2015 Truck Trend Pickup Truck Of The Year
Nine heavyweights battle for glory
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- There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must leave the comfort and stability of what they have always known. It’s a scary and often-challenging time, being forced to spread their wings and either fly off into the sky or tumble hard to the ground. Birthed by Motor Trend in 1998, it’s now our time to step out of the nest and do things on our own.
Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year award is known throughout the industry as being one of the highest honors a new truck can receive. However—no offense to them—the folks at Motor Trend are car people; it’s what they know and love. So we got together and decided that it was time for the pickup experts at Truck Trend to forge ahead solo, run our own test, and pick a winner that we feel is most deserving. And that is what you are seeing today, Truck Trend’s inaugural Pickup Truck of the Year.
For our 2015 Pickup Truck of the Year competition, we invited all models that were either all new or significantly updated. Nine pickups from five manufacturers accepted the invitation. Chevrolet entered their all-new midsize offering, the Colorado, and the Silverado 1500, which came equipped with the company’s new eight-speed transmission. GMC brought their new Canyon (the midsize cousin of Colorado) and Sierra 2500, which received an extensive body refresh. Ford offered up the completely redesigned F-150, along with an F-350 Super Duty with the improved second-generation 6.7L Power Stroke diesel engine. Toyota created the specialized TRD Pro off-road package and sent us an equipped Tacoma and Tundra. Rounding out the field was the Ram 2500 Power Wagon, with so many updates from the previous generation we don’t have the space here to mention them.
Testing began just outside of Los Angeles at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. We ran each pickup through a battery of instrumented testing, which started with checking their weight (full fuel, no driver) before testing 0-60 mph acceleration, 60-0 mph braking, quarter-mile elapsed time, 0-60 mph with payload (500 pounds for the midsize trucks, 1,000 for the ½-tons, and 1,500 for the HDs), 60-0 mph braking with payload, and 0-60 mph acceleration with a trailer (loaded to 75 percent of each truck’s maximum towing capacity). Our team of judges hit the road early the second day, running each driver and truck through a 20-mile loop with their designated payload and then again with a trailer (loaded to the same 75 percent as the day before).
After a long slog through LA traffic, we ventured into the Mojave Desert for a day filled with nearly 100 miles of dirt trails. Through rough roads, muddy basins, rocky climbs, and sandy washes, we were able to evaluate the trucks’ tires, gearing, traction aids, electronic traction controls, ground clearance, suspension tuning, four-wheel-drive systems, thermal management, and overall vehicle dynamics. While it’s true that most truck owners won’t use their pickup as strictly an off-road toy, the fact still remains that the majority sold are four-wheel-drive, and we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t test these systems in conditions like what many buyers experience.
Finally, each truck was driven over a several-hundred-mile highway route in an effort to gauge real-world fuel economy. In between tests, our panel of expert judges spent time with each pickup studying interior ergonomics, rear seat comfort, technology ease-of-use, build quality, and the features and benefits of each truck.
Each pickup brought with it a unique skill set, and they were all impressive to our judges in one area or another. However, in the end, only one could take the top honors. The winner showed exceptional performance in each of the tested criteria and never left our panel of judges disappointed. Which pickup scored the highest? Read on to find out.
2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro
We Like:A ride with a seasoned driver proves this little Taco is the real deal off-road.
Bilstein nailed the shock tuning;the truck soaks up the roughest terrain with ease.
We Don't Like:The brakes are very touchy on the road while ABS is too aggressive off of it.
Interior styling is very dated.
2015 Ford F-350 Super Duty King Ranch
We Like:Throttle response is excellent, and has best-in-test power and torque.
Interior trimmed with luxurious, beautiful leather, and the exterior styling is quite handsome.
We Don't Like:A noisy truck in need of some refinement.
1-ton suspension the harshest ride in the test.
2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
We Like:Awesome off-road capability and confidence.
Sporty note from the TRD dual exhaust. Ample rear seat room.
We Don't Like:
Exhaust resonance can get tiring over long distances.
Dated interior full of hard plastic.
Mediocre towing performance compared to other ½-tons.
2014 Ram 2500 Power Wagon
We Like:Flexible suspension and great tires make this beast dominate off-road. Vinyl floors areawesome.
Proper seating position for a truck.
We Don't Like: Step-in height a bit much for some.
Even with cylinder deactivation, the 6.4L Hemi is very thirsty.
The bedside graphics are a touch loud.
2015 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 4WD All Terrain
We Like:Modern styling with premium comfort and convenience features.
Excellent ride quality for an HD truck.
We Don't Like:The low-hanging DEF tank and front air dam concerned drivers and hampered off-road performance.
It’s noticeably less powerful than its Power Stroke competition.
2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71
We Like: Quiet interior and composed ride.
Towing capacity not far off from its full size brethren.
Great fuel economy for a pickup.
We Don't Like:Frustrating MyLink infotainment.
Low air dam and stiff ride off-road.
Needs more torque, and that’s about it.
2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country
We Like:Best riding truck in the test.
Has a great sounding engine and exhaust tone.
Seats are big and comfortable.
We Don't Like: Transmission tuning needs some refinement.
Too low of a stance.
Perhaps too much chrome.
2015 GMC Canyon SLT
We Like:Elegant styling inside and out.
Nimble, easy-to-drive on- and off-road performance.
Excellent fuel economy when cruising the open road.
We Don't Like:Wonky transmission programming.
Low air dam that compromises off-road performance.
2015 Ford F-150
We Like:The rear seat has legroom for days.
Power from the 3.5L EcoBoost
V-6 is simply amazing.
Love that little bit of turbo sound you can hear with the windows down.
Tows like there’s not even a trailer attached.
Ford’s initiative to advance progress through new technology.
We Don't Like:Where’s the rear seat armrest?
We wish the FX4 package had a bit more substance, like the any-speed rear locker from Raptor.
No gear indication on the shifter.
Fuel economy was a touch underwhelming.
- Quote :
- How We Score it
Our Pickup Truck of the Year scoring procedure utilizes six weighted categories. The breakdown is as follows: 20 percent Highway Performance (vehicle handling, ride quality, steering feel, NVH, etc.), 20 percent Towing and Hauling (how the vehicle reacts with a trailer weighted to 75 percent of its rating and a specified payload), 20 percent Off-Road Performance (evaluating each vehicle’s performance and off-road-centric features such as traction aids, tires, and fourwheel- drive system operation in a specific off-highway environment), 20 percent Interior and Exterior styling (instrumentation, ingress and egress, seat comfort, storage, appearance, stance, material choice), 15 percent Empirical Data (loaded and unloaded acceleration, braking, and quarter-mile; weight, pricing, and fuel economy), and 5 percent Daily Living (passing power, parking prowess, ease of use of technology). Each judge votes on the individual categories (excluding Empirical) and total scoring is averaged and normalized.
AND THE WINNER IS...
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Truck Trend for the full write-up!
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