You can read the web article w/o the charts, etc. in the magazine version at their web site.

http://www.trailerboats.com/

 

Here is a partial sampling of the printed version data:

0-30 MPH; seconds; tow/not towing
Chevy 6.9/4.5
Dodge 6.2/3.4
Ford 6.7/3.4

0-60 MPH; seconds; tow/not towing
Chevy 18.6/9.4
Dodge 17.2/8.5
Ford 18.4/8.2

55-0 MPH; feet; tow/not towing
Chevy 196/102
Dodge 185/112
Ford 182/106

MPG; tow/not towing
Chevy 9.4/16.8
Dodge 10.1/15.4
Ford 9.1/14.8

 

sweet glad to heer good stuff about the 2008.

 

I find it ironic that this test result from this mag is so much different than any of the other 4? The Cummins and Dmax in every other test out-performed the 6.4 every time??? Good for the 6.4 though, but I don't think they may have been comparing apples to apples like they said they did? Maybe Ford has changed the programming on their 6.4 to make more power now?? Interesting though........This comparison was closer than all the others I have read about!

 

If anything the Ford is a crew cab while the Dodge was a quad cab and the Chevy a extended cab; so I would expect the Ford to be the heaviest. They reported the curb weights for the Chevy, Dodge, Ford at 6609, 7032, & 6560 lbs. I've had an 04 & 06 in the same configuration and mine were much heavier than 6560. In any case there was more Ford truck than the others, or so I would think.

They all had the same 3.73 gears; if anything the Ford had a disadvantage with the 5 speed automatic vs. the other two having 6 speed automatics.

With the possibility of the truck being in regeneration during a test; who knows, maybe that Chevy was? or maybe all three were! Just another reason the manufacturers need to give the driver a little more information and control of regeneration.

They all pulled the same boat. Should have been fairly fair test other than question of regeneration during the timed tests.

Ignore the performance numbers and read their subjective opinion about how the truck towed, comfort, etc. and they reported what most of us with 08's already know. Plus I like my steering wheel centered and square in front of me, not offset and at an angle as they report for the GM; I had a GM car with this arrangement and never liked it.

I don't recall any info about how many miles the trucks already had on them. I think my 08 started running a little better when it got a few thousand miles on it. I know from reading the OBDII manual (avail for free at motorcraftservice.com) for the 6.4 that the monitoring strategy for the DPF doesn't start until the truck has at least 5000 km (little over 3000 mi) on it and has completed a regen cycle. So who knows, maybe there are other mileage dependent functions going on?

The emphasis of the Trailer Boat Magazine award was on towing and the Superduty certainly deserves the recognition IMHO.

Heck, it is unfair to even compare a Chevy/GMC or Dodge to the Superduty; unfair to the Chevy/GMC and Dodge trucks that is. there just isn't any comparison.

That is my totally biased opinion..... or course...

Bob

 

I found it a little suspicious that the site seemed to have a lot of advertising and fords-sponsored material. Makes me wonder if it was a little rigged. Not bashing the SD's at all, but I'm skeptical that the article might be kinda biased...

just me $.02

 

IMO the format for this test was in real-world conditions including a 200 mile road test and pulling a decent load. The results didn't surprise me... The Chev had the smoothest ride but didn't tow as well as the the Dodge or Ford. The Ford and Chev had better fit & finish than the Dodge. The Dodge had the best low-end torque.

Maybe Ford has a newer program/strategy yieliding slightly better mpg and performance? Anything is possible- I ran probably 7 or 8 different Ford programs on my 2003 6.0 and they all performed quite different. Maybe I'm not skeptical of a bunch of boat guys getting together to test trucks Personally, I'm tired of reading truck tests where they don't include a towing test or the load only weighs 4-5,000 lbs.

 

Nice seeing a 9000lb test for a change. On the weights, I can't comment on the Dodge or Chevy, but my F250 comes in over 8100lbs. My sweet, fat Betty...

 

kudos to the ford. as some know, i got rid of my 6.0 and went the the new dodge (6.7, dually). in the end they stated it was neck and neck between the ford and dodge. i found it very interesting that they didn't mention the factory standard exhaust brake on the dodge. that is one of the most useful features of any truck i have owned. it helps tremendously when towing, and also when not. i kind of agree with AFREEMANMD about the advertising. not to take anything away from the ford, or any of the others, but every web page has a ford ad on it. the home page has two ford advertisements on it. that certainly makes it a bit easier to be a little bias.

 

Well I guess there ford fans and the others are for the wanna be trucks.

just my thought.

 

my guess is that they are fans of which ever company adds to their bottom line.

 

They had to drop the advertising saying it was a"jake brake" and go to what it really is: a Varible Geometry Turbo (with a button). Something Ford has had since '03 (VGT and T/H)...

 

they never said it was a "jake brake". it is an exhaust brake. creates back pressure through the turbo. and while it does utilize the vgt, it is a seperate part, and ford does not have anything like it. if you've used one, you would know. it slows the truck down excellently with and without a load. it still is and has been referred to by cummins and dodge as an exhaust brake. here are a couple links.

http://www.everytime.cummins.com/every/applications/ram67.jsp

http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/ram_3500/capability/engines/

 

A separate part?? I may not understand the technology completley, but I thought they employed a sliding wheel in the turbo to operate in a VGT fashion. Is there some other part besides the actuator?

Yes, I've been in two 6.7s and have experienced the exhaust braking. It may be slightly better than the variable vane turbo in my 6.0, hard to tell without back-to-back testing, which I didn't do. Not sure how it'd compare to the 6.4 with one VGT and one fixed vane turbo.

I could've sworn the early advertisements (brochures even) called it a Jake Brake -- I have a friend that bought a '07.5 6.7 and has the brochure, so let me check on that.

But tell me about the separate part of the 6.7 exhaust brake/VGT, ok?

 

Those so called test in any magazine rarely make any sense and are rarely, if ever, a fair comparison. They are printed to generate magazine sales and I would find it hard to believe that they would do the testing without some compensation from the manufacturer. I don't need a magazine article to tell me how my truck preforms.