MOTOR TREND 0-60 6.8, 7.1 new Truck of the year test

I understand what you mean but it's all a trade off. You may would trade the "not breaking a sweat feel" for outright acceleration and that's cool. I personally wouldn't because I spend very little of my time on on-ramps compared to simply maintaining speed on the highway (and I suspect you do too). I may be wanting for more horsepower on the occasional on-ramp but I'll definitely be wanting for more lowend torque after the hundredth hill and downshift.

So a lot of it is just preference. Nothing wrong with that either.

 

It also depends on how the engine is tuned and the transmission its mated to. My Touareg TDI had a 3.0 V6 diesel, but VW strapped it to an 8 speed transmission. I think it had 250 hp and 406 torque. Off the line it wasn't that fast because it took a lot to get the internals to spool up, and as a result for boost to build, plus it was AWD. But once rolling, the thing was a rocket, and at highway speeds forget it.

The Titan is geared more towards hauling. And like BDL5589 said, with a diesel, the torque is there, so there is no need for downshifting to maintain a cruising speed or even accelerating mildly. That's what gives you that "not breaking a sweat feel".

I wonder if Blue T's golf had a DCT transmission? A lot of VW TDI's get mated to that transmission. As a true dual clutch transmission, if you stomp on it, there is a lag because the transmission will wait for the revs to build before it dumps the clutch on you.

But diesels can be made to go fast, just look at Audi's R18 Lemans car. They dropped a diesel in that thing and have dominated since. But again, its how it's tuned and for what application.

 

Towing that heavy of a trailer is dangerous and dumb with a 4k pound truck. If you really need to tow that much on the regular a half ton is pretty much necessary.

 

Wow someone left the gate to the retard pen open again. This thread is a disaster.

 

Looks like Chevy and GMC are well represented at Motor Trend. If Toyota could figure out how to get the added hp and torque down into the rpm range where it could be used we'd have something. With 5600 miles on my Taco I may have pushed rpms over 4000 twice. Very briefly. With a truck, I like my hp and torque at lower rpms. Also, I wonder what happens to the increased mpg when taking advantage of all that increase in hp and torque at rpms over 4000? It almost looks like Motor Trend is arguing about who is the tallest midget in the room. I'm not overly impressed with any of the choices.

Edit: Tag DCSBFTMFW

 

the GM twins will take the cake because:

1. Ad space
2. Diesel (car rags have a hard-on for diesel options, even if it's overpriced)

 

You guys need to realize that the ad space follows the test, it doesn't precede it. Having bought national magazine ad space for many years, the editors will let the advertisers know when favorable content is coming out so the ad buyer can consider buying more space. If the ad buyer doesn't respond with increases or decreases based on the "editors tips", his boss will replace him.

 

Hi skier. I've always wondered if a publication is more inclined to give a company that advertises heavily with them a more favorable review, so as not to lose future advertising revenue.

 

Toyota is one of the largest auto companies in the world. What they spend in one magazine is inconsequential in terms of their total media expense. The Hilux outsells the Tacoma 5 to 1 in the world. Perhaps they have elected to show more action TV spots for the Tacoma in the US rather than a bunch of print not read by their key demographic. I've certainly seen Tacoma ads in every football game I've seen in the last few weeks.

 

Just purchase and install a red Honda power band and call it a day.

Vtec, baby

 

Maybe that's because the Tacoma is only sold in the US and Canada and everywhere else has the Hilux. They don't compete with each other.