Great article on a test between Ford and Chevy HD trucks. They drive up Eisenhower Pass fully loaded pulling trailers loaded to capacity. Quite a shootout, but one truck excelled and even exceeded expectations in the contest. See which one it was!
http://new…es.html#tp
Already read it earlier in the week. I though the Ford would’ve had a stronger showing, also surprised that they didn’t have Dodge their either even if it wasn’t loaded as heavily as the Chevy and Ford, it would’ve been interesting to see how it measured up. Not that it matters much with this type of vehicle, but some mileage figures would’ve been nice as well.
Interesting post D.
For me though, since the vehicles I own tend to be a minimum of 5ys old with 100K or more on them, I’m rarely all that interested in new vehicle testing info. I don’t actually care what anything does straight off the lot. I’m always thinking, put some time and miles on it and then tell me a story. For that I’d never trust a GM. The same can obviously apply to Ford, but repeat this after 50K of hauling stuff around and I’d lay odds that the GM transmission in there will be a train wreck.
I always find these tests interesting, especially when the manufacturer sponsors them. Why? Because they will not rig a test (or worse, rig a vehicle) that cannot be repeated reliably and make claims off of it - they know they’ll get sued. But they purposely will pick the conditions for the test that will make their product excel. It would appear that the GM HD would be a better choice for towing severe loads up over the highest pass anywhere on the interstate highway system.
But if, instead of towing a heavy load at 11,000+ feet in Colorado, you were towing a normal, average load out in the middle of Nebraska farmland at 2,500 feet in elevation? Or towing construction equipment in Miami at 6 feet in elevation? It is entirely possible that the Ford is asthmatic at high altitudes but has performance pick up significantly in other settings.
That would make for an interesting contest, Cig! I’d like to see that too! Wonder if either truck would make it to the top??
Good point!
I doubt if mileage would be anything to brag about under those conditions! Probably why it wasn’t mentioned. 
That was a great first event for a decathlon between those trucks. The coup de grace would be the relative cost of commercial operation.
Your right, I’m sure most commercial users of these trucks aren’t too worried about pulling loads like that on a daily basis or they would be going to a larger truck. But cost of operation would be a very important factor for them!
I would not put any faith at all into a test that was sponsored by anyone other than a 100% totally objective 3rd party.
Many decades ago one of the major magazines tested a Dodge Superbee that was supposedly bone stock as it came off the assembly line. The quarter mile times were faster than what all of the other Superbees were producing and it was revealed that the ringer car had carburetor tweaks, a dual point distributor, and a different advance curve. I do not remember if the camshaft had a different profile or not but it seems from my hazy memory they had also enlarged the exhaust system by 1/4" over factory stock.
Since the story was written by a Mike Levine and a quick look shows that a Mike Levine is employed by GM one has to wonder if they’re one and the same.
No doubt GM, courtesy of the Feds, is going to receive a lot of accolades in the near future.
“Then, in late September, Chevrolet challenged Ford to a real-world showdown in the Colorado Rockies, similar to the Mike Rowe head-to-head towing competitions that Ford has used to promote the capabilities of its F-Series pickups. Ford declined, but the bowtie boys decided to press forward and invited PickupTrucks.com and Diesel Power magazine to witness the test.”
Chevrolet organized and sponsored this “test”…Can we be SURE the “dealer bought” truck was not tweaked? Also, the Chevy’s transmission, all 6 speeds, are lower ratio than the Fords. At every road speed, the Chevy’s engine is turning slightly higher RPM, giving it a slight advantage in a “Test” like this…
You want to “test” these trucks?? Do this five times a week for ten years, keep accurate service, fuel cost and repair records and THEN tell us how they matched up…
C’mon, guys. There must be thousands of Mike Levine’s in the USA. And I doubt that the Chevy was prepared in advance. If you really have to find something to pick on, go for the environment. The specific test area may have been better for the Chevy.
Just having some fun with it. There is also a Mike Levine who writes for a pickup site and according to him Ford is the best truck in entry level and in another category in which the Ford and GM trucks use different engines. Spread the love around so to speak.
How do they test 2 trucks and determine as a whole which one is best? It only proves that at that particular point in time with those 2 vehicles that one was better than the other.
If these trucks were provided by Ford and GM one could safely bet they were gone over with a fine tooth comb and they probably got tweaked a bit before turning them over for testing. In this case, maybe the GM got tweaked a bit more than the Ford.