EMME HALL: Are you thinking about buying a midsize truck?
Well, don't.
I mean, not like ever, but you owe it to yourself
to wait for just a few more months
until the new big three are available.
Yep, the Chevy Colorado, the Ford Ranger,
and the Toyota Tacoma have all made their way
into their next generation.
And trust me, if you buy now, you
are going to shortchange yourself big time.
Now, we've only gotten the chance to drive the Colorado.
And you can check out that video right here.
But we're dying to get into that Ranger and the Taco,
but unfortunately, that's not going to happen for a few more
months.
We do, however, have most of the numbers
for y'all, so let's break it down.
Now, we're going to keep the heavy
off roaders from each brand off the table for now.
But you can bet your sweet bippy that we're
going to pit the Colorado ZR2, against the Ranger Raptor,
against the Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter as soon as we can.
And to keep things tight, we're also
going to omit the Nissan Frontier, the Jeep
Gladiator, and the Honda Ridgeline from this video.
I mean, none of them are new, and my short attention span
just literally can't deal.
But if the Frontier and the Gladiator are on your list,
we've got videos here and here.
And who knows?
They just might appear in a future comparison test.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, let's get to it.
First up, we're talking powertrain options.
Now, the big takeaway here, folks,
is that the V6 is all but gone, daddy, gone.
We're talking turbocharged four cylinders all day
long, my friends.
Now, the Tacoma uses two different tunes of a 2.4-liter
turbo four.
In the base SR, that's going to produce 228 horsepower and 243
pound-feet of torque.
But other trims get more power.
I'm talking 278 ponies and 317 pound-feet of twist.
Now, both of these are paired with an eight-speed automatic,
which y'all, it can't possibly be any worse than the current
generation six-speed slushbox, am I right?
But here is the cool part that I'm stoked on.
You can get a six-speed manual transmission.
I know.
Now, it tunes the engine down just a bit to 270 horsepower
and 310 pound-feet of torque.
But like, who cares?
It's a six-speed manual.
Now Toyota is the only manufacturer
that's adding a bit of electrification into the game,
throwing its new hybrid i-Force max turbo four into the mix.
This was going to be available on the TRD Sport, the TRD Off
Road, and the limited trims and is standard on the TRD Pro.
Now, here you're going to get 326 horsepower and 465
pound-feet of torque.
And I don't want to hear any complaints
about a hybrid in a truck when the end
result is more than 200 torques than last year's V6.
Your argument is invalid.
The only problem is, you're going
to have to wait a little bit while for that hybrid.
It's not going to be on sale right away.
Now, the Colorado and its GMC brother the Canyon
are all new for 2023 as well.
They're powered by a 2.7-liter turbo four that is dragged
straight out of that full-sized Silverado.
In WT and LT trims, it produces 237 horsepower
and 259 pound-feet of torque, while the tune the company
calls turbo plus, that's standard on the Z71 and Trail
Boss, with 310 ponies and 390 pound-feet of torque.
Now, the turbo plus is available on the lower trims as well.
And both put power to the ground with an eight-speed automatic.
But here's the cool thing, y'all.
These are both the same engine.
So you can roll into your dealer and pay for a reflash
and come out with the next level of power.
That's pretty cool.
Meanwhile, Ford, yeah, they don't play the tuning game.
It's offering a standard 2.3-liter EcoBoost--
that means turbocharged-- and Inline four-cylinder engine
with 270 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque.
And we've always really liked this engine.
But now the blue oval will offer an available 2.7-liter EcoBoost
V6.
And that's straight out of the Ford F-150
with 315 ponies and 400 torques.
That's right-- V6's aren't completely dead.
Either way, these engines are mated
to Ford's 10-speed automatic transmission.
So it looks like Toyota offers the least amount of power
in the bunch, but hot damn if that hybrid doesn't look
like the full can of beans.
But a truck has got to do truck things.
I'm talking about configuration, towing, and payload.
You'll be able to get a Taco in a four-door double cab
or a new two-door, two-seat extra cab
with either 5 or 6 feet of bed space.
Now, Toyota has not released full payload ratings
for all models yet.
But it has let slip that the maximum payload will be 1,709
pounds, but that's only on the TRD Off Road
with the hybrid power plant.
Towing is up to 6,500 pounds.
But again, that's limited only to trucks with the hybrid
under the hood or the TRD PreRunner extra cab spec.
And as you'll see, it's the lowest number of the bunch.
You'll only get a crew cab with a short 5-foot box
with the Colorado.
Max payload here is 1,684 with the WT or LT trims.
But all trims short of the ZR2 can tow up to 7,700 pounds.
Get it, Colorado.
Like Chevrolet, Ford is only offering
the Ranger in a four-door or trim with a 5-foot bed.
Maximum payload here is 1,805 pounds.
And that is for all trims, although only
in two-wheel drive.
All Rangers can tow 7,500 pounds when properly equipped.
Oh, and before I forget, we also have a first look
of the Ranger right here.
So check it out.
Now, inside, it is a whole new ballgame.
I mean, at least for Chevrolet and Toyota.
The previous Ranger was doing pretty well,
but man, have the other two stepped up the game.
Now, the Tacoma now gets an 8-inch screen standard
or an available 14-inch screen that
lifted right out of the Tundra.
Both support wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto,
and you can even get a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster setup,
a digital key, and a digital rearview mirror.
Now this Toyota is looking pretty bus, am I right?
You can check out more in our first look video right here.
Now, I know you probably don't want to,
but we got to talk safety here.
Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, that is standard
across the board with useful features
like full-speed adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist,
and a new proactive Driving Assist, which
acts kind of like a helper when braking into curves,
and it will aid in steering and braking
so you keep the proper distance from others on the road.
You can get a 360-degree camera, and there's even
a new emergency driving stop tech that
will bring the vehicle to a stop if the driver becomes
unresponsive.
So feel free to have a heart attack, y'all.
You'll be fine.
Now, for the life of me, I do not
understand why the optional blind spot
monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert
aren't included as standard on the Tacoma.
But here we are, I guess.
Now Chevrolet is finally getting its thumb out of its butt
when it comes to interior tech and design.
The Colorado comes with an 11.3-inch touchscreen with
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and Google built in.
So you'll get Google Play, Google Assistant,
and Google Maps.
Also standard is an 8-inch digital gauge cluster
Chevy's safety assist is standard
with all the usual features of, but it doesn't include
adaptive cruise control.
You're also going to have to pay extra for blind spot
monitoring, rear cross traffic braking,
and a 360-degree camera.
And to that I say, boo.
Now Ford gives us a 10.1-inch or a 12-inch center screen with
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
You'll also get a standard 8-inch digital gauge
cluster or an available 12.4 inch digital dash.
But the company's full co-pilot 360 suite
of active safety features, those don't kick in
until the mid XLT trim.
But hey, that at least includes full speed adaptive cruise
control and blind spot monitoring.
But Ford has a one up on the competition
with the active park assist 2.0, and that
can help automate parking into both parallel and perpendicular
spaces.
So we don't have fuel economy numbers
for the Ranger or the Tacoma.
So let's move on to the price.
At least we've got a little bit more information on that front.
I mean, kind of.
Like, no news for the Tacoma as of just yet,
except that it's going to go on sale later this year
with the i-Force Max Hybrid models arriving in early 2024.
However, looking at the current Tacoma, it starts at just shy
of $30,000.
It goes all the way up to $50,000 or so,
including Destination but before options.
I'd wager that Toyota will want to keep that base
model around $30,000, but it will likely
hike the price of a loaded TRD Pro well into the mid 50s.
I know.
Now, the Colorado is available now.
And we've got pricing.
The WT starts just shy of $31,000 for a two-wheel drive
version.
But you can spend just over $41,000
before options for the Z71 trim in four-wheel drive.
Both of those numbers include Destination.
The Ranger comes to the market this summer,
unless you want the 2.7 liter V6.
For that, you're going to have to wait until late fall.
But Ford has not said how much the top Lariat trim will cost.
Well, OK, never mind on that last bit
because Ford just dropped a whole boatload
of prices right in my lap just as I finished recording this.
A Lariat SuperCrew will run you just over $45,000 delivered.
That makes the high-volume XLT seem like a bargain at $37,000.
Oh, and I promised I wouldn't talk too much about the Ranger
Raptor in this vid, but it's just so cool,
I figured you should know that it starts at about $57,000.
So I have this theory that midsize trucks have always
kind of been the Jan Brady of the truck world,
with manufacturers paying much more attention
to the full-size Marcias thanks to their greater profitability.
But you know what?
Jan trucks can be great trucks.
And this current crop just proves my point.
We can't wait to get our mitts on these three
and put them to the test.
I'd love to see that V6 from Ford against Toyota's hybrid.
And I really, really want to see what that $40,000 Z71 is like.
Remember, folks, it's not just Marcia, Marcia, Marcia anymore.
Now it's time for some Jan.