an off-road test and most trucks that do this kind of prioritized dirt duty don't usually carry a full load of cement footings, but if it's going to look like a duck and act like a duck, it dang well better be able to quack like a duck and carry more than just passengers and fishing gear.

We calculated each truck's payload number by subtracting the actual weight (no passengers, full tank of fuel, CAT scales) from the listed gross vehicle weight rating. We believed this was a good test to score because it would clearly call out those specific truck engineers who sacrificed too much or too little to achieve any extreme suspension capabilities. If pickups are anything, even ones biased for serious off-road use, they need to be able to perform many tasks, and that should include carrying a good load.

Again, the results may not surprise you. The Power Wagon, sitting on a stout three-quarter-ton chassis, came in first place with 1,850 pounds of payload. In second place, the Nissan and Toyota tied with 1,120 pounds. And in last place, with a measly 800 pounds of maximum payload, the SVT Raptor.


For event scoring, we indexed the Power Wagon at 100, Tacoma Baja 61, Frontier 61 and Raptor 43.

This test was scored during our fuel-economy run in and around Ann Arbor. Each judge rotated in and out of every truck over the 150-mile loop. At the end of the full day’s rotation, and after making thorough notes regarding each truck, the judges came together to discuss each truck’s assets and liabilities during the various high-speed freeways, city traffic and country two-lane byways we encountered during the route.

Each judge awarded 10 points to the winner, and then we determined how well the other competitors scored in comparison. For many of the categories, the judges kept it simple. If the scoring was close, first through fourth place could be scored 10, 9, 8 and 7. However, if a particular judge believed more separation was needed in a given category, scoring could be 10, 8, 5 and 4.


For event scoring, we indexed the Raptor at 100, Tacoma Baja 80, Power Wagon 70 and Frontier 57.

As it turned out, scoring was pretty consistent. The winner — the SVT Raptor — got a unanimous score from the judges and collected 100 points. Each judge named the Raptor the truck with the best on-pavement ride quality and the one they’d most want to drive daily. The responsive throttle, sporty high-lux interior and tight suspension feel were key strengths.

In second place, the Tacoma Baja scored 80 points, with drivers noting some excessive suspension stiffness at slower speeds. Relatively close behind with 70 points, the Power Wagon was a little heavy and plodding compared with the rest of the group, and the heavy-duty chassis didn’t help, either. Finally, the Nissan was the unofficial rough rider of our group, with a numb and wandering steering feel and sometimes-unnerving front-end feel, especially over choppy dirt and broken paved roads.

Ultimate 4x4 Shootout: Results


Several months ago, we asked each of the truck makers to send us their best off-road package because we wanted to find out, once and for all, which of them offers the best four-wheeling pickup truck on the market. What we got back were four players ready to get down and dirty.

To win this decathlon-style competition (10 contests in which the winner is awarded 100 points), it’s all about being a well-rounded athlete. If you’re good only in a few events, you likely won’t have enough points to win. In fact, to score well, a truck really doesn’t have to be the best at anything — it just has to be able to score well in many events.

Of course, we could have included more tests, more terrains and more truck challenges, but we determined that these 10 were a good balance for what we’re looking for in a 4x4 champion. And as you’ve seen, almost half of our events were biased toward off-road prowess, with the remaining categories aimed at overall truck performance.

Here’s how we scored our 2012 Ultimate 4x4 Shootout:

No. 4: 2012 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X V-6 | 777 points


The Frontier earned first or second place in three of 10 categories, offering the least expensive as-tested price of the group. Also, it had the best stopping distance from 60 mph (which surprised more than a few of us), as well as scoring well in fuel economy. Still, as an off-road package, the PRO-4X was outclassed and outperformed by the other trucks. Although it was able to keep up, the lack of ground clearance, the tire choice and the suspension limitations were too much to overcome. But if you’re looking for a strong value in a little pickup truck, we were impressed with how well the Frontier kept up with the other, more athletic competitors. Although it's the last-place finisher, this truck deserves credit for doing as well as it did and facing this level of competition. Yes, the Frontier kept getting knocked down event after event, but it always got back up, ready for the next punishing challenge.

No. 3: Ram Power Wagon ST V-8 | 814 points


For some, the Power Wagon is a name without peer and was likely the favorite coming into the Shootout. On paper, it’s an amazing wish list of heavy-duty four-wheeling parts that no other pickup truck can match: front and rear lockers, swaybar disconnect, monster ground clearance, 33-inch tires, a factory winch and more. In the tests where it did well, it did quite well, coming in first or second in four of 10 events. Naturally, it performed well in the most extreme of the off-road events, and with its 2500 chassis, it literally sat high above the other trucks with almost 2,000 pounds of payload. Unfortunately, in those events where it didn’t do well, it didn’t do well at all, landing in last place (by a good margin) in fuel economy and on our sand hill climb. The end result was a performance with an even mix of highs and lows — that’s not how you win this type of endurance Shootout.

No 2: Toyota Tacoma TRD Baja V-6 | 830 points


If there was one player in our Ultimate 4x4 Shootout that embodied the all-around spirit of an Olympic decathlete, it was the Tacoma Baja. Winning only one event (fuel economy) by the slimmest of margins, the Baja placed second in more than half of the other events. Clearly not the most powerful of the group or most extreme-terrain capable, the Baja does offer a good balance of targeted technological upgrades (select suspension and shock parts) along with a reasonable price point. Unfortunately, those strengths have their liabilities. On certain terrain and at certain speeds, the money saved in suspension tuning and capability is quite apparent, almost punishing the driver with shock stiffness at slower speeds. That’s probably fine if you spend most of your time desert-running above 50 mph, but not too practical in the real world. Still, mechanically speaking, there’s much to like here, and it’s a good first step for a truck maker that really should be coming to market with its Stage II and Stage III performance trucks as soon as possible.

No. 1: Ford SVT Raptor V-8 | 861 points


Not since the Toyota Tacoma in our 2012 Midsize Shootout earlier this year has a single vehicle so dominated a contest. In fact, the Tacoma won only four of 10 events in that Shootout, whereas the SVT Raptor won five of 10 in this one and finishing a close second in the most brutal of our 4x4 challenges. Clearly, there is a lot to like about this truck, especially as it relates to being tested and driven as an all-around four-wheeler. The Raptor does both high- and low-speed four-wheel drive quite well, and it gives the driver many different types of traction and gearing changes that should give any backcountry explorer plenty of choices to suit a wide variety of obstacles. From the judges’ point of view, the list of 4x4-prioritized technology is definitely impressive, yet the most amazing thing about this truck, especially when pushed into some serious terrain challenges, is how well the electronics (transmission, traction control, gearing, etc.) integrate with the mechanicals. Whether locking the differential in high or low range (not something many competitors can do) or switching on and off the Off-Road mode to better accommodate separate sandy hill climbs that quickly transition to steep descents, the electronic integration of all these technologies — whether for on-road or off-road use — is impressive. And until somebody makes something better (and good luck with that), we crown the Ford SVT Raptor the champion of our 2012 Ultimate 4x4 Shootout.


http://special-reports.pickuptrucks....ootout.html%20

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Whooo good job Ford!

spwolf

That SVT is 50% more expensive... I wonder if anyone actually compares Tacoma and Frontier to it.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

If it were Ford, Dodge er excuse me RAM (SMH) and Chevy I think they would have omitted the Nissan and Toyota. As such with GM abstaining from this, I think PickupTrucks.com was like well heck we'll take anything hah. More power to the aging Toyota Tacoma for coming in second. It's very long in the tooth with a super low output for it's 4.0L V6

GoHuskers

Have anyone here owned a Taco as a DD? I am thinking about getting one but still debating. Please give your inputs.

pbm317

I currently have a Tacoma Double Cab. Short Bed, TRD Sport, 4WD on order for my DD. The Sport has a street tuned Bilstein shock that provides a much better on-road ride than the other trims, which are already decent to begin with.

You give up some creature comforts that you might expect in the price range. Currently no power seats available, no moonroof, no heated exterior mirrors. And of course, the gas mileage isn't the greatest. 16/21 for a 4WD automatic. I think 2WD gets you 17/21.

But, if you want a truck that's reasonable in size, there's really only one truck left in the mid-size segment. Tacoma commands ~50% of the segment for a reason. It's a little long in the tooth, originally debuting in 2005, but I think the refresh for 2012 made some nice enhancements. Much nicer steering wheel, updated audio/nav options, etc. I drove one for a few weeks and found it very easy to drive and comfortable. Much more so than a 4Runner Trail that I also tested. Brakes felt firm and strong.


There's a new Limited trim level for 2013 that has Softex (fake leather) and heated seats, and the Softex felt pretty nice in my opinion, but I liked the fabric of the TRD packages better overall.

84Cressida

Are they still building the 2012s? I read the the TRD Sport was canned for 2013.

GoHuskers

Please post pics and review of your new DD when you have it in your hands. Thanks.

jbjones85

iTrader: (20)

I had a 06 Tacoma V6, manual, 4wd, TRD sport package and it was a great functional DD. As said above it lacks some things you would except for 25+ K but it was a great truck. Sold it with 125K miles with 0 issues.

pbm317

TRD Sport is still made for 2013. They had an additional "Sport Upgrade" package in 2012 with Chrome Wheels. That Sport is no longer offered, and those wheels are on the Limited for 2013.


GoHuskers, will do!

GoHuskers

Thanks pbm317.

Local dealer has a '12 with TRD Sport package plus and it has the 18" chrome wheels. With 700 miles on the odo and they ask $33,200 for it.

Can we buy these at invoice now?