i drove one of these for a few days over the weekend, so i thought i would give a review of my thoughts…i havent drove a ford, but i can give some comparison compared to my 2011 ram.
drivetrain - this one had a 4.8 v8. i feel the gm engineers should be fired for putting this motor in a fullsize truck. very low on power, hardly enough to merge in traffic. complete dog. it didnt even get good mileage either. i cant speak for the 5.3, but we all know even the larger and more powerful 5.3 is still the lowest hp/tq motor of every brands most common 1/2ton / v8 package out.
lighting - the headlights on these trucks are pretty good, high beams are great. the reverse lights are bright as well, brighter then on my ram.
ride comfort / handling - has a pretty soft suspension, kinda “springy”. has a decent amount of roll for a truck but that could be from the 17" wheels compared to 20" that im used to. the suspension in my ram is quite a bit firmer but seems to take the bumps better. the chevy does sit lower which makes it easier to get in and out of. brakes are pretty average.
interior - the seats are soft and not that great going distances but i prefer a firmer seat. i also did not like the tilt steering wheel. there is not enough adjustment in it…only seemed like there was 3 locations in the tilt, and where i wanted it was not one of them. the guages with the chrome trim rings looked nice, but poor design. they were so deep that when looking straight on, you could not see the inside edges of the guages for the fuel/temp/oil/volts. you have to move your head over to look if you want to see the whole guage. the sound quality of the stereo, not so good. i dont know if it was just this truck, but it was already getting distorted at 1/3 volume.
other things i notice…tow package. the truck did not have a factory reciever, but from what ive seen is the plugs on the chevy for trailer lights are below the bumper. on my ram next to the license plate there is a plug for both flat 4 and the round 7 with a flap door to keep em clean…plus a factory reciever. i think chevy needs to improve their setup here…and why do they not have a plug under the dash to plug in a brake controller? the other factorys have one, on the chevy you have to splice in.
overall, not impressed and im very happy to be driving my ram again. overall a far superior truck compared to the chevy
my ram is a st/express. pretty low end. apples to apples.
for what its worth, the current gen ram has won the following awards the last few years…i think it speaks for itself and that im not too biased on the truck.
2013 rocky mountain truck of the year
2013 north american truck of the year
2013 motortrend truck of the year
2013 truck of texas
2013 ruedas espn truck of the year
2012 consumer diagest best buy
2011 & 2012 automobile magazine all star
2011 offroad adventure magazine manufacture of the year
2011 truck of texas
2011 edmunds top rated large light duty
I’d like to see your Ram tow 4800lbs, 675 miles to Kentucky and get a touch under 16mpg. Not gonna happen with the big bad HEMI. I can get 16.5 towing to Empire, and 21-22 on the highway not towing. My truck runs 10.2’s at Lancaster in the heat, and I really don’t need it any faster than that.
FWIW all 3 domestic brands make an excellent truck. All have their pluses and minuses.
The only thing I hate about the 12-13 GM trucks is that they are worse then the 99’s. There is way more torque management and bull crap on them then required.
That being sad if I were to buy a brand new truck it’d be a Dodge. Used would be a 2005ish GM Cat Eye with the 6.0L.
wow, someones butt hurt. sorry for giving an honest review about a truck :dunno:
unloaded, 2/3 highway and 1/3 city and easy on the throttle i avg 20mpg. when towing a 27ft enclosed vnose + a couple sleds (~3600lbs total) i was avg 16-17mpg last winter. not too bad considering the extra power and being a half second faster in the 1/8th
i dont think mpg would drop off from that much more for an extra 1200 lbs considering youre probably talking an open trailer.
I’ve never in my life heard of a hemi truck getting 16-17 towing ANYTHING, yet yours can get that while towing in the WINTER? You know that every car in the world gets worse mileage in the winter right? The air is harder to cut through, the gasoline is different, the friction of all of the moving parts is greater. My truck drops 1-1.5mpg everywhere just like everyone elses, yours goes up somehow.
I had a brand new 2013 extended cab as a rental about a month ago (had 3k miles on it when I picked it up). Not sure what engine, prob the 5.3, had plenty of power (more than my JGC Limited by a noticeable difference per my ass dyno). Agreed on the gauges, and the bench seats; the W/T & L/T split bench seats leave a lot to be desired. The Leather front buckets are really nice in the LTZ model though.
Mileage was a wash compared to my JGC; both get/got the same 16mpg for my mixed commute.
As for the tow package, if yours didn’t have a receiver, then you REALLY had a base no frills model. The one I rented had it (I didn’t use it or look close enough to see if it had the double plugs or just the single 7 position one).
My 2009 Silverado LT has the tow package and has a single plug (7 position) with the cover like you state your RAM does. I’m assuming the Chevy you drove didn’t have a tow package if there was nothing next to the license plate.
the new trucks are far better on fuel then the old ones. yes i understand fuel mileage goes down during winter. mine went down about 1 mpg avg.
which is why i still wear my 50’s chevrolet belt buckle every day for years?
you couldnt be more wrong. my gear is all black and i only wear my sled jacket when im riding.
for those saying i was driving a base, no shit. i knew it was a pretty basic truck. however being a base truck doesnt give excuse for poorly designed gauges, lack of enough tilt wheel adjustment, and other stupid shit.
