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Comparison Test: 2015 Ford F-150 vs. Ram 1500 vs. Chevrolet Silverado

17K views 117 replies 47 participants last post by  Avalanche13 
#1 ·
F-150 2.7L EcoBoost 4x4 vs. Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 4x4 vs. Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71 4x4
Motor Trend
By: Scott Evans
January 2015


Pickup trucks are so ubiquitous, so common on American roadways that we tend to take them for granted. They're hugely important vehicles, both to consumers and their manufacturers, and they make up a significant percentage of vehicles on the road. If the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado were brands instead of individual vehicles within a brand, they'd both be among the top 10 best-selling auto brands in the country, and that's without counting the Silverado's GMC twin. Ram wouldn't be far out of the top 10, and its sales are on the rise.

Trucks are also among the most versatile vehicles you can buy. They tow and haul, and they also commute and road trip. They can be everything from a stripped-out work truck with manual windows and door locks to a leather-stuffed special edition that costs as much as a full-size luxury sedan. They carry anywhere from two to six passengers in a mind-boggling number of cab, bed, and wheelbase configurations. To its owner, a truck can be a tool, a commuter vehicle, and a luxury car all rolled up in one. Fully aware of the weight these vehicles carry with their builders and their buyers, we brought together the big three: Chevy, Ford, and Ram. Each has launched an all-new model within the past five years stuffed with significant updates based on volumes of customer research. Each brand is confident that its truck represents the best answer to the truck customer's competing needs in towing, hauling, fuel economy, and comfort. From Chevrolet, the Silverado 1500 LTZ with 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V-8. From Ford, the F-150 Lariat with 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6. From Ram, the Ram 1500 Outdoorsman with 3.0-liter EcoDiesel turbo-diesel V-6. We drove them well over 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. Before that, though, we pored over customer research from multiple sources in order to understand how truck buyers in this class actually use their vehicles so that we could base our judgment on their needs.

Full article available at link.
 
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#3 ·
Ford F-150 Real MPG
17 MPG City
22 MPG Highway
20 MPG Combined
16.8 MPG observed with 1000 lb in the bed

Chevy Silverado Real MPG
13 MPG City
19 MPG Highway
15 MPG Combined
16.4 MPG observed with 1000 lb in the bed

Ram 1500 Real MPG
20 MPG City
28 MPG Highway
23 MPG Combined
23 MPG observed with 1000 lb in the bed
 
#11 ·
What would they have as their range topping engine, though?

What I'd like to see is the 5.3L dropped and replaced with a ~5.7L engine instead. More power, similar FE, and still enough breathing room for the 6.2L. The 6.2L should also be making more power in the trucks IMHO.
 
#9 ·
None of the three vehicles sceam "buy" to me. I don't want a diesel so the Ram is out, I like the F-150 but I will wait at least three years to see how the aluminium panels work out and the GM twins are just too ugly for me. I still maintain that the mid-sized Colorado/Canyon will end up in my driveway.
 
#10 ·
All makes sense to me, as I'd pick the Ram if I needed a truck. The new F-150 seems very competitive, as it should be, but the Ram still has a great interior, nice drive quality, the 8AT, and things like an optional diesel or adjustable suspension.

The GM trucks' issue is not that they aren't good. They seem to be competitive in most areas, but stellar or noteworthy in none. Kind of an Old GM problem.
 
#12 ·
Not sure I buy everything here:

- Basically they don't like the feel of the Silverado, it did perform well, just did not "feel" it
- Complained about how slow it felt with a trailer, but perform as well as others
- Complain about the backup camera and how they can't line up a trailer without a spotter, never had a problem with mine, first time every time.
- Many times stated the Chevy felt slower, but wasn't.

I am not saying the Silverado is top of the Class, but something seems off when it is performing, and you are complaining it feels different. Something is not right with this.
 
#38 ·
I pull two Jet Ski's with my Sierra and the weather was great this summer so I pulled them alot! There is NO PROBLEM backing up to the trailor and it lines up perfect every time. I feel my 5.3 has plenty of power and everyone who rides in it loves it. I think it's a great looking truck! MT always tries to find something wrong with GM products, even if there isn't anything!
 
#15 ·
Funny they didn't mention that the Ram was over it's payload capacity on at least a couple of the tests. 960 lbs of payload is pretty low. With a 1,000 lbs of payload for the test, plus a minimum of a driver in the truck, it was well beyond its capacity. A 7,000 lb test trailer should have had a minimum of 700 lbs tongue weight, plus extra gear and passengers.

I think GM would be better off losing a mpg in the EPA tests and programming their transmissions so they aren't so annoying for anyone not trying to win a FE challenge. Sounds like they need to tighten up the suspension a bit as well.
 
#19 ·
These auto writers are all the same.....they simply luv diesels.......
Chevy 0-60 6.9 unloaded 19.5 towing
Ford 0-60 6.4 unloaded 16.2 towing
Ram 0-60 8.8 unloaded 23.9 towing

They then say it simply felt quick.....this is nothing but the diesel mafia crowd.......
If Ram put these numbers up with a Hemi and same MPG they would simply kill the Hemi......
 
#20 ·
I have noticed over the last few years GM has done everything in there power to make there cars quieter and more isolated and wonder if they have gone to far and this test is an example
the silverado came in 3RD BUT performed as a #2 in timed events and if everything was NOT set to "soft" would have "felt" better and
the same is true for the Cruze Turbo and how everybody complains it is "dangerously" slow when it is FASTER then some of it competition it just "FEELS" slow
 
#42 · (Edited)
You could be on to something, not sure it has gone too far, but I definitely notice that when I gun it, I end up going faster, sooner than I thought. The truck rides great, but part of that does isolate you from what is really happening.

You take an entrance ramp to the highway, half way up you are at 70MPH, but think you are ~50MPH. Great engineering feat, too bad most people don't appreciate it.
 
#36 ·
I really think there is something we do not know and the Gov't does about carbon emissions. Not to sound like a conspiracy nut but just in the past 5 years the advances in power-train efficiency and C02 emissions is insane. Also cars have been becoming increasingly heavier due to safety standards. GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda have all had EV's and Hydrogen fuel cell available since the mid nineties. I think we are closing in on a threshold that is actually feared hence the change in tech so swiftly. But I digress. The Silvy is fine and GM has been working on its own material Renaissance with hybrid lighter steels, battery, hydrogen and composites we will see that investment pay off huge in the next 5-10 baby!
 
#37 ·
As with everything else it's an opinion piece with some empirical data to shore it up. You get 100 folks to drive those trucks back to back and you'd get nearly that many opinions. Regardless GM does have a very traditional product engineered during GM's darkest times amidst the competition that had their view set higher.

GM is announcing that they moved up the release of their upcoming 1/2-ton truck by 9 month's as a late 2018 release is significant in that they even know that their trucks are way too conservative for the marketplace. They gambled on that and it was not a right one. It happens. It happened to Honda with the Civic and within a year they redesigned it as the model is important to them. This is where the old GM still shines amongst the new pieces. They are electing to have their number one product sit for another 4 years amongst the lukewarm reception...
 
#39 ·
I do know that my co-worker with his 2014 Silverado 4X4 4.3 that he bought 6 months ago brand new is much spunkier now that it has 6K miles on it compared to when it was brand new. He was always telling me that it didn't feel all that quick or responsive. Now with some break in miles it feels much better so there is this to consider. The 3.6 Impala is the same way as is the 2.2 Ecotec.
 
#40 ·
1 or 2 MPG is not going to make much of a difference if i was in the market for a full sized. if it was 3-4 then i would be looking elsewhere.

is the 5.3 a good engine to compare here? would the 4.3 be the one in this class? since the 2.7 is the new base engine for the ford.
 
#48 ·
Just one of the many contradictions in the article was where they said they knocked the Ford down because of not knowing how aluminum will hold up or cost to repair....so you they knew the Ford couldn't win the contest because they have preconceived notions about aluminum? so why include Ford F150 in a test you knew they could never win.......

" After each test we'd debate again, hoping that the next test would reveal an as-yet-unseen flaw in one of the trucks that would make it an easy decision. None came. So we kept debating, and in the end, the Ford's unknown maintenance and aluminum repair costs gave us pause"

The fix was in from the begging for the Diesel Mafia........

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests...s_ram_1500_chevrolet_silverado/#ixzz3K1dZwiXS
 
#57 ·
Define eating everybody's lunch.

Last I checked, still third place in sales. CR also just ranked Chrysler the most unreliable of the three domestics.
 
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#54 ·
Comparing apples, oranges and bananas.

I think this paragraphs pretty much says it all:

On the test track, the Silverado was nearly as quick as the F-150. On the street, you'd never know. The objectively slower Ram felt quicker around town than the Silverado, and for that we blame the Chevy's powertrain software. The combination of incredibly lethargic throttle response and fuel economy-biased transmission programming that strives to always be in sixth gear made the Silverado feel the slowest by a country mile. Sure, if you floor it, it books, but how often does the typical owner do that? Up in the mountains, these problems were exaggerated. As for the rest of the experience, the first word in my notes is "isolated." The Chevy is very quiet inside, the ride is soft and a bit floaty, and all the responses are a bit dull. The test numbers say it's the quickest around a corner, but you wouldn't guess that from inside, either.

A test where 'feel' - not objective numbers - seemed to rule the day.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests...s_ram_1500_chevrolet_silverado/#ixzz3K20qiNpn
 
#58 ·
GM needs to offer a factory extended gas tank. Their 26 gallon one is dwarfed by Ford's 36 gallon option.

Also the torque management of the GM trucks is nothing new. It does kinda suck in stock form, but when tuned, and aftermarket mods have always been kind to improving the performance of those engines because they have so much untapped potential.
 
#63 ·
So a turbo diesel, a twin turbo, and a NA gasser goes to a bar way up in the mountains...(where we meet for the infomercial). I remember running a D-max in the CO mountains several years ago and watching the non-turbo trucks smoke and wheeze while I blew by them. Were they bad trucks? I bet they ran much better at 600ft instead of 6k ft. It was no accident testing turbos against a NA engine in the mountains. Run the same test at sea level then.
 
#74 · (Edited)
Very possibly, MT ran and or embellished a Ford provided script ie if we run this particular wrong configuration with less than even close to the right capacities in the Mountains with cool temps - we will look cool too.

Mike Levine + Truck Trends + Motor trend / J. Lieberman + Ford + ?$?$?$?$ ????

One of the other take aways from all this pathetic rigging is that obviously, Ram ED and Silverado / Sierra 5.3 are still the main big problem for the 2015 F150 2.7EB.

Which of course completely steps over the other BIG problem ie the Gen V 6.2 8L90.....

Real bottomline : all the new info ( so far ) concerning the 2015 F150 is going to help - not hurt GM and FCA regardless of whatever value good and or bad, it ends up providing for Ford.
 
#72 ·
7300 Miles on my 14 5.3 with 3.42 rear......At around 5000 miles it really started getting stronger but I've been satisfied from the start.Best running 5.3 I've had,most quiet,most efficient,most comfortable truck I've had. These are great trucks,while you're all complaining about them, most of us that actually own them are driving around grinning!
 
#98 ·
You remind me of my Honda fanatic friend and my sister-in-law. The love their Hondas because they don't consider anything else. I suspect you are the same with GM. You love what you have because you have never considered anything else. I have had many different brands over the years and I liked some more than other but I never decide what I am going to buy simply because it is my favorite brand. The "best 5.3 I have had" tells me that you will love the brand regardless of the facts.
 
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