Latest news with #TruckOfTheYear
Motor Trend
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
An Ex-Military GM Truck Tests Our Chevy Colorado ZR2's Towing Capabilities
Our yearlong review 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 has bogged through mud, plowed through snow, crawled across rocks, hauled cargo, and crisscrossed the United States. Not yet, however, have I put its towing skills to a true challenge. That all changed when I happened across an irresistible deal on Facebook Marketplace. The 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 successfully towed an ex-military GM truck chassis close to its 6,000-pound limit, performing well over 640 miles despite challenging terrain and temperatures. The towing experience highlighted its capabilities and further justified its Truck of the Year award. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next Towing Limitations Thinking about picking up a Chevrolet Colorado? Remember, there is only one engine option: the 2.7-liter TurboMax turbocharged I-4, good for 310 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque, and that peppy four-banger sends that power into an eight-speed automatic transmission. Because of its off-road hardware and different cooling dynamics, the Colorado ZR2 has a lower towing rating than other trim levels. The Colorado WT (work truck), LT, Trail Boss, and Z71 can tow 7,700 pounds, whereas the ZR2 can only pull 6,000. Fully aware of the Colorado ZR2's limitations, I nevertheless arranged to pick up a crusty ex-military GM CUCV square-body rolling chassis. This was the perfect opportunity to test out a new offering from U-Haul. The company recently announced its flatbed toy hauler trailer decked out with three 8-foot ramps, drive-over fenders, a 16x8-foot deck, and abundant tie-down points. The double-axle trailer is rated to carry 6,800 pounds. After hitching the trailer to my 2-inch ball, I entered the trailer information into the Colorado's towing dashboard. This system allows you to name the trailer and record its dimensions, and it can even help keep track of maintenance tasks. I then allowed the truck to guide me through its pre-trip inspection. It's never been easier to verify that the brake lights, turn indicators, hazard lights, and all your lamps are working properly. The truck even helps remind you to stow your jack, plug in the connections, and connect your safety chains. While that might be frivolous for some, I'm always thankful for reminders like this. The Colorado ZR2 was only getting warmed up as it effortlessly pulled the 3,155-pound bare trailer down the interstate. For the first 300 miles of the journey, the truck self-reported 15.0 mpg, and I could scarcely tell there was anything in tow. With some help from a skid loader and a hand winch, I finagled my prize, the gutted square-body chassis, onto the toy hauler's deck, positioning it far enough forward to squat the ZR2's rear suspension by about an inch. Napkin math suggested the old truck's body, frame, and axles would bring the total weight of the trailer and its cargo darn close to 6,000 pounds. (Note: The old Chevy came without most of its powertrain, axle internals, fuel tank, and much more.) Rollling across the CAT scales confirmed those scribbles. Tongue weight was at exactly 11 percent, and the axle weights were all within their limits. Instead of retracing my steps across the mostly level interstate, I planned a return route with a handful of twists and extended climbs to further test the Colorado ZR2. With ambient temperatures over 100 degrees and repeated 7 percent grades, I expected some drama. I was disappointed. Transmission temps only crept up to 220 degrees once as traffic backed up to a crawl behind a struggling 18-wheeler. Otherwise, even while working hard on the hills, the shift juice hovered around 212 degrees. Despite nearly being at its towing limit, the Colorado ZR2 still had passing power. Tow/Haul mode holds onto gears for longer during acceleration and encouraged engine braking on the descents, too, which I appreciated because in our initial testing of our Chevy, we overheated the brakes with only a few back-to-back 60–0-mph panic stops. If more help is needed slowing town, toggling the shifter into L and blipping the transmission into third gear can help further regulate downhill speed. By the time I delivered the square-body shell to its final destination, I had racked up about 640 miles with a trailer in tow. I enjoy how the onboard towing screen always keeps a record of the fuel economy, even if you don't reset the trip computers. This journey showed 11.97 mpg, down from my usual 15–17. Here comes the big surprise: The Colorado ZR2 handled all parts of this task exceptionally well. Not that I expected the truck to fail, but even with its plush off-road suspension, gusty crosswinds, and my choice to forgo load-distribution hardware, the multihour towing adventure was largely uneventful. Even my predictions of 10-mpg fuel economy numbers were proven false. This performance served as a good reminder as to why the Colorado lineup won our Truck of the Year award in 2024. More On Our Long-Term Chevrolet Colorado ZR2: A New 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Dirties Our Yearlong Review Fleet Our New Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Makes Us Do a Bunch of Math Here's The Worst Part of a 5,000-mile Road Trip in the 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Won't Leave You (or Anyone Else) Stuck in the Cold Our California Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Shows Midwest Jeeps How It's Done Can Our Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Keep Up With Jeeps in Moab? 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor vs. Chevy Colorado ZR2: Baja or Bust!
Motor Trend
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Would You Rather Daily Drive a Huge Pickup or a Mercedes Sprinter Van?
We took on a yearlong test of a 2024 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 AWD to see if a van is a reasonable substitute for a pickup truck. So far, we've learned firsthand that a van is better for hauling, not so great for towing, surprisingly capable for off-roading, and is quite a bit more flexible than a truck. But what about, y'know, living with one? With nearly a year of Sauntering—er, sorry, Sprintering—under my belt, it was time to spend some time with a pickup truck to find out. 0:00 / 0:00 If You're Gonna Compare, Compare to the Best I called Ram, because why sandbag? The updated Ram 1500 recently won MotorTrend's 2025 Truck of the Year award, and the 2025 HD trucks just got many of the same upgrades. The Ram trucks have long been favorites of the MT staff for their handsome, modern interiors and day-to-day comfort. The Ram PR guy and I debated a bit on whether a 1500 or 2500 was more appropriate. My Sprinter wears a 2500 label, and its 2,988-pound payload is right up there in three-quarter-ton-truck territory. But the Sprinter's 5,000-pound towing capacity is less than a midsize pickup, whereas the Ram 2500 tows between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds—put another way, twice as much as the Sprinter plus the Sprinter itself. That requires pretty stiff rear springs, which affects the ride quality, and, given this was an article about daily driving, that was Ram's concern. In the end, we—and when I say 'we,' I mean 'I'—decided the Ram 2500 was the way to go. I had a brief road trip to take in New York, and Ram just so happened to have the perfect truck, a midrange 2500 Laramie crew-cab 4x4 with the high-output Cummins diesel engine, a 2,200-pound payload rating and 19,600 pounds of towing capacity. With a sticker price of $80,350, it was in the same ballpark as MotorTrend's $80,824 Sprinter 2500 AWD. One of the major pain points of the Sprinter is climbing into it—I'm only 5-foot-6—but this was even harder in the pickup truck, as there's no intermediate step between the ground and the floor. (My technique is the same for both vehicles: Grab the steering wheel and hoist.) Owners vs. Employees Once there, though, it's obvious the Ram was designed for owners while the Sprinter was designed for employees. The Sprinter's dash layout, though nicely arranged, is built of industrial-grade plastics, while the Ram, like most pickups, is designed more like a car. That said, I did miss the Sprinter's four 44-ounce Bladder Buster–sized cupholders. And the Sprinter's seats, while not as ornate as those of the Ram, are just as comfortable. Both vehicles have big, supportive, roomy back seats, but the Ram feels plusher, largely because the Sprinter makes back-seaters feel like they're sitting in a hallway. One thing I did miss was the view out. Like the Sprinter, the Ram gives you a commanding view of traffic ahead, but I missed the Sprinter's gigantic windshield. In the Ram, I felt like I was jammed into the left-top corner of the cab. But while both vehicles are the same width—79.5 inches without side mirrors factored in—the snub-nosed Sprinter feels way easier to line up on narrow roads. In the Ram, I often felt like I was encroaching on the oncoming lane, but a check of the side mirrors showed I was well inside the lines. Ram was concerned that my biggest gripe would be ride quality, but while the Ram's ride was definitely busier than the Sprinter's, I can't say it was significantly less comfortable. The Ram is one of the better-riding three-quarter-ton pickups, and it did a nice job rounding the edges off the bumps. When the pavement turned bumpy, the pickup got very uncomfortable, but the same is true of my Sprinter, with the height exaggerating the sense of pitch. Both are fine on smooth pavement and markedly not fine on rough roads. Much of my trip was on the open road, and here the Sprinter had an advantage: It tracks better, whereas the Ram has more of a tendency to wander and requires more constant steering correction. But the pickup is largely immune to the crosswinds that can turn a blustery day into a white-knuckle Sprinter drive. The Ram felt more stable at high speeds, and I could pass trucks without getting blown around by the bow wave, another big challenge with the slab-sided Sprinter. Power and Economy—and an Exhaust Brake Speaking of passing, that was way, way, way easier in the pickup truck. That should come as no surprise given the Ram's 6.7-liter, 430-hp, 1,075-lb-ft turbodiesel inline-six, which dwarfs the Sprinter's 2.0-liter, 208-hp, 332-lb-ft turbodiesel I-4 in nearly every data point. We tested a 2025 Ram 3500 with the HO Cummins, and it sprinted (heh) to 60 in seven second flat, nearly twice as quickly as the 11.7-second Sprinter. I figured that with nearly three and a half times the displacement and what had to be at least a half a ton more weight, the pickup's fuel economy wouldn't come anywhere near the 20 mpg I average in the Sprinter. Wrong-o, bucko: The Ram averaged 18.7 mpg on my road trip. Granted that was running empty at moderate speeds, whereas my average in the van includes quite a bit of hauling, towing, and speeding. Running light and gentle, the Sprinter will make it up into the low 20s, but I was expecting mid to low teens from the Ram, so almost 19 was a pleasant surprise. One of the bits that is standard on the Ram diesel is an exhaust brake—and if you remember my attempt to tow our partially loaded horse trailer with the Sprinter, you'll recall how desperately the Sprinter needs one of those. I wasn't towing anything this time 'round, but the extra engine braking was welcome even when running light, especially with the smart 'auto' function featured on the Ram. If I could pick one feature of the pickup truck to graft onto the van, the exhaust brake would be it. Both engines emit a relaxing thrum at cruising speed, but the Cummins adds a nice, throaty bass note. However, I found I could enjoy the sound (or whatever is on the stereo) better in the pickup truck. No surprise that the van body serves as an echo chamber for road noise (which is respectably muted in the Sprinter), while the Ram's smaller, carpeted cabin is better insulated. After nearly a year of Sprinter driving, I barely hear the constant creaks and rattles of the uninsulated steel body, but I sure noticed their absence in the truck, though it was largely replaced by a higher level of tire noise. One thing my junk-food-loving self was really looking forward to was a return to drive-throughs, from which the 9-foot 3-inch-tall Sprinter is generally disqualified. The Ram 2500 stands lower, and its turning circle is slightly tighter, but in real-world parking lots it's not a whole lot easier to maneuver than the van, and I realized the tight bends of the typical drive-through would be just as much of a challenge. I chose to park and walk, probably a good idea given the crap I love to eat on road trips. (My destination was Rochester, New York, where the Garbage Plate beckoned.) Which Would We Rather Drive? So which one makes a better daily driver, a pickup truck or a van? Both are unwieldier than a car or an SUV, though the pickup's broad turning circle is less invasive than the van's tall height. The pickup is certainly easier to drive fast, though its less precise steering makes higher speeds a challenge in its own way. The van prefers a more sedate pace, but its more carlike tires keep it going where you point it, which makes for less fatigue. Where the pickup holds its biggest advantage is the nicer interior, which we can chalk up to the fact that so many people use pickup trucks as daily drivers. When it comes to getting work done, I'll take the pickup truck for towing and the van for hauling, but as a daily driver, the pickup truck has a slight edge. More on Our Long-Term 2024 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter:
The Drive
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Tuners Create Ford Ranger Raptor R With a Supercharged V8
The latest car news, reviews, and features. In case you hadn't heard, the Ford Ranger Raptor is a weapon. When my buddy Andrew reviewed it last March, he called it an 'instant classic,' and it even won The Drive 's Truck of the Year award. Not only is its Fox Live Valve suspension incredible, paired with that snazzy Watts link rear-end, but the 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 is also mighty in its own right with 405 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque. But what if Ford made a Ranger Raptor R with a V8? That's effectively what Killa Conversions and Performance out of Australia has created with its new supercharged Coyote V8 swap. It elevates the power specs to 750 hp and 670 lb-ft of torque thanks to a Roush blower. Importantly, this switcharoo also involves a transmission swap to the sturdier 10R80 from the stock 10R60 in the Ranger Raptor, Bronco Raptor, and Explorer ST. Now, I can't pretend to know what this rig is like to drive. But I imagine it compares similarly to the F-150 Raptor and its Raptor R counterpart. The supercharged, dual overhead cam 5.0-liter surely makes it faster on the top end and rowdier all around, if not necessarily better in most real-world situations. Both the F-150 and Ranger Raptor are more than capable enough; crank up the power and you start to see diminishing returns on handling and, crucially, balance. But whoever's willing to pony up nearly $57,000 USD on top of the cost of the truck probably cares more about V8 grunt anyway. You have to remember that this isn't being marketed in the States, where you can buy an F-150 Raptor R for $115,000. In Australia, one of those full-size monsters costs the equivalent of $230,000. That means this DIY Ranger Raptor R is a big bargain at the US equivalent of $125,000 all-in. The Gen 3 Coyote on its own wouldn't be a worthwhile swap. Sure, the noise is good, and even though the naturally aspirated V8 makes 460 hp on its own, it's actually down 10 lb-ft of torque compared to the 3.0-liter EcoBoost. That explains why Killa Conversions and Performance went all the way over the top with the supercharger. If it weren't for that, I'd feel a little meh about this truck. If you're going to eliminate the finesse of a factory-built rally truck with more power, you'd better give it enough to blow through the turns it can't make. I'd say that's exactly what they've done here. Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@ From running point on new car launch coverage to editing long-form features and reviews, Caleb does some of everything at The Drive. And he really, really loves trucks.
