The 2015 GMC Sierra 3500 HD pickup won PickupTrucks.com’s 2014 Ultimate One-Ton HD Challenge, a rigorous bank of tests for one-ton-class diesel pickups with dual rear wheels.
The 2015 Ford F350 tied GMC in the 19 empirical tests that PickupTrucks.com conducted — which included everything from quarter-mile times at a drag strip to how much each one-ton squatted with its gooseneck weight. Combined with the qualitative, judged criteria, though, the GMC emerged as the top truck with a clear margin.
Ford’s Power Stroke dominated acceleration and hill-climb tests. The 2014 Ram 3500 topped the judged characteristics, beating GMC by 40 points.
Highlights of PickupTrucks.com’s summary of the GMC performance:
- Although the least expensive truck in the test, offered the smoothest and most comfortable ride over many uncomfortable road surfaces
- The GMC not only won the official fuel economy test (with a 16,000-lb. trailer in tow) in Michigan, but also topped the unofficial mpg calculation running from Las Vegas to Denver – the GMC (towing a 20,000-pound trailer) averaged about 10 mpg while the Ford and Ram hovered around 7 and 8 mpg
- Judges hugely appreciated the all-new interior and multimedia interface and 8-in. navigation screen
- The new, smarter diesel exhaust brake will make towing near the limits a much easier chore for customers
PickupTrucks.com's report on their testing gives enough information for readers to judge for themselves which truck is best based on their own work-truck priorities. Check it out.
See PickupTrucks.com's report on its 2014 Ultimate One-Ton Challenge
