Motor Trend editors drove each of The Big Three’s four-wheel-drive, half-ton pickups more than 1,000 miles through California and Arizona empty, loaded, trailering, in cities, on highways, and in the mountains to determine which is the best all-around truck.
Trucks tested:
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ with 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8
- Ford F-150 Lariat with 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6
- Ram 1500 Outdoorsman with 3.0-liter EcoDiesel turbo-diesel V6
The testing was consumer oriented, but there are payload and towing insights included in the results for anyone shopping for project-supervisors’ trucks.
Results of Motor Trend’s real-world fuel economy testing were interesting as well:
Silverado 1500
- EPA rating: 16 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, 18 mpg combined
- Real world: 13 mpg city, 19 mpg highway, 15 mpg combined
- With 1,000 lb. payload: 16.4 mpg
F-150
- EPA rating: 18 mpg city, 23 mpg highway, 20 mpg combined
- Real world: 17 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, 19 mpg combined
- With 1,000 lb. payload: 16.8 mpg
Ram 1500
- EPA rating: 19 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, 22 mpg combined
- Real world: 20 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, 23 mpg combined
- With 1,000 lb. payload: 23 mpg
Motor Trend editors’ observations about comparing gasoline and diesel fuel economy help illuminate the purchase decision:
“The Ram's combined Real MPG is 21% better than the F-150's, covering the current 19% national price premium of diesel, though paying off the EcoDiesel's $3,120-to-$4,770 price premium would require time or a dramatic change in the fuel price landscape. It is worth noting, however, that in the popular crew-cab/short-box 4x4 configuration, the F-150 Lariat 2.7 EcoBoost and Ram Outdoorsman EcoDiesel price out pretty comparatively.”
Some excerpts from how Motor Trend summed up the comparison:
“After more than a week of driving and testing, it was inescapably clear how fiercely competitive this class is.
“The Chevrolet Silverado is simply a step behind the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 in every regard.
“The race was much tighter between the F-150 and the Ram.
‘In the end, the Ford's unknown maintenance and aluminum repair costs gave us pause, especially when combined with less-than-expected benefits from the weight savings. The Ram's combination of exclusive features (diesel engine, eight-speed automatic transmission, and premium air suspension, primarily), towing and hauling abilities, driving experience, and unimpeachable fuel economy put it on top.”
