2001 Truck Of The Year - Chevrolet S-10 Crew Cab - Roadtest

The overall nod for exterior quality and finish goes to the Ford camp, especially for the Sport Trac's sheet molded composite bed, which is 20 percent lighter than a traditional steel pickup box and far more durable. After schlepping a load of sandbags from the Sport Trac's bed, there was nary a mark to be found, while the other contenders with metal beds had obvious paint scratches. Tailgates on all the Ford products swung easily and closed solidly.

Test 4: PerformanceTo extract the most performance out of these trucks (in controlled conditions, of course), each hits the track to execute acceleration, braking, and handling tests. First, we run them empty and then again with the bed loaded to half of its rated payload capacity.

If we'd been asked to place bets on which truck would've posted the closest empty versus loaded quarter-mile times, chances are the Chevrolet's Crew Cab S-10 would've been low on everyone's list. But it proved us all wrong. Loaded, the S-10 was only 0.3 sec slower to 60 and lost less than 0.5 mph through the quarter. Braking was similarly impressive, taking only an additional foot of pavement to stop.

The Sierra C3 was the undisputed king of the unladen quarter mile, racing through the traps in 15.5 mph at 87.2 mph. But the 0-60-mph distinction wasn't taken by a brawny 6.0L OHV V-8. Top honors went, on a pure power-to-weight ratio, to the Toyota S-Runner with its sporty-sounding 3.4L DOHC V-6. The S-Runner also served up the best unladen stopping distance, grinding the Toyota 60-0 in only 127 ft. Loaded, the S-Runner needed an additional 10 ft to stop, allowing it to post the best overall stopping distance with a bed full of gear.