The square footage crown was won by the Chevrolet 2500 HD Crew Cab with comfortable seating for five large editors (seating for six is available with an optional front bench seat) with 62.5 in. front and 65.1 in. of rear shoulder room. Legroom was also impressive (41.3/39.1). Unlike the large trucks of yesteryear, the heavy-duty Chevy doesn't exhibit the typical harsh and bouncy ride over highway expansion joints. Instead, occupants of the fully loaded truck enjoyed its smooth ride and quiet cabin.
Test: 6 SafetyWith trucks being used more frequently as family transport, safety issues are as closely scrutinized as they are for cars. For instance, nearly all the trucks tested were equipped with dual front airbags, the passenger side of which can be turned off (except in the Tacoma Double Cab) if a child seat is being used. Similarly, the majority, sans the Mazda and the S10, have child-seat tethers.
Side-door intrusion beams are now the norm in trucks, adding structural integrity and helping protect occupants in a side impact. It's curious that only the GM heavy-duty trucks had side airbags as standard equipment. The other manufacturers don't even offer them as options-yet.
Like the rest of the Ford lineup, the extensive use of computer-aided modeling has enabled the Sport Trac to benefit from structural crumple zones, helping protect occupants in a frontal crash. Load-limiting safety belts are also used, designed to pay out webbing in a controlled manner during a collision to better mute decelerative forces. Speed-sensing wipers also are standard on the Sport Trac, increasing the wiper rate in concert with the rate of vehicle speed.
Both the SuperCrew and Sport Trac are equipped with coded ignition keys with an imbedded transponder. If the code in the key doesn't match the ignition code (Ford claims 72 quadrillion possible codes are available), the vehicle can't be started.
But what if the unthinkable happens, like a radiator hose goes bust while on a four-wheel-drive trail? If you're in a Sierra or Silverado, you'll make it back to camp: All Vortec engines are equipped with a "limp-home" feature, should there be a total failure in the cooling system. The engine electronics alternately fire the cylinders, allowing those not firing to be cooled by air on every other combustion cycle. While this severely limits the engine's speed, GM claims it will get you back to civilization with no permanent motor damage.
Safety is always an issue when driving in inclement weather. A first in the full-size segment, full-time all-wheel drive is standard fare for the Sierra C3. Its AWD transfer case splits the power 38/62 percent front to rear, helping the C3 to stick like glue, whatever the road surface.
Test: 7 QualityWay back when, the average truck buyer probably didn't care if body seams were a little askew or if the dash pad didn't mate well to the center stack. Today, that's all changed, as squeaks and rattles aren't tolerated and materials quality is expected to equal that in premium automobiles.
Nearly all the vehicles we tested were clad in excellent interior fabrics, vinyls, and leathers that looked good and also were designed to survive a hard life. The S-Runner won the "least attractive seat pattern" prize; on the cool side was the black-leather-with-red-stitching seat design on the supercharged Frontier, a look that only enhanced the mucho macho stance.
We were pleasantly surprised at how well the GM line of trucks were screwed together-save the S10, which didn't feel up to the quality level established by the rest of the field. With just a tick over 1500 miles on the clock, this S10 tester drove our editors crazy with squeaks and tires that frequently squealed around corners.
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